Compared with Xi'an and Luoyang, Beijing's history as the capital is not very long. The Liao State took today's Beijing area as Nanjing, becoming one of the five capitals of the Liao State, but the setting of the Five Capitals was mainly for functional purposes, Nanjing was not the regional political center of the Liao State, and from beginning to end, the political center of the Liao Dynasty was in the emperor's camp - the residence of the Four Hours Bowl. Beijing became the capital of a unified China thanks to the Mongolian Yuan Empire, and it was from this time that Beijing as the capital influenced the development of Chinese history for hundreds of years, and its influence continues to this day.
First, the long eve
In the fourteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's reign (755 CE), An Lushan, who was also the emissary of the three towns of Hedong, Fanyang, and Pinglu, formally rebelled against the Tang in his old lair Fanyang (present-day Beijing), kicking off the eight-year-long Anshi Rebellion. Although the rebellion was eventually suppressed, the pattern of Northeast Asia as a whole was permanently changed. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Hebei region became a difficult place for the Tang Dynasty to rule, and the three Heshuo towns of Youzhou, Chengde, and Weibo were both antagonistic and cooperative with the Tang Dynasty. In order to deal with the three towns of Heshuo, the Tang court was very dependent on the taxes of the Jianghuai region, and in order to ensure the smooth arrival of taxes in Chang'an, the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to the maintenance of the Grand Canal. Cities along the Grand Canal also gradually rose with the development of transportation and trade, and the capital of the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng, developed rapidly during this period. The political center of China's history began to shift from the Guanzhong region in the west to the east.
An Lushan stills
The Anshi Rebellion was like a stone thrown into the lake, completely changing the pattern of the northeast border of the Tang Dynasty, and the rise of the Khitan and Jurchens was affected by this impact to some extent. The Hebei region became the core of the confrontation between the nomadic empire and the agrarian state, and Fanyang, the former home of An Lushan, began to change from a border military town to an international metropolis, and the political center of China's history began to shift to the north.
2. The city of Beijing during the Yuan Dynasty
Kublai Khan
In 1271 AD, Kublai Khan in the Han Dynasty according to the meaning of "Dazha Qianyuan" in the I Ching, the name of the country is "Dayuan", this country name is relative to the Han Dynasty, in the steppe region, the Great Mongolian Ulus is still Kublai Khan's best choice. In the second year of the establishment of the name Of the Great Yuan, Kublai Khan established the new city under construction as Dadu (present-day Beijing area), and from then on Beijing began to become the political center of the country, the capital of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
YuanDadu Ruins Park
The Yuan capital sits north and faces south, and there are three sets of square cities, namely the outer city, the imperial city, and the palace city. According to modern archaeological research, the outer city is 7600 meters long from north to south, 6700 meters wide from east to west, and a total of about 28600 meters around it, which is similar to the "YuanShi Geographical Chronicle""
Sixty miles to the city
The account is generally consistent with the fact that the walls of that time were all made of rammed earth. There are eleven gates in the outer city, and the names of the gates are derived from the guaxiang of the I Ching, such as "Jiande Gate" to take the meaning of "Tianxingjian, gentleman with self-improvement". The Imperial City was located in the southern central area of the outer city, and there were Tailiu Ponds in the Imperial City, which are today's Beihai and Zhonghai. Miyagi castle is slightly easterner in the imperial city, and the overall appearance is a rectangle that is long from north to south and short from east to west. The center of Miyagi is located on the central axis of the city, and most of the important buildings in the city are arranged on both sides of the central axis.
3. The city of Beijing during the Ming Dynasty
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang fixed the capital in Nanjing, and after the Battle of Jingnan, Zhu Di ascended to the emperor's throne. Zhu Di finally decided to move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, mainly for two reasons, one is that Zhu Di has a weak foundation in Nanjing; the other is that although Mongolia was driven to the northern steppes at that time, it could still threaten the security of the Ming Dynasty, and the capital of Beijing had the meaning of the son of heaven guarding the country's gate.
Zhu Di stills
After Xu Da's Northern Expedition invaded the Yuan capital that year, some protective measures were taken against the imperial city of the Yuan capital, one was to reduce the city circle, at that time, the northern part of the capital was sparsely populated and relatively empty, Xu Da decided to abandon this place, and built another north city wall 5 miles to the south, opening two city gates; another measure was to strengthen the city wall and wrap the outside of the original earthen wall with bricks.
