Xiao Yanyan, also known as Xiao Chuo or Empress Dowager Chengtian (953–1009) was a Khitan Empress of the Liao dynasty. A military leader, she personally leads her own army, achieves resounding victories and negotiates peace.
The Liao dynasty
Xiao Yanyan was born in 953 in the Khitan Empire, which has ruled Mongolia, northern China and part of eastern Russia since the beginning of the 10th century. She comes from the Khitan people, neighbors of the Mongols and Tungus, who founded the Khitan Empire known in Chinese historiography as the Liao dynasty. The population of his empire, although it extends mainly in the Mongolian steppes, is composed mainly of Han Chinese.
Xiao Yanyan was born into an aristocratic family during the reign of the fourth emperor of the Liao Muzong dynasty. For several generations, her family has frequently supplied imperial consorts and officials involved in government affairs. Yanyan is thus the third child of Xiao Siwen, chancellor who will be appointed prime minister in 969.
The Liao dynasty maintains conflicting relations with the Song dynasty, which reigns over China from 960 and wishes to reconquer the Sixteen Prefectures, a territory of northern China passed under Khitan control. In 968, when Yanyan was 15 years old, the Song invaded the territory of the Northern Han, allies of the Liao. They defeated the Liao army that had come as reinforcements and pushed on to Youzhou (now Beijing), the southern capital of the Liao, but failed to take it.
Liao Jingzong
In 969, Emperor Liao Muzong was assassinated and Yelü Xian, his father's 21-year-old grand-nephew, succeeded him as Liao Jingzong. In the same year, Xiao Yanyan was chosen as empress consort and married Jingzong. They will have three daughters and four sons, including Yelü Longxu who was born in 972.
Supported by both the Kithan and Han Chinese elites, Jingzong worked to bring order to his government, fired the corrupt and incompetent, and appointed Han Chinese to high positions. However, he is in fragile health and, for many subjects - administration, military strategy, taxes... -, relies on his wife; Yanyan is known for her abilities as a governess, her strategic intelligence and her foresight.
Regent
In 982, Jingzong died while returning from a hunting trip. His son Yelü Longxu succeeded him under the name of Liao Shengzong. Widowed, Xiao Yanyan takes the title of Empress Dowager Chengtian at the same time as the function of regent for her son, who is not yet eleven years old.
The Empress Dowager takes over the court and embarks on a series of reforms. She strengthens her power by appointing relatives to important positions, introduces a system of taxes, protects agriculture and trade. In the field of diplomatic relations, it forges alliances with neighboring kingdoms and peoples such as the Tangoutes, and prepares for the possibility of a conflict with the Song.
Warchief
The conflict is not long in coming:in 986, Emperor Song Taizong sees the enthronement of a child as an opportunity, and launches a military expedition against the coveted region of the Sixteen Prefectures and in the direction of Youzhou. Three armies are sent to three different strategic locations; at first, they won several victories. Empress Chengtian then raises an army and, with her son, confronts the Song on the battlefield. She herself commands a troop of 10,000 cavalry. The Liao inflicted terrible losses on the Song and captured many prisoners, whom the Empress would have pardoned on the occasion of her birthday. In the summer, the victory was complete:the Liao captured General Song Yang Ye and forced the enemy to retreat.
Despite the failure of the invasion attempt, the different territories remain, tensions worsen and skirmishes break out sporadically. In 1004, Xiao Yanyan and his son Shengzong launched a massive attack against the Song. The 51-year-old Empress continues to lead her troops into battle herself. In a few months, the Liao reach a hundred kilometers from Kaifeng, the Song capital. The outcome of the fighting being uncertain, the two sides are negotiating.
For negotiations, Empress Chengtian relied on General Song Wang Jizhong, captured the previous year and to whom she entrusted a position. Quickly, the treaty of Shanyuan is concluded; among the conditions of this peace, the Song agreed to pay 200,000 rolls of silk and 100,000 ounces of silver each year as a “contribution to military expenses”. Henceforth, the Liao and Song emperors and empresses addressed each other as family members, brothers and sisters; Emperor Song thus refers to Chengtian as his aunt. The peace will last for twenty years.
Gradually, the Empress handed over to her son the administration of the kingdom but remained influential at court until her death in 1009. Emissaries from many neighboring kingdoms attended her funeral, and the Song Emperor commanded his government to wear mourning clothes as a mark of respect.