History of Beijing in different dynasties. Beijing. Fall of the Mongol Empire and Subjugation of Manchu
The literal translation of the name of this largest world city is “Northern Capital”. History goes back more than one thousand years, it is difficult to say what was the starting point for the appearance of a new geographical object on the world map. Sinologists talk about the existence of cities on the territory of the modern capital already in the first millennium, and BC. And the most famous of them is the city of Ji, which became the capital of the kingdom of Yan.
Ancient history of Beijing
After the fall of the Yan kingdom, one dynasty after another began to come to these lands. Representatives of each of them (Jin, Han, Tang) saw the future of these territories in their own way, so they included the area in various districts, divided it or annexed new lands. Among the important events of ancient history, scientists note the following:
- 755 - an uprising led by Al Lushan, which became the starting point for the decline of the Tang Dynasty;
- 936 - the territory passes to the Liao dynasty, it made the place its main city with the symbolic name - “Southern Capital”;
- 1125 - the era of the Jin Dynasty, the formation of the Central Capital;
- 1215 - the period of Mongol rule (from Genghis Khan to Kublai);
- 1421 - Emperor Yongle returns the capital from Beijing.
For Beijing, the last moment was very important, at this time the city acquired modern shape, significantly expanding its borders. Sinologists claim that until the middle of the 19th century it was one of the largest cities in the world, perhaps this is a key moment in the history of Beijing in the most concise, condensed presentation.
From the Middle Ages to the present
Since the 15th century, the city has not stopped developing for a second. Amazing architectural structures are being built, masterpieces of world architecture and culture, for example, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. Every tourist who comes to the capital of this state knows about the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the symbol of China.
Although it is impossible to call the history of Beijing, like all of China, peaceful - there are too many applicants for the right to own the city, although the city retains the status of the capital. In 1860, Europeans reached Beijing; the British and French plundered the city and burned several important objects. 40 years later the city experienced another invasion by European armies.
The twentieth century brought its wars, redistribution of power and territories. Beijing was constantly under threat of being deprived of its status as the main city of China; its main competitor was Nanjing. In addition, Beijing was renamed Peiping several times and the old name was returned.
Evidence that already 6-7 thousand years ago in these places people were engaged in agriculture.
The beginning of Chinese statehood
The first mentions of Beijing in historical chronicles are associated with the events of the 11th century BC. BC, when the Zhou Dynasty overthrew the Shang Dynasty. Sima Qian in “Historical Notes” writes:
Shao Gong Shi was from the same family as the founder of the house of Zhou and bore the family surname Ji. The Zhou Wu-wan, having defeated the Yin ruler of Zhou, granted Shao-gun land in Northern Yan.
Modern historians interpret it this way: Shi was one of the representatives of the Zhou clan, a collateral relative of Wen Wang, and bore the title “Shao Kung.” Wu-wan allocated him an inheritance in the north of Zhou so that he would cover the central lands from barbarian raids. Since these lands were limited to the north by the Yanshan Mountains, after the name of the mountains the entire estate began to be called “Yan”.
In 304, the state of Jin was destroyed by the steppe people, who formed sixteen barbarian states in its place. During this period, the territory of modern Beijing was in turn part of the states of Early Qin, Later Zhao, Early Yan and Later Yan. Finally, in 386, northern China was united under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, and Ji regained its status as a district center. However, due to the fact that back in 370, Jizhou County was created on the territory of modern Tianjin (Ji County still exists there), the city of Ji, located on the site of modern Beijing, began to be called Yuzhou, like the entire district.
The Sui dynasty, which reunified China in 612, began a war with the Korean states. To deliver troops and food, Emperor Yangdi built a network of canals connecting Yuzhou with the North China Plain. These wars were continued by the Tang Dynasty that succeeded the Sui Dynasty; In memory of the victims of these wars, Emperor Taizong erected the Fayuan Temple 3 km southeast of Youzhou.
