You know how many ancient capitals there are in Chinese history?
Some say the four ancient capitals, some say the six ancient capitals, the seven ancient capitals, and some say the ten ancient capitals, and there are many opinions.
So, how is a place defined as an ancient capital?
Let's take a look
At present, the least controversial version of the ancient capital is the "four ancient capitals":
Xi'an, Luoyang, Nanjing, Beijing
In the 1920s, kaifeng was listed as one of the ancient capitals in the academic circles, forming the "five ancient capitals".
In the 1930s, Hangzhou was added as one of the "Six Ancient Capitals", but it was not accepted by the public.
In 1983, Professor Chen Qiaoyi published the book "Six Ancient Capitals of China" edited by him, which listed Hangzhou as one of the "six ancient capitals" of the list of ancient capitals.
In 1988, geographer Tan Qijun proposed Anyang as the ancient capital, and anyang was later identified as the seventh ancient capital, so there was the "seven ancient capitals".
In November 2004, the Ancient Capital Society of China recognized Zhengzhou as the eighth largest ancient capital.
In 2010, the Chinese Society of Ancient Capitals identified Datong as one of the nine ancient capitals, and there was the saying of "nine ancient capitals".
In October 2016, the Chinese Society of Ancient Capitals listed Chengdu as one of the top ten ancient capitals, and it was said that it was "ten ancient capitals".
So, which dynasties were the capitals of the major ancient capitals, and what kind of historical evolution did they have?
01 Xi'an
According to several ancient capitals, Xi'an is the most undisputed and veritable ancient capital.
Xi'an, known as Chang'an in ancient times, is the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties, and is the capital city with the largest number of dynasties in Chinese history, the longest capital and the greatest influence.
At the earliest, King Wen of Western Zhou set up his capital here, built Fengjing, and after King Wu took the throne, he built Haojing, collectively known as Fenghao.
The Qin Dynasty unified and set the capital at Xianyang, when the geographical location of Xianyang was on both sides of the Wei River, covering today's Xi'an and parts of Xianyang.
The Han Dynasty continued, and the name "Chang'an" was established. In the 9th year of the last year of the Western Han Dynasty, Sima Mang was proclaimed emperor and changed the capital changing the capital chang to "Chang'an".
The Sui Dynasty fixed the capital of Daxing City, which is today's Xi'an. The Tang Dynasty was established, and Daxing was changed to Chang'an, and the capital was set here. Chang'an in the Sui and Tang dynasties was the largest city in the world at that time, and as the starting point of the overland Silk Road, the prosperity of Chang'an reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty.
"Chang'an looks back at the embroidery piles, the mountain top thousands of doors are opened", "The palace is opened in nine days, and the crown of all nations is crowned", which is the poet's Tang Dynasty.
During the Five Dynasties, it was called "Yongzhou", and the Ming Dynasty began to be called Xi'an, which is still used today.
02
Luoyang
Luoyang is also known as the "ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties", and the history of Luoyang as an ancient capital is often closely related to Xi'an.
In the Great Unification Regime, the Eastern Zhou, Eastern Han, and Western Jin Dynasties made Luoyang the capital.
The Tang Dynasty made Luoyang the eastern capital, and wu zhou, established by Wu Zetian, directly designated Luoyang as the capital, calling it the "divine capital", which fully demonstrated the status of Luoyang as the center of the world.
03 Beijing
Beijing became the capital of the unified national government relatively late, and it was not until the Yuan Dynasty that it became the capital, which was called Dadu at that time.
The three great unification regimes of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties all made Beijing their capitals.
Beijing's biggest advantage is that it is close to modern time, leaving a wealth of historical materials and cultural relics, greatly improving the historical and cultural value, and consolidating the status of the ancient capital.
04 Nanjing
Nanjing, the only southern city among the four ancient capitals, is known as the "ancient capital of the Six Dynasties" and "the capital of the Ten Dynasties", and the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen of the Three Kingdoms of Wu, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the Southern Dynasties were all built here.
