A History of the Khitan

The History of the Khitans is a history book with a distinctive perspective, offering a comprehensive account of the rise, growth, expansion, and decline of the Khitan people. The book is divided into seven volumes: General History, Institutions and Records, Biographies, Textual Studies, Maps and Charts, Chronology of Major Events, and a Bibliography of Major Sources. Building on research from China and abroad, it draws extensively on historical documents and the latest findings from archaeological excavations in recent years, while incorporating the author's previously published research. It is a compilation and summation of the author's many years of teaching and research. China has been a multiethnic country since ancient times. The Khitan dynasty was a regional ethnic regime founded chiefly by the Khitan, a northern minority. Taking the unified, multiethnic state as its point of departure, this book explores the historical patterns and distinctive features of the Khitan dynasty's development, seeking to reflect the era's character as a diverse yet unified whole.