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PersonAD 971 – 1031

Emperor Shengzong of Liao

Khitan emperor who personally led 400,000 troops into Goryeo in 1010, using Gang Jo’s coup as a pretext

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3 related events

  1. AD 993 – 1019Khitan Invasions of Goryeomonarch

    The Khitan Liao invaded Goryeo three times between 993 and 1019. Goryeo repelled them through Seo Hui’s diplomacy and Gang Gam-chan’s victory at Gwiju.

  2. 1
    1004Treaty of Chanyuanmonarch

    When Emperor Shengzong of Liao led a great Khitan army down to the Yellow River in 1004, Emperor Zhenzong of Song went to Chanzhou and made peace. In return for annual payments of silk and silver from the Song, the two states lived as “brothers” in peace for nearly 120 years.

  3. 2
    1010 – 1011Second Khitan Invasionmonarch

    Emperor Shengzong of Liao invaded with 400,000 men and took Gaegyeong; King Hyeonjong fled to Naju, and Yang Gyu harried the retreating enemy and freed captives.

People who appear alongside

  • King HyeonjongAD 992 – 1031

    Eighth king of Goryeo, who weathered the second and third Khitan invasions and began the first Tripitaka

  • Yang Gyu1011

    Defender of Heunghwajin who harried the retreating Khitans in 1011, freeing some 30,000 captives before he fell

  • King SeongjongAD 960 – AD 997

    Sixth king of Goryeo, who adopted Choe Seung-ro’s 28-article memorial and built a Confucian central and local administration

  • Seo HuiAD 942 – AD 998

    Statesman who negotiated with Xiao Sunning in 993 and won the six garrisons east of the Yalu

  • Gang Gam-chanAD 948 – 1031

    Commander-in-chief who won the Battle of Gwiju in 1019 and proposed the outer wall of Gaegyeong

  • Gang Jo1010

    Northwestern commander who deposed Mokjong in 1009; captured and killed by the Khitans at Tongju in 1010

Themes this person appears in

  • Song, Ming and Samurai JapanAD 960 – 1500

    The age when the civil-minded Song bought peace from Liao, Western Xia and Jin while the lower Yangtze boomed and Neo-Confucianism took shape, and the Ming, having driven out the Yuan, rebuilt the East Asian order through imperial autocracy, the sea ban and tribute — as Japan passed through the Kamakura and Muromachi warrior governments into the Warring States era, and Korea from Goryeo to Joseon