kingdom · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Dingan

938 CE – 986 CE (approx.) · capital Yalu valley

A small successor state of Balhae in the Yalu valley, which resisted the Khitan for half a century and sought alliance with Song China.

Origins

After the Liao dynasty destroyed Balhae in 926, groups of Balhae people in the middle Yalu river valley, beyond effective Khitan control, formed their own state. Its beginnings are obscure; it is first recorded in the 930s and 970s, with a royal house sometimes linked to the Yeol family.

Rule and society

Known almost entirely from Chinese and Korean chronicles, Dingan presented itself as heir to Balhae. In 970 its king Yeol Man-hwa (Lie Wanhua) sent envoys to the Song Dynasty, and in 981 King O Hyeon-myeong (Wu Xuanming) proposed joint action against the Khitan, but no help came.

Decline and legacy

Emperor Shengzong of Liao sent a campaign in 985 that destroyed the kingdom by 986. Its people were deported or fled, many to Goryeo, which absorbed numerous Balhae refugees in this period.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

Balhae 698 CE – 926 CEDingan

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Dingan. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dingan
MLA
“Dingan.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dingan. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Dingan.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dingan.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Dingan’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/dingan (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