Chongzhen committed suicide in Coal Mountain
In order to move the capital to Beijing, Zhu Di ordered the rebuilding of Beijing City on the basis of the Yuan Capital, and the project to rebuild Beijing City was extremely huge, and a million soldiers and civilians were mobilized every year. The new capital city was rebuilt to imitate the regulations of Nanjing,"
All temples, suburban shrines, altars, palaces, and gates are regulated like Nanjing, and the high and open is magnificent
”。 Compared with the Ming Dynasty Beijing City and the Yuan Dynasty, many places have changed, the Ming Dynasty Palace City and the Yuan Dynasty Palace City are on the same north-south axis, but the position has moved south, and the city moat around the Miyagi has been dug again, and the waste soil produced by the digging river has been piled up into an earth mountain, commonly known as "Coal Mountain", and the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen, hanged himself on this earthen mountain. As Miyagi moved south, the southern city wall of Beijing city was also pushed south, and the southern wall of the original Yuan Capital was vacated, and the imperial court ordered it to be built as a north-south street, which is today's East and West Chang'an Avenue. In the nineteenth year of Yongle (1421 AD), Zhu Di was in the imperial palace of the new city of Beijing"
The Imperial Heavenly Temple was blessed with pilgrimage
The Ming Dynasty officially moved the capital to Beijing and promoted Beijing to the "Beijing Division".
4. The city of Beijing during the Qing Dynasty
Yongdingmen City Tower
After the Jiashen Rebellion, the Qing army drove straight into and occupied Beijing, and the young emperor Fu Lin moved from Shenyang to Beijing that year, and offered sacrifices to heaven and earth at the Temple of Heaven, that is, the emperor's throne. After the capital was Beijing, the Qing Dynasty completely followed the Ming Dynasty's Beijing City and did not change the layout of Beijing City. The city bricks above the walls of Beijing were damaged due to age, and the Qing Dynasty ruled during the qing dynasty, the city walls were constantly repaired, and the Qing government also redesigned the city towers of the Ming city walls, and there was no arrow tower on the urn city of the Ming City Tower, and the Qing Dynasty added arrow towers to each urn city, and rebuilt the urns of each gate.
Forbidden city
The Qing Dynasty renamed the outer gate of the main gate of the imperial city Daming Gate as the Great Qing Gate, and carved the "Great Qing Gate" on the stone plaque in Manchu and Chinese, the Great Qing Gate is the outer gate of the imperial city's main gate Tiananmen, there is a Qing Dynasty, all the imperial court ceremonies must be held on Tiananmen Square, after reading the edict on Tiananmen, with a wooden carved golden phoenix mouth title descended, by the ceremonial department officials hand-held to the ceremonial department, written with yellow paper and transmitted to the whole country, this is the so-called "Golden Phoenix Edict". Behind Tiananmen is the Duanmen Gate, and further inside is the Noon Gate, which is the main gate of the Forbidden City. Forbidden City is the special name of the imperial city of the second generation of the Ming and Qing dynasties, after the noon gate is the Jinshui River, across the Jinshui River is the Taihe Gate, inside is the three great halls of the outer dynasty, the Ming Dynasty called the Fengtian Hall, the Huagai Hall, the Zhensheng Hall, the Qing Dynasty in turn changed its name to the Taihe Hall, the Zhonghe Hall, the Baohe Hall, the Taihe Hall is the place where the grand ceremony is held, the new emperor ascends to the pole, New Year's Day, winter solstice, And All Birthday Festival (emperor's birthday) The three major festivals must be ascended in the Taihe Hall and accepted for worship. The inner court behind the three halls is where the emperor and the concubines live, and those who are familiar with the Qing Palace drama must be familiar with the name of the inner court, and the famous Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, Yangxin Hall, etc. are all in the inner court.
Wen Shijun said:
The history of a city often reflects the history of the country over the centuries, and this phrase is most appropriate in the city of Beijing. The history of Beijing is the history of the three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, as well as the history of China's recent past. From the "Little China" with the han nationality as the main body to the "Great Huaxia" where fifty-six ethnic groups coexist harmoniously, Beijing is located at the junction of agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization, and the change in Beijing's status reflects the changing trend from "Little China" to "Great China".
bibliography:
Hidehiro Okada et al., The Glory of the Forbidden City, Social Science Literature Publishing, 2017
Hou Renzhi et al., The Origin and Change of Beijing City, China Bookstore, 2001
Gao Fumei, "Spatial Structure and Functional Characteristics of Ming Beijing City", Beijing Historiography Series, 2017
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Nanhe)
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