Qualla: Linhuangfu https://qualla.com/linhuangfu en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:39 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/u/f/linhuangfu-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Linhuangfu https://qualla.com/linhuangfu Linhuangfu: Introduction https://qualla.com/linhuangfu/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. One hundred days. That is how long it took to build the capital of an empire. In 918, the Khitan leader Yelü Abaoji ordered the construction of a new imperial city in the Liaoxi steppe, the grassland homeland of the nomadic people who had forged the Liao dynasty. Under the supervision of an official named Kang Moji, the city rose from the plains at the southern end of the Greater Khingan Range, along the Shali River. Yelü Abaoji named it Shangjing, the Supreme Capital. It would later be known as Linhuangfu, and for two centuries it served as the heart of a dynasty that controlled the territory between China proper and the Mongolian steppe.

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/u/f/linhuangfu-wp/wxuf-linhuangfu-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Linhuangfu: A Nomadic Capital That Stood Still https://qualla.com/linhuangfu/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. The paradox of Linhuangfu is that its builders were nomads who preferred tents. The Khitan court maintained a mobile lifestyle, constantly traveling across their vast empire even after constructing a permanent capital. Linhuangfu was modeled after the Tang dynasty capital of Chan...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/u/f/linhuangfu-wp/wxuf-linhuangfu-a-nomadic-capital-that-stood-still.mp3 0:06 2 full Linhuangfu: Two Cities, Two Worlds https://qualla.com/linhuangfu/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. The layout encoded the Liao dynasty's fundamental challenge: governing a settled agricultural population using the institutions of a nomadic warrior culture. The Imperial City's palatial district occupied the central-eastern portion, with a perimeter of 2.7 kilometers. A large Bu...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/u/f/linhuangfu-wp/wxuf-linhuangfu-two-cities-two-worlds.mp3 0:06 3 full Linhuangfu: Conquest, Demotion, Destruction https://qualla.com/linhuangfu/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. Linhuangfu survived as the Liao dynasty's supreme capital for two centuries, but the Jurchens brought that era to a violent end. In 1120, the Jin dynasty conquered the city, destroying much of it in the process. The Jurchens redesignated it as the Northern Capital in 1138, a demo...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/u/f/linhuangfu-wp/wxuf-linhuangfu-conquest-demotion-destruction.mp3 0:06 4 full Linhuangfu: Reading the Ruins https://qualla.com/linhuangfu/ Photo credit BabelStone, CC BY-SA 3.0. The ruins of Linhuangfu lie in present-day Baarin Left Banner in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Remains of the Dashun Gate, the southern entrance to the Imperial City, still show the rammed earth construction that formed the foundation of the walls. Archaeological work has confirmed th...

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]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/x/u/f/linhuangfu-wp/wxuf-linhuangfu-reading-the-ruins.mp3 0:06 5 full