Yelü Chucai, the last recorded person to be able to speak and read the Khitan language, is notable for advising Genghis Khan in the Confucian tradition.
In 901, Abaoji was elected chieftain of the Yila tribe and in 905 forged relations with Li Keyong of the Shatuo Turks.
Every monarch of the Liao dynasty was from the Yelü clan, which adopted the surname sometime in the 930s, after the death of Abaoji (Emperor Taizu).
The Southern Chancellory was charged with governing the sedentary population of the empire, mostly ethnic Han and residents of the conquered kingdom of Bohai.
Tianzan (天贊 Tiānzàn) 922-926 Tianxian (天顯 Tiānxiǎn) 926 Huitong (會同 Huìtóng) 938-947 Datong (大同 Dàtóng) 947 Qianheng (乾亨 Qiánhēng) 979-982 Tonghe (統和 Tǒnghé) 983-1012 Kaitai (開泰 Kāitài) 1012-1021 Taiping (太平 Tàipíng) 1021-1031 Chongxi (重熙 Chóngxī) 1032-1055 Xianyong (咸雍 Xiányōng) 1065-1074 Taikang (太康 Tàikāng) or Dakang (大康 Dàkāng) 1075-1084 Da'an (大安 Dà'ān) 1085-1094 Shouchang (壽昌 Shòuchāng) or Shoulong (壽隆 Shòulóng) 1095-1101 Tianqing (天慶 Tiānqìng) 1111-1120 Baoda (保大 Bǎodà) 1121-1125 Kangguo (康國 Kāngguó) 1134-1144 2 Kuchlug was not a member of the Yelü clan by birth, but he later became the son-in-law of Yelü Zhilugu and usurped the Western Liao throne.