The Mongol regime established by Genghis Khan initially had no cities. Wherever the Mongol flock of sheep and horses went, they set up tents. Even the great ceremony of embracing Temujin as Genghis Khan was held only at the source of the River of Difficulties, in a place of fertile water and grass.
As the Mongols conquered more and more places, countless gold and silver jewelry became the spoils of war for the Mongols. On the other hand, in order to make the princes and nobles live a comfortable life, Genghis Khan built a royal city composed of thousands of tents in Ordos, which played the role of a capital city.
The second Great Khan Kuo wotai built a capital city in Helin, but this was only a rudimentary capital, far from being comparable to the cities of the Central Plains. The Mongol prince who really built the city was Kublai Khan. After Möngke succeeded to the Khan's throne, Kublai Khan was in charge of the full administration of the Southern Han Dynasty.
Kublai Khan liked Han culture and the excellent achievements of civilization of various nationalities. Instead of adopting the Mongol system directly, he learned from other peoples to build a city to absorb talents from all ethnic groups.
The city was located on the Jinlian River, the junction of present-day Inner Mongolia and Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province. This is a region where nomadic and agricultural herding are intertwined, and the rice grains eaten by the Han people and the milk meat eaten by the Mongols can be easily obtained.
The Jinlianchuan area was originally a place where the emperors of the Jin Dynasty took refuge from the summer, and once built a Jingming Palace. Kublai Khan ordered Liu Bingzhong to re-choose the address and build a new city. The city was then called Kaiping Province, which belonged to Kublai Khan's palace.
The architectural style of Kaiping Province absorbs the characteristics of Mongolia, Han And Western Regions, and integrates palaces and tents. The walls are about 9,000 meters long, most of which are Kublai Khan's palaces. There are also many Buddhist temples and palaces built as places for officials to hunt and worship the Buddha.
Kublai Khan, who usually lived in Kaiping Province, appointed more and more Han officials to form his own ruling team, which the history books refer to as the Jinlianchuan shogunate. Most of these shogunate officials later became founding fathers of the Yuan Dynasty. It can be said that it was in Kaiping Province that a powerful empire was born.
Kaiping City played a great role in recruiting Han officials. In the eyes of the Han Chinese, the Mongols, whose capital was built thousands of miles away, were not worthy of allegiance. Kublai Khan was the king who was willing to inherit the Central Plains legal system.
And that's exactly what happened. After Möngke's death, Kublai Khan proclaimed himself the Great Khan of the Mongols in Kaiping Province. According to tradition, the Great Khan of the Mongols was elected by the princes and nobles on the banks of the Hunan River. Kublai Khan's khanship was not recognized, so what to do? Boom!
The Mongol nobles elected Ali Buge as the Great Khan, and Kublai Khan suddenly became a traitor. In the end, however, it was up to force to decide. Kublai Khan, with the support of the Han chinese in Kaiping Province, defeated Ali Buge and seized the Khan's throne. The Mongol Empire was torn apart from then on, and the Great Khanate was no longer able to command all the Mongols.
Kublai Khan won the victory with Kaiping Province, but in the blink of an eye, he abandoned Kaiping Province and designated Yanjing, which was closer to The Han Dynasty, as the new capital and named Itu. Kaiping Province was changed to Shangdu and became the emperor's summer residence.
The status of Shangdu has since plummeted, Marco Polo and other tourists from the West, when visiting Shangdu, they all marvel at the luxury of Shangdu, and in the travel book "Marco Polo Travels" big book, so that Shangdu has become an oriental dream city that Europeans yearn for.
After the Yuan Dynasty was driven back to the grassland by Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming army, Shangdu was too close to the Han Dynasty and difficult to defend. The Northern Yuan Emperor ran all the way to the original capital and Forest to feel a little bit safe. The Ming army was also not polite, first burning the miyagi castle in Shangdu, and then setting up KaipingWei as a front line against the Mongol army.
After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the weather became more and more cold, and the Kaiping Wei on the edge of the grassland was no longer suitable for Tuntian. As a result, the Ming army abolished Kaipingwei and moved the army to a further south. The city has since fallen silent, completely lifeless, and in ruins.
It was not until the 1980s that The upper capital regained the attention of the local government, and in 2009 a comprehensive archaeological excavation was carried out, and it is currently being declared a world cultural heritage. The city that led to the rise of Kublai Khan and the Yuan Dynasty once again showed the world its former glory.
[References: "Ruins of Yuan Shangdu", "Marco Polo's Travels"]