 The Jurchens were a <unk> @-@ speaking group of semi @-@ agrarian tribes inhabiting areas of northeast Asia that are now part of Northeast China . Many of the Jurchen tribes were vassals of the Liao dynasty ( 907 – 1125 ) , an empire ruled by the nomadic Khitans that included most of modern Mongolia , a portion of North China , Northeast China , northern Korea , and parts of the Russian Far East . To the south of the Liao lay the Han Chinese Song Empire ( 960 – <unk> ) . The Song and Liao were at peace , but since a military defeat to the Liao in 1005 , the Song paid its northern neighbor an annual indemnity of 200 @,@ 000 bolts of silk and 100 @,@ 000 ounces of silver . 
