A Review of Research on Frontier Management Issues during the Reign of Emperor Xingzong of the Liao Dynasty

Abstract

The reign of Emperor Xingzong of the Liao Dynasty (Yelü Zongzhen, r. 1031–1055) is traditionally considered the turning point marking the empire's shift from prosperity to decline. His frontier governance demonstrated era-specific characteristics. While border policies emphasized conflict avoidance, impulsive military operations and provocations destabilized frontier regions, depleting substantial human, material, and financial resources. Academic consensus critiques Xingzong's frontier strategies as fundamentally imbalanced, with costs far exceeding benefits. Closer examination of his approaches and the complex challenges he confronted, however, reveals underlying principles and mechanisms reflecting surprisingly sophisticated reform-oriented thinking.