Dongdan Kingdom

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Dongdan Kingdom (926-936) (동단, 東丹) was the puppet kingdom established by the Khitan to rule the realm of the Balhae Kingdom in Eastern Manchuria.

After conquering the Balhae Kingdom in 926, the Khitan crown prince Yelü Bei ascended to the throne of Dongdan at the old Balhae capital of Huhan in Eastern Manchuria, today's Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province. However, political tension soon evolved between Yelü Bei and his younger brother Yelü Deguang, who took the imperial throne of Khitan after their father Yelü Abaoji died, en route to his homeland from a relatively successful campaign against the Later Tang Dynasty. The new emperor ordered his elder brother to move his capital from Huhan in Eastern Manchuria to Liaoyang in Western Manchuria. Bei obeyed the imperial order but soon fled to North China to avoid possible assassination in 930. Bei's son was elevated to the new king of Dongdan, but the kingdom was annexed by the Khitan Empire in 936.

To continue Balhae's friendly relations with Japan, Dongdan sent a diplomatic mission over the Sea of Japan (East Sea) in 929. But the Japanese court in Kyoto rejected the mission from Dongdan.