The Grand Khitan Empire (AD 907-1125) was created by expanding its territory through military conquest and diplomatic treaty across parts of Asia. By deliberate political strategies of cultural construction and the materialization of ethnic ideology, Khitan leaders maintained a multi-ethnic social fabric, consolidated their imperial power, made the ethnic Khitan distinct with the rise of their state, and ultimately proclaimed a hegemony in Northeast Asia. This thesis presents an analysis of 48 tombs categorized into four groups based on the social rank, ethnicity and source of power of the tomb occupants, who include the Khitan emperor, Khitan hereditary aristocracy, non-Khitan hereditary aristocracy and non-hereditary elites. The evolution and chronological patterns of each tomb category are examined and compared to identify the sources of power that underlie ethnic identity and supports the suggestion that imperial acts were manipulated for the consolidation of power. The thesis thus questions the validity of traditional assumptions about ethnic markers - specifically that there was no one-to-one straightforward relation between material culture and ethnicity. The material cultural boundary can be seen as the consequence of social interaction. In addition, it is also clear that the alteration of imperial titles was a political act. Imperial titles of 'Khitan', 'Grand Khitan', 'Khitan State' and 'Qara Khitan' accentuate the governing body of ethnic Khitan. In contrast, the titles 'Liao' or 'Great Liao' were used to symbolize a nation of all the people with the intent of creating a more unified community in the understatement of ethnic differentiation. Overall, archaeological data indicates that an ethno-political strategy highlighted the ruling body (ethnic Khitan) and the largest proportion of the ruled (ethnic Chinese). However, as it privileged ethnic Chinese, it simultaneously marginalized the remaining ethnic minorities, which subsequently lead to a revolt by ethnic Jurchen and the downfall of the Khitan Empire.

Thesis (M.A.)--Zhongguo wen hua xue yuan. / Reproduced from typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 260-266).

Khitan Language, as being used as an official language in Liao Dynasty during 10th to 12th century in Northern China contains some features of influence of Chinese Language. By studying the Sino-Khitan transcription, features of Sino-Khitan phonology can be found. These features include: Voiced initial consonants had been devoiced into voiceless aspirated for ping tone, voiceless unaspirated for non-ping tone; Chinese labial-dental initials had been differentiated from Chinese bilabial initials; Alveolar affricates does not exist in Khitan language but were borrowed from Chinese. Unaspirated [ts] was represented by new-invented YZ graph, while aspirated [tsʰ] was merged into [s] and represented by the same YZ graph as [s]; Nasal initial [ŋ] and finals with nasal coda [-ŋ] in Khitan language are borrowed from Chinese; Chinese final [ɨ] is a not a native sound in Khitan language and new YZ graph was specificly invented for this acquired sound. It is mostly used to transliterate zi-si (资思)rhyme of Middle Chinese. By comparing Sino-Khitan phonological features with that of Northern Mandarin, it is to be found that the two system share many phonological characteristics. However, Tangut language, which was used in northwestern China and its geographic area is currently belong to Northern Mandarin speaking area, has many different features in some essential perspectives. The relation between the Sino-Khitan and Chinese language is very close which suggests that the development of Khitan language may be one of the important steps of Northern Mandarin development.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Durham, 1994. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

Le présent travail porte sur les échanges artistiques entre l’Iran et la Chine observés sur le textile et la céramique du 13e au 14e siècle. Les discussions dans cette étude s’appuient sur une analyse des caractéristiques de transferts connus : par exemple, existence de transfert technique, relation entre deux véhicules (textile et céramique) des échanges artistiques et propre intention des Mongols. Trois parties composent ce travail, d’après les différents corpus. Les deux premières se consacrent séparément aux corpus de textiles concernant le textile à fil d’or et celui de céramiques. La première partie comporte un catalogue des spécimens textiles et d’analyser les changements artistiques. Dans la deuxième partie, l’examen scientifique permet d’évaluer l’échange technique potentiel. Dans la dernière partie, deux groupes de motifs (motifs représentant l’autorité et motifs de scène de chasse) sont comparés sur les spécimens textiles et céramiques. Le transfert de ces motifs concrets dévoile des relations culturelles essentielles entre des peuples non-sédentaires (les Khitan, les Jurchen et les Mongols) au nord de l’Asie. En conclusion, les différences entre les échanges artistiques représentés sur le textile et ceux sur la céramique montrent une une contradiction avec l’idée que le textile soit un médiateur de la céramique ilkhanide pour le transfert artistique. Ces différences sont fondamentalement liées avec les charactéristiques de la nature et les qualités sociales de chaque matérial. Dernièrement, l’intention des dominants mongols, comportant des successions culturelles de peuples non-sédentaires, est représentée par les échanges artistiques à l’époque. / This paper presents studies on the artistic exchanges between Iran and China observed on textiles and ceramics from the 13th to 14th century. It presents detailed analysis of three important characteristics of the artistic transfers : namely the existence of potential technique transfer, the relation between the two materials (textile and ceramic) during the artistic exchange, and the intention of the Mongols, based on existing corpus The first part of paper is devoted to textile corpus, particularly the textile with golden thread, featuring a catalog of textile samples. The second part presents in depth discussions of the ceramic corpus and questions the potential technical exchange of pottery , followed by comparisons based on actual data. The third part presents comparisons of the patterns observed in both textiles and ceramics specimens, suggesting that the transfer of the concrete motifs reveals the essential cultural relations between the non-sedentary peoples (the Khitan, the Jurchen, the Mongols) of northern Asia. The conclusions of the studies are threefold. First, the technical transfer can be only confirmed in the textile domain. Second, the differences of the artistic exchanges between the textile and the ceramic are closely related to the natural characteristics and the social value of each material, which challenges the previous idea that the textile would be considered as the mediator for the Il-khan ceramic during the artistic transfer. The last but not the least, the cultural relationship between the non-sedentary peoples is clearly represented by the artistic exchanges under the domination of the Mongols.