Canine Ancestors in the Mythology of the Liao Dynasty (Khitan)
How a 14th-century Tibetan epic preserved the fascinating origin myth of the fierce northern warriors.
Discover the myth of the canine ancestors of the Liao Dynasty (Khitan) according to a fascinating 14th-century Tibetan epic text. A journey through the mythology of the Eurasian steppes.
Introduction: The Northeastern Neighbors
The Liao Dynasty (907–1125), founded by the Khitan people, was one of the most formidable military and political powers in northern Asia, controlling vast territories across what is now Mongolia and northern China. But what did the Tibetans actually know about these fearsome northern neighbors?
The answer lies in an unexpected place: an extensive epic-religious text from the Bon tradition (Tibet’s indigenous spiritual tradition) compiled in the 14th century, known as the gZi-brjid. In its pages, Tibetan monks describe the «barbarian» lands of the north, attributing to their inhabitants an origin as wild as it is fascinating: they were direct descendants of dogs.
The «Realm of Fierce Beasts of Prey»
In the mythical geography of the gZi-brjid, northeast of the sacred land lies the «Realm of Fierce Beasts of Prey.» The texts describe its inhabitants as fierce warriors who delight in battle, raiding, and enslaving, rejecting agriculture in favor of a diet of raw meat and blood.
While this description fits the classic Tibetan stereotype of the nomadic steppe peoples (and was likely reinforced by later contact with the Mongols), the text reveals highly specific details that point directly to the Khitan, the founders of the Liao Dynasty.
The Canine Genealogy
The most astonishing aspect of the text is the genealogy it traces for this people. According to the gZi-brjid, the origin of the Khitan is not human, but canine:
- The eldest son of the first king of this region mates with a human and fathers a son named Ku-gu-ra-tsa (a name that in the Tibetan and Sanskrit context directly evokes the dog).
- Ku-gu-ra-tsa has two sons: Khyi-khyon and Khyi-than.
- In Tibetan, khyi means «dog.» Therefore, both names contain the word for dog. Furthermore, Khyi-than is a clear phonetic and etymological deformation of Khitan.
From the descendants of these brothers, eighteen tribes are born with a hybrid, liminal nature: they possess human bodies but the heads of wild animals. The text describes them with grotesque features: sunken eyes, small ears, exposed fangs, and protruding jaws.
To illustrate this duality between the human and the animal, the Tibetan author uses a phrase as graphic as it is poetic:
«If they are observed by animals of prey, they resemble humans; if they are observed by humans, they resemble dogs.»
A Shared Myth: From China to the Steppes
The Tibetans did not invent this story out of thin air. The author of the gZi-brjid acted as a cultural mirror, blending Chinese legends with the ancestral myths of the nomadic peoples.
On one hand, the text reflects ancient Chinese traditions about the «Kingdom of Women and Dogs,» a mythical place on the borders where «the women have human appearance but their husbands have the head of a dog.»
On the other hand, it connects with the Turco-Mongol mythological motif of the Eurasian steppes: the belief in the origin of the royal lineage from a dog or a wolf. In fact, historical Chinese sources also mention that the first Khitan rulers were designated by terms that could be interpreted as «dog» and «wild boar.»
Conclusion: The Cultural Crucible of the Silk Road
The tale of the canine ancestors of the Liao Dynasty in the Tibetan text gZi-brjid is much more than a mythological curiosity. It is fascinating proof of how ideas, legends, and stereotypes circulated along the Silk Road.
The 14th-century Tibetan monks, when writing their religious epic, absorbed and reinterpreted Turco-Mongol myths and Chinese legends to explain the ferocity of the northern peoples. Thus, the powerful Khitan emperors of the Liao Dynasty passed into Tibetan memory not as human conquerors, but as the fearsome descendants of the dog.
Based in: Basado en: Kvaerne, Per. Mongols and Khitans in a 14th-century Tibetan Bonpo text. Acta Orientalia Hungarica, 34, 1-3 (1980), pp. 85-104.
More about the dog in China: La magia del Perro en China y el mundo
About me: I have spent 30 years in China, much of the time traveling and studying this country’s culture. My most popular research focuses on Chinese characters (Chinese Characters: An Easy Learning Method Based on Their Etymology and Evolution), Matriarchy in China (there is a book with this title), and minority cultures (The Naxi of Southwest China).
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