Yelu Abaoji, the Founder of the Liao Kingdom

Abaoji (ie Yelu Abaoji) was the founding emperor of the Liao Dynasty. He was a member of the Khitan Diela tribe and was born into a noble family. He was tall and strong in martial arts. He served as an officer of the Khan's personal guard in his early years. Due to his outstanding military exploits, he succeeded his uncle Yu Yue and actually took control of the military and political power of Khitan. In 907 AD, Abaoji was elected Khan. He broke the tradition of Khitan Khans being elected every three years, and formally proclaimed himself emperor in 916 following the Central Plains system. He founded the country with the title "Khitan" (later renamed "Liao"), established the "Shenzhi" of the Yuan Dynasty, and called himself "Emperor of Heaven". In order to consolidate the imperial power, he designed to kill the opposing tribal nobles and put down the rebellion of his brothers. In governing the country, he reused Han Yanhui and other Han advisers, introduced the farming culture and system of the Central Plains, built cities to settle the Han people, and developed agriculture, smelting and commerce, making Khitan rapidly prosperous. He also ordered people to create Khitan characters and minted coins such as "Long Live Three Coins" (Long Live Qianqiu, Long Live the Celestial Empire, and Long Live the Emperor) to declare the legitimacy of the regime. Abaoji's talents had a profound influence on later generations, and even became the object of Genghis Khan's admiration, and was regarded as a god by the northern peoples.