Emperor Tianzuo, whose personal name was Yelu Yanxi, was born in 1075 as a prince of the Khitan Liao Dynasty. In 1101, he succeeded his grandfather to become the ninth and final emperor of the vast Liao Empire, which ruled northern China and Mongolia. However, instead of taking care of his people and managing the state, the Emperor was deeply obsessed with personal pleasures, especially hunting in the wild forests and frozen rivers.
His dangerous passion for hunting led to a terrible tragedy. Emperor Tianzuo was obsessed with 'Haidongqing,' a legendary falcon known as the King of Birds or the Azure Falcon of the East. In nomadic legends, the Haidongqing was believed to be a sacred spirit of the sky that possessed the power of the wind. To catch these rare hunting falcons, the Emperor forced the Jurchen tribes in the east to venture deep into dangerous mountains and frozen swamps. Many Jurchen hunters lost their lives while trying to fulfill this cruel demand. This deeply angered the Jurchens and directly sparked their historic rebellion led by Wanyan Aguda.
In 1112, Emperor Tianzuo held the famous 'Fish Head Feast' on the frozen river and commanded all the Jurchen chieftains to dance for his amusement. Among them, only Wanyan Aguda refused to dance and stared back fearlessly. Although his advisors warned him to execute Aguda, the Emperor ignored their advice, which would become his greatest regret. By 1115, the united Jurchen tribes founded the Jin Dynasty and marched against the Liao forces. Just as the Emperor prepared to fight them, his own relative Yelu Zhangnu launched a rebellion in the rear to depose him. This internal coup threw the Liao army into chaos, leading to a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Hubodagang.
As the Jin armies captured one capital after another, Emperor Tianzuo spent his final years constantly running away to the western deserts and grasslands. In 1125, he was finally captured by the Jin general Wanyan Loushi, bringing a tragic end to the 210-year-old Liao Empire. The Jin Dynasty degraded him with the title 'Prince of the Seaside' and sent him into exile, where he passed away. According to local folklore, a mystical white deer once appeared to him during his flight, shedding tears of sorrow over the fallen empire, representing the weeping of the ancestral spirits of the Khitan people.