China dynasties and capitals · Dynasties and capitals in China
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Dynasties and capitals in China
Dynasties and capitals in China
Many cites have served as the capital of China, or of various smaller states in periods when China was divided. Beijing and Nanjing mean northern capital and southern capital respectively; each has been the capital several times.
Legend has it that the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors (三皇五帝 sānhuáng wǔdì), who were mythical God-like kings, ruled China from about 2852 BCE to 2205 BCE.
The Xia dynasty (夏朝 Xià cháo) seems to have ruled the Yellow River valley area from about 2100 BCE to 1600 BCE, though some experts consider this period more legend than history. However, archaeological evidence at Erlitou has shown that at the very least, an early Bronze Age civilization had already developed by that period.
The first historically confirmed dynasty, the Shang (商朝 Shāng cháo), 1700-1027 BCE, ruled only the Yellow River valley and had their capital near Anyang in Henan. Written Chinese characters began to develop during this time, as evidenced by court records carved on turtle and cattle bones.
The Zhou Dynasty (周朝 Zhōu cháo), 1027-221 BCE, had their first capital at Hao near modern Xi'an. After a military defeat in 771 BCE, they continued as the Eastern Zhou with capital Luoyang. The Zhou is the longest dynasty in Chinese history, lasting about 800 years. However, the Eastern Zhou was a period of political turmoil with various feudal lords vying for power, culminating in the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时代 chūnqiū shídài), during which prominent Chinese philosophers like Confucius and Laozi lived, but later stabilized into seven large states during the Warring States period (战国时代 zhànguó shídài).
The Qin Dynasty (秦朝 Qín cháo), 221-206 BCE was established when King Ying Zheng of Qin defeated the Zhou and the six other feudal states, and became the first ruler to unite an area anything like all of China. The empire thus united, Ying Zheng took a new title: Qin Shi Huangdi - the First August Emperor of Qin. The Qin were the first introduce a centralized system of government for all of China. Their capital was at Xianyang, near modern Xi'an. Our word "China," and the word "Chin" in languages of India, probably comes from their name.
The Han Dynasty (汉朝 Hàn cháo), 206-220 CE, had its capitals at Chang'an near modern Xi'an (Western Han) and Luoyang (Eastern Han). This was the period of the first Silk Road trade, was also the period when paper was invented. Chinese still use Han as the name of their largest ethnic group and Chinese characters are still called "hànzì" (汉字) in Chinese, with similar cognates in Korean and Japanese. The Han is considered by most Chinese to be the first golden age in Chinese civilization.
The fall of the Han Dynasty saw China split into the three states of Wèi (魏), Shǔ (蜀) and Wú (吴), known collectively as the Three Kingdoms (三国 sān guó). Despite lasting for only about 60 years, it is a greatly romanticized period of Chinese history. The capitals of the three states were at Luoyang, Chengdu and Nanjing respectively.
The Jin Dynasty (晋朝 Jìn cháo), briefly re-unified China from 280-317. Though they continued to exist until 420, they only controlled a small area for most of the period. During the unified period, the capital was at Luoyang and later Chang'an.
From 317-581, China was divided. Capitals of various important states included Luoyang, Nanjing and Suzhou.
The short-lived Sui Dynasty (隋朝 Suí cháo), 581-618, managed to re-unify China. It had its capital at Chang'an. The dynasty embarked on major public works projects including the Grand Canal but bankrupted the through massive military campaigns in Korea.
The Tang Dynasty (唐朝 Táng cháo), 618-907, had its capitals at Chang'an and Luoyang. This was the golden age of Chinese poetry, Buddhism and statecraft. It saw the development of the imperial examination system, which attempted to select officials by ability rather than family background. The Tang is considered by most Chinese to be the second golden age in Chinese civilization, and Chinatowns overseas are often known as "Street of the Tang People" (唐人街 Tángrén jiē) in Chinese.
China was then divided once again for about fifty years, during which it was under then control of several small short-lived states. The capitals of the various states include Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Changsha and many others.
The Song dynasty (宋朝 Sòng cháo), 960-1279, again united most of China and had its capital at Kaifeng until it fell to the Jurchens. The Song moved the capital to Nanjing and later to Hangzhou. Eventually, the Mongols defeated the Jurchens and proceeded to conquer the Song empire. Although militarily weak, the Song reached a level of commercial and economic development unmatched until the West's Industrial Revolution. Marco Polo, who was in Hangzhou a few years after the Mongol conquest, describes it as one of the richest and most beautiful cities on Earth. The Jurchen Jin Dynasty maintained a capital at modern-day Beijing.
The Yuan (Mongol) dynasty (元朝 Yuán cháo), 1279-1368, used the area that is now Beijing as their capital. Polo mentions it under the name Canbulac, the Khan's camp.
The Ming dynasty (明朝 Míng cháo), 1368-1644, initially had Nanjing as their capital then moved the capital to Beijing. They built many of Beijing's famous buildings including the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. Several of the most famous Chinese novels including "Journey to The West" (西游记 Xīyóujì), "Water Margin" (水浒传 shuǐhǔzhuàn) and "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" (三国演义 Sānguóyǎnyì) were written during this period.
The Qing (Manchu) dynasty (清朝 Qīng cháo), 1644-1911, used Beijing as the capital of China but they had their own Manchu capital at Shenyang. The famous Chinese novel, "Dream of the Red Chamber" (红楼梦 Hónglóumèng) was written during this period. The Chinese empire grew to its current geographical size largely during this period.
The Republic of China (中华民国 Zhōnghuá Mínguó), which ruled from 1911 to 1949, moved the capital back to Nanjing. Since retreating from the mainland in 1949, they have controlled Taiwan and a few small islands off the coast of Fujian. Taipei is their "temporary capital". During the Second World War, Chongqing was also a temporary capital.
Beijing has been the capital of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国 Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó) since the Communist victory in the civil war in 1949.
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China Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.