The Qidan’s northeastern reach of direct control extended as far as the northwest region of today’s Jilin Province where it met with the lands of their supposed vassals, the wild Jurchens. I was curious about what remains in that region to connect it with the past and wanted to see in person (2012.6) those places mentioned in the Liao History. The city of Nong’an (about sixty km north of Changchun Provincial Capital) was once the Liao Dynasty’s northernmost political and military outpost named Huanglongfu (Yellow Dragon Administrative Center). However, the Nong’an Pagoda is about all that is visible from that time. Built in the year 1030 under the reign of Emperor Shengzong, the 13-story octagonal pagoda (photo #1) is now in a well-restored shape after repairs in 1953 and 1982. Actually, some dirt walls and what had been part of the moat from the original fortified town, can also be found in a nearby park and if one is interested in the extent of the Qidan empire, then they have some meaning.
Mr. Wang Fuye, a local scholar who has written several books on Nong’an history and Liao culture, kindly offered to be our guide. He told me that Huanglongfu was also nicknamed Yin Fu (Silver Capital) that pointed to its prosperity at the time. During the later Jin Dynasty when the Jurchens captured Song Emperor Huizong, he was kept in prison within these walls. As we ate lunch, Wang explained how one of the strong influences from the Liao/Jin period up to now, is the preparation of regional food. Time and again he said “This dish is also food from the Jurchens”. For example, he described the New Year food of “niandoubao” (a sticky sweet dish) using “huang mi” (broom corn millet) with red beans and sugar. It is said that 12th c. Jin leader Aguda packed this food to enable his men to ride long distances without getting hungry. To our surprise, “niandoubao” was served even though it was late June.
From Nong’an it takes a couple hours going north by car to the city of Songyuan, and then another hour to reach the ruins of the fortified town of Tahucheng, the Liao Dynasty’s Changchunzhou (Town of Long Spring). This town was a military base founded in 1022, but also served to assist the Spring “nabo”, Great Seasonal Camp, which brought together the Qidan leaders with the heads of the various tribesmen of the northeast under their suzerainty. The entourage also included the Qidan royal family and often Song Dynasty ambassadors.
The nearby swampy areas around today’s Yuelianghu (Moon Lake) and Cha’ganhu (“White Lake” in Mongolian) were rich in wild fowl and fish. The “First Goose Banquet” and “First Fish Banquet” that took place after their hunting and fishing expeditions were considered as major festivities. One section of Yuelianghu Lake is a pristine wetland that evokes an image of a sportsman’s paradise from 1,000 years ago. Ducks are in abundance. (#2) In Liao times the Cha’ganhu Lake (#3) was also more of a marsh, but today a branch of the Songhuajiang River empties into it making it into a large body of water of 420 square kilometers. Nowadays, speedboats offer tours of the lake but one can still see local fishermen throwing their nets in the traditional way.
At the nearby Cha’ganhu Museum of Mongolian History and Traditions there is a section on the excavations of Tahucheng. This name has an interesting origin. The Chinese characters today mean “pagoda tiger”, but with the same pronunciation in Mongolian the name “tahu” meant Flatheaded Fish, the famed Pangtouyu fish caught in Cha’ganhu Lake. In that Museum there were maps of the ancient walls (#4) and pieces of pottery recovered from the site. (#5)
Today, the grass-covered Tahucheng walls still denote the size of the Liao town (circumference is 5,213 meters). I walked along one ridge just inside the former northern gate as shepherds guided their flocks on what had once been military ramparts. (#6) (#7) Looking out to what had been the former inhabited area, it is now covered in cornfields and melon patches. Going from the north-south axis road on to the east-west road I found the double-walled (“mamian”) west gate, its outline still kept by the two ridges marking the site. (#8)
According to the Liao History, Changchunzhou Fortified Town was the scene of a fierce battle between the Liao and Jin, but before that it was the place of one of the lingering stories from the end of the Liao period. At the time of the Spring “nabo”, the Liao emperor and his entourage celebrated the occasion of the “Fist Fish Banquet”. As usual there was much drinking and dancing. The Liao emperor commanded Aguda, (#9) the leader of the “wild Jurchens”, to dance. When he refused, the emperor angrily berated him. Shortly after, Aguda gathered the Jurchen tribes to challenge the Qidan leadership.
That brings the story to another place to the east of modern Songyuan. A giant stele tablet commemorates the first battle the Jurchens won against the Qidan in 1114 by overcoming another Liao stronghold named Ningjiangzhou (near Fuyu City). Aguda led his small band of 2,500 men against a much greater Liao army of 70,000 men and was able to win through his clever military tactics. The fall of Changchunzhou (Tahucheng) and Huanglongcheng (Nong’an) followed suit. (Chinese Maps #10, #11) Then in the following year (1115), Aguda proclaimed the Jin Dynasty.
The Jin Victory Stele (#11) was erected in 1185 by Aguda’s grandson, the Emperor Shizong, at a site where Aguda and his men had sworn the “Oath of the Lailiushui River” to rise up against the Liao troops. Located at Deshengzhen (Victory Township) the over-three–meter-high tablet stands is now covered by a large pagoda-like structure. (#12) The front of the stele is in Chinese characters (#13) while the back is written in the corresponding Jurchen script (#14). (Naturally this stele was an important key in the deciphering of that script). In front of it, there is a new 11.14 meter-high statue of the victorious Aguda looking very determined seated on his white horse (the height and the date of the oath purposefully coordinated). The remote countryside surrounding the tall stele had been pretty much left unchanged, making one local man remark, “it really feels like an old battlefield”.
Recent excavations of another Qidan fortified town, Taizhou, south of Baicheng (White Town), has some scholars suggesting that it might be the site of above mentioned Changchunzhou Town of Liao History instead of the Tahucheng ruins. Taizhou was established in early Liao times (926) and was an important site on the road west to Liao Shangjing, the Upper Capital. Later, in the Jin Dynasty it was used as a military headquarters. Although now it is mostly covered by sand dunes, one can still make out the shape of the former walls and gates. (#15).
These ancient walls, campsites, old battlefields and pagodas have a lot to tell us about the importance and relative proximity of the northeastern outposts of the Qidan empire and how they were eventually taken by the conquering Jurchen armies.