During the Tang Dynasty, the division of China into 10 provinces was introduced, so the status of the districts decreased. Initially, the Tang Empire had 358 counties, one of which was Yuzhou. In 742, Youzhou was briefly renamed a region Fanyang(Chinese: 范阳郡), however, already in 758 it regained its old name Youzhou. Beginning in 710, governor-generals began to be established in the border regions to protect against raids by nomads, headed by the Jedushi; Yuzhou became the headquarters of Fanyang Jedushi, which was supposed to protect the Tang Empire from si and Khitans. In 755, Yuzhou rebelled Jedushi An Lushan, the An Lushan rebellion became one of the largest armed conflicts in terms of the number of victims in the entire history of mankind. The ten-year rebellion seriously weakened the Tang dynasty, and opened the way for the Khitan to northern China, which ultimately led to the rise of Beijing.
After the collapse of the Tang Empire at the beginning of the 10th century, China began the era of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. In the north of China at this time, dynasties replaced one another, ruling for only a few years. In 923, the Shatuo Turks founded the Later Tang Dynasty, which at the height of its power controlled almost all of Northern China. In 936, the military leader Shi Jingtang decided to revolt, and at the same time turned to the Khitans for help. The Khitan demanded territorial concessions for their help. When Shi Jingtang proclaimed the founding of the Later Jin dynasty, he was forced to hand over sixteen counties (including Yuzhou) to the Khitans for their support.
Liao and Jin dynasties
In 1125, the Khitans were driven out by the Jurchens, who founded their own state, Jin. After the Jin military leader Wangyang Liang killed Emperor Xizong and took the throne himself, in the fourth month of the third year of his reign, under the motto “Tiande” (1151), he issued an edict moving the capital from Shangjing to Nanjing. The city was renamed from “Nanjing” (“Southern Capital”) to “Zhongdu” (“Central Capital”), and its full official name became Zhongdu Daxingfu(Chinese: 中都大兴府). Thus, for the first time in its history, Beijing became the capital of a large empire.
Zhongdu was surrounded by a fortress wall with 13 gates (4 in the northern wall, and 3 in each of the others), the remains of which are still preserved in the Fengtai region. In 1198, the Lugouqiao stone bridge was built across the Yundinghe River.
In 1215, Zhongdu was taken by the troops of Genghis Khan. The Mongols completely destroyed the city.
Yuan Dynasty
Khanbalik Plan
For half a century, there were only ruins on the site of Zhongdu. In 1264, Kublai Khan decided to build his own capital near this place. Construction was supervised by architects Liu Bingzhong and Amir ad-Din. After its founding in 1271 by the Yuan Dynasty, the city became the new capital of the empire (Khubilai's former headquarters - Shangdu - received the status of "summer capital"). In Mongolian the city was called Khanbalyk(“City of Khan”), in Chinese - Daidu(“Great Capital”).
The new city was built northeast of the ruined Zhongdu, around the Gaoliang River, transformed into six "seas" (lakes): Houhai, Qianhai, Xihai (together known as Shichahai), Beihai, Zhonghai and Nanhai (together known as Zhongnanhai). To further improve the city's water supply, engineer Guo Shoujing built a network of canals, through which water from springs from the Yuquan Mountain located in the northwest through the Kunminghu Reservoir began to flow to Khanbalik. The extension of the Grand Canal allowed grain barges from the southern provinces to unload directly into the city center, which also contributed to population growth.
