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).
Last posts
What if China’s history had been precipitated by the eruption of a volcano in Greece?
What if China's history had been precipitated by the eruption of a volcano in Greece? Although in present times there is greater concern about global phenomena, it is not that they did not happen before. Some natural catastrophes in the past were so violent that they...
Lao She Cat Country
Cat Country - Lao She Sometimes we say that a poet or a writer writes with his blood, and there are many occasions in which writers end up paying with their lives for having written a book. This is possibly one of them, and we can say that Lao She paid with his life...
The top 10 gods in 20th century Sichuan
he top 10 deities in 20th century Sichuan And we assume that there will be no major differences with the most popular ones in other parts of China, except on the coast, where the Empress of Heaven (Tianhuo), patron goddess of sailors, would be in the leading...
Notes on Chinese Medicine
Notes on the Chinese Medicine Chinese medicine is the most important non-Western medicine, and it is the only one of the medicines developed by non-Western countries that has managed, throughout history, to face the continuous achievements and advances of Western...
The world of Shanghai courtesans
The world of Shanghai courtesans The Sing-song girls of Shanghai. A novel by Han Bangqing. The action of this novel takes place, as its title indicates, in the world of the singing girls of Shanghai, of which it is also a description. The singing girls were a type of...
Diao Yinan-The Lake of the Wild Goose
Diao Yinan-The Lake of the Wild Goose In short, a film to watch and enjoy. An original plot, very well handled, moves the protagonists through degraded urban environments, in which the mastery of the artistic team manages to endow a naive beauty. The action begins at...