Dynastic Turmoil: Liao, Xia, and Jin

This book tells the history of China across the 319 years of the Liao Dynasty (916–1125), Western Xia (1038–1227), and Jin Dynasty (1115–1234). The Liao was founded by the Khitan people and helped spur the development of Inner Mongolia and the Northeast. It was eventually destroyed by the combined forces of Song and Jin. Western Xia was a dynasty established by the Tanguts in northwestern China, later conquered by Genghis Khan. The Jin Dynasty was founded by the Jurchens. It successively destroyed Liao and Northern Song, then faced off against Southern Song for many years before falling to the Mongols and Southern Song in an alliance. During the Song, Liao, Xia, and Jin period, rival powers struggled for supremacy, waxing and waning in turn, as history played out its endless drama of victors and vanquished.