Yerutsaboki - Yaritsuaboki

Founder of the Liao (Khitan) state in China (reigned 916-926). Temple title Taizu. Family name Yelu, given name Oku, and style name Abaoji. A native of the Diapa tribe of Khitan. When Khin Dejin of the Yaoren tribe of Khitan became a khan in 901, Abaoji became Yilijin (chief) of the Diapa tribe under Khin Dejin. The following year, 902, he invaded Hedong (central and southern Shanxi Province) and Daibei (northern Shanxi Province), forcibly taking many people back and establishing Longhua Prefecture near the confluence of the Shilamuren River and the Laoha River, where he made them live. The Khitan tribe was made up of eight tribes, and the chief of each tribe was chosen to take turns as the Grand Chief, but Abaoji abolished this system of alternating chiefs, subjugated the tribe, and became independent in place of the Yaoyuji clan. He ascended to the throne in 907 as Khan, and was called Emperor in the Chinese style (First Enthronement). He then worked to strengthen his sovereignty, and in 916 he was crowned Great Sage, Great Ming Emperor in Longhua Prefecture (Second Enthronement). In July of the same year, Abaoji personally led an expedition against the Tangut tribes, Tuyuhun, Sada, and other tribes, and crossed the Great Wall to invade North China, attacking Wei Prefecture (Wei County, Hebei Province) and Xinzhou (Chenglu County, Hebei Province), and established the Southwestern Regional Siege Commission in Ji Prefecture (Huailai County, Hebei Province). In 921, Abaoji himself led a large army and captured more than ten cities in Hebei, including Dan (Miyun County, Hebei Province), Shunn (Shunyi County, Hebei Province), and Anyuanjun (near Ji County, Hebei Province), and relocated the residents to various parts of Khitan, establishing prefectures and counties with the same names as their original settlements, where they engaged in agriculture and other production, forming the financial foundation of the Khitan state.

From June 924 to September of the following year, accompanied by Yaogu (later Emperor Taizong), he waged a campaign of conquest against the western tribes, and Aboji himself led an expedition through Guhuihui Castle (Halabargasun, upstream of the Orkhon River) to the Holui Sea (Lake Barkur), while Yaogu's army invaded the Tuyuhun and Dangxiang tribes of Ordos. Having thus ended all worries, in December 925, he set out on an expedition to the Balhae Kingdom, and in January 926, he captured the Balhae Kingdom's Buyeo Prefecture (Nong'an County, Jilin Province) and its capital, Hukan City (Ning'an County, Heilongjiang Province), destroying the Balhae Kingdom. He renamed the Balhae Kingdom Dongtan Kingdom and the former capital city Cheonbok City, and appointed Crown Prince Bai as King of Dongtan to rule the country before setting off home. However, he died in Buyeo Prefecture on the way in July of the same year. Aboji was buried in his ancestral tomb. Zuzhou was established as a tribute town to serve the ancestral tomb, and the site of an earthen fortress on Mongchokto Mountain, about 30 kilometers southwest of Linhuang Prefecture, the upper capital of the Liao Dynasty (Lindong City, Left Wing, Balin, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), is said to be the site of Zuzhou.

[Yoshihiro Kawachi]

"Research on Chinese Conquering Dynasties, Vol. 1" by Tamura Jitsuzo (1964, Oriental History Research Society)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、遼(りょう)（契丹(きったん)）国の建設者（在位916～926）。廟(びょう)号は太祖。耶律が姓、諱(いみな)は億(おく)、阿保機は字(あざな)。契丹の迭剌(てつら)部の人。901年契丹の遙輦(ようれん)部の痕徳菫(こんとくきん)が可汗(かがん)になると、阿保機は痕徳菫のもとで迭剌部の夷離菫〔(いりきん)、首長(しゅちょう)〕となり、翌902年、河東（山西省中南部）、代北（山西省北部）地方を侵略し、多数の人民を強制的に連れ帰り、シラムレン川とラオハ川の合流点付近に竜化州を設置し、ここに住まわせた。契丹族は8部からなり、8部の長から選ばれた者が交替で大君長に就任することになっていたが、阿保機は君長交替制を打破し、部内を制圧し、遙輦氏にかわって自立し、907年即位して可汗位につき、中国風に皇帝と称した（第一次即位）。ついで君主権の強化に努め、916年竜化州において大聖大明天皇帝の位についた（第二次即位）。同年7月、阿保機はタングート（党項）、吐谷渾(とよくこん)、沙陀(さだ)など諸部を親征し、また長城を越えて華北に侵入し、蔚(うつ)州（河北省蔚県）、新州〔河北省承鹿(しょうろく)県〕などを攻め、西南面招討司を嬀(き)州（河北省懐来県）に設置した。921年阿保機自ら大軍を率い、檀〔(だん)、河北省密雲県〕、順（河北省順義県）、安遠軍〔河北省薊(けい)県付近〕などの河北の10余城を陥れ、その住民を契丹各地に移し、原住地と同名の州県を設けて住まわせ、農耕その他の生産に従事させ、契丹国の財政的基盤としている。

　924年6月から翌年9月まで堯骨(ぎょうこつ)（後の太宗）を従え西方諸部族への征服戦を行い、阿保機自ら古回鶻(かいこつ)城（オルホン川上流のハラバルガスン）を経て蒲類(ほるい)海（バルクール湖）まで遠征し、堯骨の軍はオルドスの吐谷渾部、党項部を遠征した。このようにして後顧の憂いを絶ったのち、925年12月、渤海(ぼっかい)国の遠征に出発し、926年正月、渤海国扶余(ふよ)府〔吉林(きつりん)省農安県〕を陥れ、首都忽汗(こっかん)城〔黒竜江省寧安(ねいあん)県〕を陥落させて渤海国を滅ぼし、渤海国を東丹国と改め、旧首都を天福城と改称し、皇太子の倍(ばい)を東丹国王としてこの国を統治させることとし帰国の途についた。しかしその途中、同年7月、扶余府において死亡した。阿保機は祖陵に葬られた。祖陵に奉仕する奉陵邑(ほうりょうゆう)として設置されたのが祖州で、遼の上京臨潢(おう)府（内モンゴル自治区巴林(はりん)左翼旗林東市）の南西約30余キロメートルのモンチョックト山の土城址(し)が祖州城址といわれる。

［河内良弘］

『田村実造著『中国征服王朝の研究　上』（1964・東洋史研究会）』

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