Chapter 224 Song Dynasty also works overtime
Liao Dynasty society experienced roughly three significant changes.
The first change began with the incorporation of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun in the first year of Huihe. Changes in the economic and social structure prompted the Khitan people to accelerate the pace of feudalization, and the Liao Dynasty established a centralized political system with division between the Hu and Han peoples.
The second change began with the Treaty of Chanyuan, when the Liao Dynasty ended its decades-long state of war with the Central Plains regime. The economic and cultural exchanges between the two sides continued to deepen, and the economy and culture of the Liao territory's farming areas and grassland areas developed significantly. The Liao Dynasty also increased its efforts to develop the ethnic minority areas in the northwest, southwest, and northeast, promoting exchanges and integration among ethnic groups.
The third change began during the Dakang period, when Yelu Yixin falsely accused Emperor Dao Zong's empress and the crown prince, and abused his power arbitrarily.
Since then, internal contradictions within the Liao Dynasty ruling group have intensified, politics have become corrupt, the economy has declined, and class and ethnic contradictions have become increasingly acute.
1. Changes in Class Relations and Social Structure Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Khitan people had not yet fully entered a class society. However, with the influx of large numbers of prisoners of war from various ethnic groups, and especially after conquering the Bohai Kingdom and acquiring the Youyun Han territory, the Khitan people quickly completed their transition to a feudal society.
However, there were always a large number of low-class slaves in Liao Dynasty society. Official slaves were mainly palace slaves, while private slaves were called "qukou".
From the early Liao Dynasty to the reign of Emperor Shengzong, there are numerous records of distributing slaves, including captives, households belonging to the imperial family, and households belonging to rebels, to nobles, ministers, and officers. Slaves came from a variety of sources, including prisoners of war, debtors, criminals confiscated, and those forced into slavery by those in positions of power. Prisoners of war and slaves acquired during the expansion of territory after the founding of the Liao Dynasty were the largest group.
There are records of suppressing slavery in the early years of Emperor Shengzong's reign due to the need to develop the feudal economy, increase fiscal revenue, and recruit soldiers and labor.
In 986, on April 28th, the Liao army "besieged Gu'an City. The commander-in-chief Po De was the first to climb the city. The city was then broken and a large number of prisoners were captured. The residents who were captured first were ordered to be redeemed with official property."
This refers to the residents captured by Liao soldiers before the city was captured, who were redeemed with government property and returned to civilian life. In February of the seventh year of the Tonghe era, "an imperial decree was issued that if relatives of those captured during the southern expedition were assigned to different accounts, government money would be given to redeem them and allow them to follow the army."
Using government money to redeem slaves from various ethnic groups might turn private slaves into official slaves, or more likely, free slaves and make them free and bear the state's taxes and labor. In fact, since the beginning of the Liao Dynasty, not all prisoners of war were turned into slaves.
In the prefectures and counties established using prisoners of war, they were not slaves. In April of the 13th year of the Tonghe reign, "an imperial decree was issued to all households in the provinces, stating that those who had been forced to serve as military followers since Emperor Muzong's reign should be registered in the prefectures and counties."
Buqu were dependents of the landlords and aristocrats, often in a slave position. Forced into buqu service, they were the result of annexation by powerful individuals. The Treaty of Chanyuan cut off the Liao Dynasty's primary source of captives, significantly curbing the elements of slavery.
After the war, many of the Han people who had been captured were able to return home. In February of the second year of the Jingde reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, an imperial decree was issued: "All those who were captured and taken to Hankou and returned home should be given food and provisions."
The following year, he also issued an imperial decree that "all the people in various prefectures in Hebei who had been captured by the Khitan and returned would be given their old residences and estates without any restrictions on the years of registration."
According to a report from the Hedong Pacification Office in 1014, the seventh year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era, "Since the second year of the Jingde era, 1,625 people from the northern border who were captured in Hankou have returned."
After the Treaty of Chanyuan, prisoners were still enslaved in foreign wars. For example, in February of the following year after the conquest of Goryeo in the 28th year of Tonghe, "the captured Goryeo people were placed in various mausoleums and temples, and the rest were given to relatives and ministers."
However, the phenomenon of suppressing good people and humiliating them in the country will continue to be curbed.
In December of the first year of Kaitai (1012), an imperial decree was issued: "All men and women who were held hostage by floods and famine in various regions shall be paid a wage of ten wen per person on the first day of the next year and sent back to their families." This was actually the use of hired labor to abolish debt slavery.
In the eighth year of Kaitai, a famine occurred in the Nanjing area. Yang Ji, the co-governor of Nanjing, adopted this method of paying bribes to redeem people and freed many people who had sold themselves into slavery.
Under the influence of feudal values, some people voluntarily released slaves. During the Jingde reign, the father of Tian Kuang, a prominent official of the Song Dynasty, returned south from Liao territory. "At first, the Khitan invaded Chanzhou and captured several hundred people, who were assigned to Tian Kuang's father, Yan Zhao.
Yan Zhao mourned their loss and allowed all of them to leave, as some escaped and returned to China. Some official slaves were redeemed and formed new families. For example, Li Jiaxing, a native of Xincheng County, Zhuozhou, "purchased Adu, a woman captured from the southern border, as his wife for 20,000 yuan."
Legal adjustments also reduced the number of criminal slaves. For example, during the Liao Dynasty, if a barbarian assaulted a Han person to death, he would be compensated with cattle and horses. If a Han person died, he would be beheaded and his relatives would be taken as slaves. However, Emperor Shengzong's mother, Empress Dowager Chengtian, began to "apply Han law to all cases," meaning all decisions were made according to the law.
In the seventh year of the Taiping reign (1027), "the emperor issued an edict to all the illegitimate children in the imperial court, and the nobility and inferiority of the children shall be judged according to their mothers."
The following year, "the emperor issued an edict that even if illegitimate children had become good people, they were not allowed to participate in the selection of the next generation" and "the emperor issued an edict that the uncles of the two countries and the royal palaces of the north and south, who were the nobles of the country, and the common people, were not allowed to serve as officials in their own departments."
The above regulations are obviously for the purpose of maintaining the feudal hierarchy, but they reflect the common phenomenon of maids giving birth to children who become good people in real life.
In 1046, the 15th year of Chongxi reign of Emperor Xingzong, "it was forbidden for Khitans to sell slaves to Han people."
Since the Khitans could not engage in slave trade with the Han people, they might redeem themselves when they needed money.
During the reign of Emperor Shengzong of Liao, some slaves were organized into tribes directly under the state and became state households.
For example, the people of the Shaowa and Heshu tribes were originally "slaves of the palaces and the powerful families of the Hengzhang" and were taken by the state to be employed in hunting and iron smelting respectively. Emperor Shengzong "established tribes based on the population and growth."
The transition from slaves to registered commoners not only boosted their enthusiasm for work but also provided the state with a source of people to bear the burden of feudal taxes and labor service. During the reign of Emperor Shengzong, many of the various ethnic groups that had previously been part of the imperial guards were also separated from the imperial guards and incorporated into tribes or prefectures directly under the state.
Among the 34 tribes of Emperor Shengzong, 19 tribes including the Sarige, Yaozhao, Noowanzhao, Epukuo, and Aoyan Jurchen "were all captured people from various countries and initially affiliated with the palaces to establish tribes." After breaking away from the palace guards, the various tribes were affiliated with the Southern and Northern Prime Minister's Offices to garrison the borders.
Dingba County, Baohe County, and Xuanhua County in Shangjing were all established in the eighth year of Emperor Shengzong's Tonghe reign "by using the various palaces to manage the human and household affairs."
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