The rulers of Liao Dynasty adopted two sets of administrative systems based on the ruling method of "ruling according to customs" for the nationalities in different social development stages in their ruling areas. Northern officials established a special system to rule the Khitan and other nomadic peoples. Officials are generally Qidan nobles, mainly imperial clan and consorts, and finally the aristocratic government of Liao Dynasty.

The official system in the north was the focus of the Liao regime. The Prime Ministers' Offices in the North and South and the Privy Council in the South are the central and power core institutions of the Liao Dynasty, and the Southern Officials are a set of institutions established by the rulers of the Liao Dynasty to manage the Han people by imitating the system of the Tang Dynasty. The more important institutions are the Privy Council and Shangshu Province of the Han people. Because the decision-making power is in the northern official institutions, the southern official Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province are all nominal.

Khitan official system of northern officials

In addition to the establishment of the official system in the south, there are also "frugality, inspection, prevention, group training and secretariat of history, which are salty in the week, such as the Tang system." (The History of Liao Dynasty, Volume 47, Official History, "The Southern Governance of Hanzhou County and the Renting of Military Horses" (ibid.). Northern officials are all Khitan nobles, but they are not hereditary, but are promoted because of their talents. There are many names, and sometimes there are gains and losses. In essence, it also followed the system of Tang and Jin Dynasties. Southern officials still follow the customs of the Han people and select Jinshi by examination. Southern officials have far less power than northern officials.