The Jurchen chieftain Wanyan Aguda declared the founding of the Jin dynasty, launching a new imperial regime that soon challenged—and then replaced—Khitans of the Liao across much of northern China.
Jin forces eliminated the Khitan-led Liao dynasty, removing their principal rival in the north and clearing the way for Jin expansion into former Liao territories.
During the Jingkang Incident, Jin troops sacked Kaifeng (Bianjing), capturing Song emperors Huizong and Qinzong—an event that ended the Northern Song and entrenched Jin control over much of north China.
The Southern Song and Jin stabilized their border and ended major hostilities via the Treaty of Shaoxing; its formal ratification helped define a long period of Song–Jin coexistence (with Song tribute and cession of northern claims).
Under Emperor Wanyan Liang, the Jin shifted the primary capital from Huining (in the northeast) to Zhongdu (modern Beijing area), reflecting the dynasty’s deepening governance over North China’s agrarian core.
The Southern Song defeated a Jin fleet off the Shandong coast at Tangdao, blunting Jin attempts to project power by sea during renewed north–south conflict.
At Caishi, the Song repelled Wanyan Liang’s attempt to cross the Yangtze; the battle is noted for Song use of shipborne artillery/trebuchets and gunpowder munitions, and it helped force a strategic Jin withdrawal.
The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan initiated a major invasion of Jin territory, opening the long and ultimately fatal Mongol–Jin conflict.
The Mongols won a decisive campaign at Yehuling (Wild Fox Ridge), shattering major Jin field forces and accelerating the collapse of Jin defenses along the northern frontier.
Facing Mongol pressure around Zhongdu, the Jin court withdrew south and made Kaifeng its main seat of government, signaling a major strategic contraction of Jin power.
After a prolonged siege, Mongol forces took Zhongdu (the former Jin central capital). The city’s fall removed a key Jin political and logistical center in North China.
The siege of Kaifeng (1232–1233) devastated the Jin’s southern capital; accounts describe defenders using gunpowder weapons, but famine and disease weakened the city, and Jin rule rapidly unraveled afterward.
With the capture of Caizhou by Mongol-led forces (with Southern Song participation), the last Jin emperor died and the Jin dynasty formally ended, leaving the Mongols dominant across northern China.
Jin Dynasty (Jurchen) (1115–1234 CE)
