Beijing Liao Dynasty History (947一1125AD)

In the 10th century，the Khitan，a Mongolian tribe from the West Liao River area in northern China established the Liao Dynasty in 947．And than the Tang Dynasty was succeeded by the Song in the south and the Liao in the north．In 936 Liao 0ccupied“Youzhou”and named it Nanjing(Southern Capital) and designed it a secondary capital of the Liao Dynasty．In 938，
the citv became one of the five capitals of the Kingdom of Liao (947一1125AD)．Since then，the historical position of the city had changed tremendously．It changed gradually from a city of military strategic importance to the political center of the whole countr y．However the city was soon renamed“Yanjing’’．  Ever since then，the city had been the capital city for five dynasties；thev are Liao，Jin，Yuan，Ming and Qing dynasties until the 1 9 1 1 Revolution led by Dr．Sun Yat—sen．As time went on，the city and the city wall of the Liao had disappeared already along with the history and changes of the cit y．But today some historical remains of the Liao Dynasty still can be found in Beijing．

(1)The Beijing Round City(Tuancheng)

It is located by the southern gate of Beihai Park and was originally built by the Liao rulers．After restorations for many times bv different dynasties it is still in existence today·

(2)Temple of Great Awakening(Dajuesi)

It is located in the Western Hills northwest of Beijing．A tablet recording the erection of the magnificent tower in the temple is the oldest stele made in the Liao Dynasty in Beijing· It was originally built in 1068 during the Liao Dynasty and named the Clear Spring Temple(Qingshuiyuan)because the stream ran through the temple grounds．It was given its present name when it was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty 1 428．An unusual feature of the temDle is that，it faces east instead of south．That is because of Khitan’s customs for the gate facing south．There is a giant gingko tree，which was said to be over 1，000 years old．

(3)The Pagoda of the Temple of Heavenly Tranquility (Tianningsita)

The Pagoda of Tianningsi is near Guanganmen．It is an elaborately constructed building from the Liao Dynasty．It is 5 7．8 meters high with 13 storeys．Now the temple is gone. But the pagoda still exists there．

(4)The Ox Street Mosque(The Mosque at Niujie)

The Mosque was built in 955．It is a typical Arabesque Islam Mosque and it is the largest and the longest in history Islam Mosque in Beijing．