ULAN BATOR, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A new exhibition kicked off at the National Museum of Mongolia on Thursday, aiming to provide insights into the little-known history and culture of the Khitan-led Liao Dynasty (916-1125 A.D.).
Co-organized by the National Museum of Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Museum, "The Khitan State-The Great Liao" exhibition puts on display some 450 relics from museums and archaeological institutions in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Some 70 percent of the exhibits, ranging from gold accessories to ancient frescos, are national-level relics, the organizers said at Thursday's opening ceremony.
Noting that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Mongolia, the director of the Inner Mongolia Museum, Chen Yongzhi, said that this exhibition is part of a series of activities to celebrate the friendship between the two countries.
The Liao Dynasty, also known as the Liao Empire, and officially as the Great Liao, or Khitan (Qidan) State, was an empire in East Asia that ruled from 916 to 1125 A.D. over present-day Northern and Northeast China, Mongolia and portions of the Russian Far East and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It was also the first state to control all of Manchuria.
The empire was founded by Yelu Abaoji (Emperor Taizu of Liao), Khagan of the Khitans around the time of the collapse of the Tang Dynasty. Being ruled by the Khitan Yelu clan, the Liao Dynasty is considered by historians as a conquest dynasty of China.
The exhibition is scheduled to run until Sept. 6.