Ming Dynasty
The fortress walls of old Beijing
On the borders of the new empire, Zhu Yuanzhang began to create inheritances, which he distributed to members of the imperial clan, primarily to his sons. His fourth son, Zhu Di, received the inheritance with the capital in Beiping; his task was to protect Chinese lands from a possible attack by the Mongols from the north. Since Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son died during his lifetime, after the death of the emperor in 1402, the 16-year-old grandson inherited the throne, which did not please the living sons of Zhu Yuanzhang. During the fast-moving civil war, Zhu Di won, and in 1403 he became the new emperor. In 1421, he moved the capital of the empire from Nanjing to Beiping, and renamed the city Beijing(Chinese 北京, “Northern capital”, in Russian tradition reads as Beijing). It was under Zhu Di that such famous Beijing sites as the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven were built. The transfer of the capital to the north forced the imperial authorities to pay more attention to the defense of the northern borders; that part of the Great Wall that runs through the territory of the central city of Beijing was mainly built during the Ming Dynasty.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the northern part of the former Khanbalyk was abandoned, and the city itself moved south. The northern wall of the new Inner City now ran 2.5 km south of the previous one, and the southern wall half a kilometer further south. These walls stood the test in 1449, when, as a result of the Tumu disaster, Emperor Zhu Qizhen was captured by the Oirats, and the Oirat leader Esen-taishi went on a campaign against the Chinese capital. The defense of the city was led by Minister Yu Qian, who, in response to Esen's demands, replied that the defense of the state was more important than the life of the captive emperor. Zhu Qiyu was installed on the throne, the new Chinese army defeated the Oirats, who were forced to leave. Three years later, Esen-taishi released Zhu Qizhen without any ransom, he returned to the throne and executed Yu Qian. Later, Yu Qian's house in the Dongdan district was turned into his funeral temple.
In 1813, a group of militants from the White Lotus Buddhist sect made a surprise attack on the Forbidden City. They were repulsed by the guards, but to control the population, the authorities then introduced a system of mutual responsibility ( baojia).
Republic of China
Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening-up policies led to Beijing's explosive growth in the 1990s; New districts grew in the countryside surrounding the city. However, rapid modernization and sharp population growth have led to numerous problems: heavy traffic, environmental pollution, destruction of historical buildings, and a large number of migrants from villages. Air pollution led to the city's failure to win a bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games in 1993. In 2005, the city government tried to take control of the problems by allowing development of the city only in the eastern and western directions (the previous long-term plan provided for the development of the city in radial directions from the center in all directions). The efforts of the city authorities bore fruit, and
Beijing (Chinese: 北京, pal. Beijing, pinyin Běijīng, literally “Northern Capital”) is the capital and one of the central cities of the People's Republic of China. Beijing is surrounded on three sides by Hebei Province and borders Tianjin in the southeast.
Beijing (Beijing) is the second city in China in terms of population after Shanghai. It is the largest railway and road junction and one of the main air hubs in the country. In addition, Beijing is the political, educational and cultural center of the PRC, while Shanghai and Hong Kong are considered the main economic centers. At the same time, Beijing has recently taken on the role of a driving force for entrepreneurial activity and the main field for creating innovative enterprises.
Beijing is one of the four ancient capitals of China. In 2008, the Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing.
Name
Beijing (in normative northern pronunciation - Beijing, Chinese 北京, pinyin Běijīng) literally means "Capital of the North", following the common East Asian tradition that capital status is directly reflected in the name. Other cities named similarly are Nanjing in China (南京 - "Southern Capital"), Dongkinh (now Hanoi) in Vietnam, and Tokyo in Japan (with the same hieroglyphic spelling 東京 and the same meaning - "Eastern Capital"). The name of another Japanese city, Kyoto (京都) and the old name of Seoul, Gyeongseong (京城), simply mean “capital” or “capital city”.
The name Beijing does not actually correspond to modern Chinese pronunciation. In the official Putonghua dialect (which largely follows the Beijing phonetic norm), the city's name is pronounced Beijing. In English and some other languages in the second half of the 20th century, the name of the city was brought into line with the real pronunciation and is usually written as Beijing. However, in Russian and in many languages the old name is still used (for example, Port. Pequim, Dutch. Peking, etc.). The city was first named “Beijing” by French missionaries four hundred years ago, when the consonant shift had not yet occurred in the northern Chinese dialects, when almost all sounds were transformed into . In the southern dialects this shift did not occur, and, for example, in Cantonese the name of the capital of China is still pronounced "Bakgin".
