The Liao dynasty was founded by the Khitan people (契丹 Qìdān) and ruled Manchuria, Mongolia, and parts of north China for two centuries. It's the source of the Russian and Slavic word 'Kitai' (Китай) for China. The province name 辽宁 means 'Liao region pacified' — referring to the Liao river basin.
usage
On its own as a license-plate or news abbreviation, 辽 means Liaoning province. As a bound morpheme it carries the literary sense 'distant', most often seen in 辽阔 (liáokuò, 'vast') and 辽远 (liáoyuǎn, 'far, distant').
