SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The present thesis is a study of the life of the emperors of the Khitan-Liao dynasty and its influence on the Liao institutions--in particular, the Shu-mi Yuan, the dual Chancellery administration system. After their conquest of a portion of China, the Liao emperors continued to pursue their original nomadic way of life, spending the whole of each year in seasonal camps, or na-po (natpat)--as they were called at that time. For the administration of their Khitan and Chinese subjects, who led different ways of life, the Liao rulers established two Chancelleries, one for their Khitan subjects and the other for the Chinese. Thus, contrary to the general assumption that the Khitan were sinicized, the Khitan-Liao Empire actually consisted of two nations of different cultures.;The study of the institutions of the Liao na-po throws light not only on the Liao administration but also on the life of the rulers and institutions of the succeeding Jurchin-Chin, Mongol Yuan, and Manchu-Ch'ing dynasties.;The main body of the thesis discusses a number of problems each of which is examined in greater detail in a subsequent section. "Some remarks on the office of the Shu-mi Shih" traces the rise and development of that office which has so far been mistakenly taken as an organ concerning, merely with military affairs. It was actually, in the first stage of its development, a post comparable to that of chiefminister. "The theory of legitimacy" explains the reasons why the history of the non-Chinese dynasties have been neglected by the Chinese people. The section on Peking, explains the role played by Peking in Chinese history as the link between the Chinese and non-Chinese worlds. The section "Ordos" is a study of the Khitan military organisation, All these have either not been dealt with before or not been adequately explained.