Kaifeng: Critical Juncture of Liao, Song and Jin Relations

The many floods of the Yellow River have made looking for historical remnants in the area around Kaifeng in Henan Privince a challenge because of the changing landscape. Yet, important venues in the history of Liao/Song and Jin/Song relations are located here.

One such place is Puyang, an ancient town where some of the earliest agricultural development occurred and is often referred to as an area of the birth of Chinese civilization. It is also the site of one of the most interesting treaty negotiations, The Treaty of Chanyuan, that even today inspires widely divergent interpretations of history. I recently visited Puyang (Chanyuan) about two hundred kilometers north of Kaifeng. I went in search of something that would remind me of the events of 1003-04 when the Qidan offensive led both by Liao Emperor Shengzong and his mother the Dowager Empress Xiao were focused on taking the Song Eastern Capital (Kaifeng). Their troops were assembled north of the Yellow River outside the fortified town of Chanyuan. Rival factions at the Song court argued about whether to retreat or fight. In the end, Prime Minister Kojun convinced the emperor that since the Song troops outnumbered the Liao by almost ten to two, they could stop them before they attacked Kaifeng.

The Song emperor was at first afraid to travel north over the boat bridge crossing the Yellow River, but the Prime Minister Kojun insisted that his going there would give inspiration to his troops. Upon entering Puyang City the emperor was warmed by the cheers from the common people and he ascended the North Gate Pavilion from where he could be in the highest position to look down upon the Qidan troops camped north of the city walls. A short battle ensued during which time a Liao general was killed by an arrow and the Song were able to call it a victory, after which negotiations for peace were initiated. Who initiated it depends on which history you read, but diplomatic maneuvers may have been underway even before the battle. If the Song had such a great victory then why did they agree to such unfavorable terms in the treaty? In the document the Song agreed to annual payments of silver and silk to be handed over to Liao representatives every spring. Supposedly the emperor told the negotiator to exaggerate the numbers to get them to quickly capitulate. It was an incredibly generous offer (a hundred thousand taels of silver and two hundred thousand bolts of silk), one that astounded the Liao who readily agreed to the terms of withdrawing to the border of the Sixteen Provinces of Yanyun that they already had conquered and which was actually a more controllable territory. The Liao it appears were also not really eager to fight more battles so far from their realm. In other documents drawn up at this time, the two emperors were to enter into a brother-like relationship, depending on whoever was older would be referred to as “elder brother”. Some say that the amount of payment was just a small portion of the Song budget, however when one counts that they were already using 75% of their income for military spending, this commitment certainly over the years weakened the Song finances as well as being a general loss of face. The Treaty of Chanyuan was actually a great benefit to both sides in that it ensured 120 years of peace, trade markets flourished along the boundary, and it gave the two dynasties a long period of economic and cultural prosperity.

When I visited the little park that commemorates this episode of history I was shown the well where the Song Emperor drank and a small pavilion covering three stone tablets. The central stele has the inscription of a poem written by Song Emperor Zhenzong entitled “Qidan Chujing”, “The Qidan Depart from the Capital” or “In Celebration of the Withdrawal of the Qidans” which was erected here in 1057 by his son. It is also referred to as “Huiluanbei”, the “Return of the Royal Guard of Honor” Stele . The titles alone show the Song side’s view that getting rid of the Qidan under almost any circumstances was important for the emperor’s position.

I was told another story about how Mao Zedong had passed though here, his train stopping briefly at the station in 1958. Local officials were caught off guard when the only question that he asked is whether or not there were any remains of the North Gate Pavilion. They answered that they didn’t know. So I decided to ask the same question and this time local officials were able to guide me to the place some 400 meters to the north of the stele pavilion park. This slightly raised land is now used for the city’s grain storage warehouses, so it was hard to imagine the Song emperor seated in the place of honor gazing out to the north. The massive flooding in 1077 and at later times added many layers of silt to the low land, enveloping the city walls and its famous gate. But my feet gave me some semblance of a feeling of history as I walked up the slope to a higher ground once the site of that impressive scene of a thousand years ago.

Since the building of canals during the Sui Dynasty, the city of Kaifeng became very important as a hub of water transportation. Because of its critical place, Liao Taizong invaded the city in 947 but after only a three-month stay, the Qidan looted the city of its treasures and took captives back to their Supreme Capital. Song eventually sought an alliance with the Jurchens to offset the Qidan, but the Jurchens later turned on the Song and in January of 1126 Jin Taizong launched an attack against Kaifeng. In panic, Song Huizong passed on the throne to his son Qinzong who called for peace. Annual tribute to Jin was promised, surpassing even the generous gifts they had given the Liao and the Song thereafter had to refer to the Jin Emperor as “uncle”. But a year later the Jin again laid siege to Kaifeng and after four months the two Song emperors were captured and taken to the north. Skirmishes continued over the years, in which the Song General Yue Fei fought for the return of lost lands, but the Song finally agreed to another diplomatic peace. With this Treaty of Shaoxing in 1141, silver and silk tribute by the Song to the Jin was increased and a new southern boundary for the Jin, the Huai River was agreed upon. Kaifeng thus became a part of the Jin empire.

In Jin times the city was known as Bianjing of the Nanjingdao (Southern Capital) Administrative Region. It was the largest city in the Jin empire with 1,746,210 households. Jurchens were moved here as part of the “Great Migration” to help control all parts of the empire. In around the year 1160 Jin Prince Hailing ordered the rebuilding of the city at a great expense. In doing so, the Jurchens extended the city walls to make it an even larger area. That city is now eight to ten meters below today’s Kaifeng.

With the encroaching Mongol empire in the north, and the capture of the Jin capital at Zhongdu (Beijing) in 1214, Emperor Xuanzong moved the whole government to Kaifeng. It took their huge entourage over two months to get to the city as they carried belongings, government documents and imperial treasures. As Kaifeng was located south of the Yellow River, the Jin felt the site was well protected. This move, though, lessened their control on their empire and numerous rebellions broke out. After Xuanzong’s death in 1223, Jin Aizong tried to hold the dynasty together through diplomatic maneuvers, but from 1232, the Mongols laid siege to Kaifeng and it finally capitulated in 1233. In this protracted battle of Kaifeng, the Mongols used gunpowder thrown like grenades using catapults. Emperor Aizong fled and committed suicide, bringing an end to the Jin Dynasty.

I visited Kaifeng’s well-known pagoda of the Kaibaosi Temple, nicknamed the “Iron Pagoda”. It was originally made of wood, but was rebuilt in 1049 with rust colored glazed tiles. It was also a landmark of Jin Bianjing as shown on maps from that time. This setting was inundated by successive floods, in particular the disaster over the years 1171-77, so that what once was a pagoda standing on a hill, now appears on level ground. The Jin walls of Kaifeng were also affected by the flooding, and thus in the later Ming and Qing Dynasty times they continued to build upon the lowered Jin walls. Kaifeng’s walls, now nicely restored, show us the size of Jin Bianjing. Only a few articles from that time are on display at the Kaifeng Museum, but I was captivated by a red stamp, once owned by a Jurchen general. I thought about what kind of documents were approved by this seal and how it certainly reminds us of Kaifeng’s role as an important site of interstate relations.