The Central Plains Are Not Far:The Regent of the Luo Capital and the “Luoyang Complex” of the Liao Dynasty (907—1125)

Among the titles borne by the Liao Dynasty official Han Derang (941—1011),as recorded in his recently discovered tomb inscription,is his position as “regent of the Luo capital”,an appointment that his other biographies in traditionally transmitted sources do not mention.Even though the Liao Dynasty no longer controlled Luoyang at this time,other Liao officials also received this title.This paper seeks to explain the Liao rationale for continuing to appoint officials to an “empty” position that carried no actual responsibilities.It narrates the continual degradation of the position from one of actual and function responsibility,when Liao controlled Luoyang,to one that reflected a “Luoyang psychological complex”, in which Liao self-image and authority were invested in nostalgia for the place that Luoyang had once commanded as the cultural and political center of the Central Plains.However,following the Chanyuan Peace Treaty with the Song in 1005,the Liao Dynasty rebuilt its central capital and redefined the position of “regent of the Luo capital.” This reflected a tension between the dynasty’s quest for legitimacy in the new political context and its older ideological commitments.