"In the old days, Wang Xie Tang Qianyan flew into the homes of ordinary people", "Four hundred and eighty temples in the southern dynasty, how many buildings were in the smoke and rain"... Since ancient times, it has been a scenic and lyrical place for literati and rioters.
05 Unopen
Kaifeng, known in ancient times as The Ancient Capital of the Eight Dynasties, was known as the "Ancient Capital of the Eight Dynasties", but had no experience as the capital of the Great Unification Regime.
So far, there have been more than 4100 years of history of city building and capital construction, successively including the Xia Dynasty, the State of Wei in the Warring States Period, and the Later Liang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou, Song, Jin and so on in the Five Dynasties period, which is known as the ancient capital of the Eight Dynasties.
The Northern Song Dynasty was the most prosperous period of the ancient city of Kaifeng.
The prosperous scene of the Northern Song Dynasty capital city of Bijing, depicted in the "Map of the Upper River of the Qing Ming Dynasty" and the "Tokyo Dream Record", made it an ancient capital that people in later generations yearned for.
06 Hangzhou
Hangzhou was called Lin'an in ancient times, and as an ancient capital, it was also controversial. Because only two dynasties are scheduled to be here, namely the Wuyue State and the Southern Song Dynasty during the Five Dynasties period.
Wu Yue:
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, it was built by Qian Wang. The border was centered on the border of present-day Zhejiang Province, and the capital was Hangzhou, which at its peak had 13 prefectures, 1 army and 86 counties, from Suzhou in the north to Fuzhou in the south.
Southern song dynasty:
Although the Southern Song Dynasty is partial to the south, the city of Lin'an also has a history of capital city that has gone through the 5th Dynasty and 9th Emperor and 152 years.
"Outside the mountain Qingshan Building, the West Lake song and dance for a few hours. The warm wind smoked the tourists drunk, and made Hangzhou a state of Bizhou. ”
It is a portrayal of the southeast corner of the Southern Song Dynasty at that time.
07 Anyang
Anyang is an ancient city with a history of more than 3,000 years, and the Shang King Pangeng officially established the capital in the area of Xiaotun in the current urban area, which lasted for 273 years and became the political, economic and cultural center of the late Shang Dynasty.
After the Shang Dynasty, Cao Wei, Later Zhao, Former Yan, Eastern Wei, Ran Wei, and Northern Qi successively built capitals at Yecheng near Anyang. However, due to the passage of time, the cultural relics on the ground have been destroyed today, and only a few historical relics of high value, such as Yin Ruins, are left.
08 Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou is also controversial among the eight ancient capitals, and at present it mainly relies on the major archaeological excavation results of the Zhengzhou Shangcheng City Site in Guancheng District.
09 Datong
Datong was known as Yunzhong and Pingcheng in ancient times, and was once the capital of Northern Wei, liao and jin.
Datong was once the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the largest political, economic, military and cultural center of Northern China, and an international metropolis.
Since then, with the Northern Wei capital HuapingCheng as the center, Datong is not only the capital of the Jinbei Mengnan-Hebei Western Golden Triangle region and the capital of Dayi, but also became the western important town of the Liaojin and Yuan dynasties, called Xijing for more than 240 years.
The Ming Dynasty was set up in Datong and was the head of the Nine Frontiers.
10 Chengdu
As a famous historical and cultural city with more than 4,500 years of urban civilization, from the ancient city of Baodun to the ruins of Jinsha, five generations of ancient Shu kings established the capital in Chengdu in the pre-Qin period.
After the Qin Dynasty, Chengdu has also become the capital of the five important regimes of Chengjia, Shu Han, Chenghan, Former Shu and Later Shu, and the capital of Chengdu has a history of more than a thousand years, and its historical influence is very huge.
"Shu Dao is difficult, it is difficult to go to the Qingtian", "The spring color of the Jinjiang River comes to heaven and earth, and the floating clouds of The Jade Fortress become ancient and modern", and the pen and ink of the literati also made important notes for this ancient city.
Which of these ancient capitals have you been to?
Do you have any unique feelings for the ancient capital?
Welcome to leave a message to talk about ~