Liao Northern and Southern Administration

Timeline

1. 947–1000Southern Capital Xijin Prefecture · North ChinaAfter the Liao gained Yanyun in 947, the southern side followed Tang-style Three Departments and Six Ministries to govern Han land taxes and prefectures/counties; the northern side, with posts such as khagan, northern Privy Council, and Grand Linyashi, handled Khitan military, tribes, and vassal states, forming a nomadic-agricultural dual bureaucratic structure.
2. 1000–1101The five Liao capitals · ChinaFrom Shengzong and Xingzong to Daozong, the northern Privy Council divided into northern and southern bureaus, while the southern side ran Three Departments and Six Ministries alongside Han-style imperial examinations; the institutional framework stabilized, and the four-season nabo and rotation among the five capitals kept the dual bureaucracy running for a century.
3. 1101–1110Supreme Capital and Eastern Capital Liaoyang Prefecture · ChinaBetween 1101 and 1110, the Tianzuo Emperor wantonly killed imperial clansmen and imposed heavy taxes and corvée; northern military dispatch and southern fiscal supply fell out of sync, and the rise of the Jurchens collapsed the northeastern loose-control system, leaving the northern and southern administration nominal but greatly weakened in actual control.