The Shanyuan Treaty in 1004/05 was the pivotal point in the relations between the Northern Song (960-1127) and the Liao (916-1125) Dynasties. The ruling class of the Liao were a people of nomadic origin known as the Khitan (Qidan in Chinese) who rose in the northeast around present-day Heilongjiang Province. The Song Dynasty, also referred to as the Northern Song, ruled virtually all of China from the late tenth century when it eliminated the last of the kingdoms in the north and the south that stood against Chinese unification.
The Shanyuan Treaty in 1004/05 was the pivotal point in the relations between the Northern Song (960-1127) and the Liao (916-1125) Dynasties. The ruling class of the Liao were a people of nomadic origin known as the Khitan (Qidan in Chinese) who rose in the northeast around present-day Heilongjiang Province. The Song Dynasty, also referred to as the Northern Song, ruled virtually all of China from the late tenth century when it eliminated the last of the kingdoms in the north and the south that stood against Chinese unification.