Nanjing was the name for
Beijing during the
Liao dynasty, when
Khitan rulers made the city the
southern capital. To distinguish
Nanjing, which literally means "South Capital" in Chinese, from modern
Nanjing in
Jiangsu Province, Chinese historians sometimes refer to Beijing during the Liao dynasty as
Liao Nanjing . The Khitan rulers of the Liao acquired the city, then known as
Youzhou, in the
cession of the Sixteen Prefectures in 938 from the
Later Jin, and the city was officially renamed
Nanjing, Youdu Fu (南京幽都府). In 1012, the city was renamed
Nanjing, Xijin Fu (南京析津府). The city was also colloquially referred to at the time as
Yanjing. In 1122, the city was captured by the Jurchen
Jin dynasty and was officially renamed Yanjing, ending the use of Nanjing for what is today modern Beijing.