1115 - 1234: Jin Dynasty
Image above - Bodhisattva (wood)
Jin Dynasty (1115-1234)
Founded in 1115 by Jurchen Wanyan Aguda, the Jin Dynasty defeated the Liao Dynasty in 1125, and two years later, the army looted Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, forcing the great migrations of the Song population (over three million) to the South.
After the conquest of northern China, and peace treaties with the Southern Song, the Jin Dynasty experienced a period of prosperity and development of Chinese culture through marriages and the assimilation of Chinese names.
In 1153, the capital Huining in Manchuria (today's Harbin) moved to Zhongdu(today's Beijing). Four years later, in 1157, the palaces of the nobility of Zhongdu are destroyed, and Kaifeng becomes the capital, rebuilt after the looting of 1127.
The Jin Dynasty succumbed to the pressure from the Mongols from the north, and after the conquest of Western Xia Dynasty by Genghis Khan, the Jin empire, with the capture of the capital Kaifeng, comes to an end in 1234.