Beijing has been known by different names in China throughout history. From 136 to 1405 and then from 1928 to 1949 it was called Beiping (Chinese: 北平, pinyin Beiping, literally "Northern Calm"). In both cases it was associated with the transfer of the capital from Beijing to Nanjing (first by the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the second - by the Kuomintang government of the Republic of China) and the loss of Beijing's capital status.
In 1949, after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party of China returned the name Beijing (Beijing), thereby emphasizing the return of the city's functions as a capital. The government of the Republic of China, which fled to Taiwan, never officially recognized the name change, and in the 1950s and 1960s in Taiwan, Beijing often continued to be called Peiping, indicating the illegitimacy of the PRC. However, today almost all Taiwanese, including Taiwanese authorities, use the name "Beijing", although some maps published in Taiwan still show the old name, as well as the pre-1949 administrative divisions of China.
The poetic name of Beijing - Yanjing (Chinese 燕京, pinyin Yānjīng, literally "Capital of Yan") goes back to the ancient times of the Zhou Dynasty, when the kingdom of Yan existed in these places. This name is reflected in the name of the local beer brand (Yanjing Beer) and in the name of Yanjing University (later incorporated into Peking University). During the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, the city was called Khanbalik, it can be found in the notes of Marco Polo in the spelling Cambuluc.
Main article: History of Beijing
Cities in the Beijing area have existed since the first millennium BC. On the territory of the modern capital of China, the city of Ji (薊/蓟) was located - the capital of the kingdom of Yan, one of the states of the Warring States period (473-221 BC).
After the fall of Yan, the subsequent Han and Jin dynasties included this area in various counties. During the Tang Dynasty, this area became the headquarters of Jiedushi Fanyang, the military governor of the northern part of modern Hebei Province. The An Lushan Rebellion began here in 755, which is often seen as the starting point of the fall of the Tang Dynasty.
In 936, the northern Chinese Later Jin (936-947) gave most of the northern borderlands, including the territory of modern Beijing, to the Khitan Liao dynasty. In 938, the Liao dynasty established a second capital of its state on the site of present-day Beijing, calling it Nanjing (“Capital of the South”). In 1125, the Jurchen Jin Dynasty annexed the Liao Kingdom and in 1153 moved its capital to Nanjing, renaming it Zhongdu (中都 - "Central Capital"). It was located in the modern Tianning district, just southwest of the center of Beijing.
Zhongdu was burned to the ground by Mongol troops in 1215 and rebuilt a little further north in 1267. In preparation for the conquest of all of China, the future founder of the Yuan dynasty, Kublai Khan, made the city his capital and called it Dadu in Chinese (Chinese 大都, pinyin Dàdū, literally “Great Capital”), and in Mongolian - Khanbalik (Great Residence of the Khan). It was at this time that Marco Polo visited China, and in his records this city is found under the name Cambuluc. Previously, the capitals of the Chinese state were usually located in the central regions of the country, but Kublai Kublai's main base was located in Mongolia, so he chose this place because of its proximity. This decision of the khan elevated the status of the city, located on the northern outskirts of historical China. Dadu was located slightly north of the modern center of Beijing, between the northern sections of the current Second and Third Ring Roads. Remnants of Mongol fortress walls still stand in this area.
In 1368, the Yuan Dynasty fell, the city was again destroyed, but later rebuilt by the Ming Dynasty, and Shuntian County (順天) was established around it. In 1403, the third Ming Emperor Yongle again moved the capital from Nanjing to this city, renaming it Beijing (Chinese: 北京, Pal. Beijing, literally “Northern Capital”). The city also became known as Jingshi (京師 - "capital"). During the Ming Dynasty, Beijing acquired its modern contours, and the Ming fortress wall served as the city wall of Beijing until recently, when it was demolished to build the Second Ring Road in its place.
It is believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world during the periods from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825. The Forbidden City, the residence of the Ming and Qing emperors, was built in 1406-1420, after which the Temple of Heaven (1420) and other significant structures were built. The main entrance to the Forbidden City - the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen Gate), which became the state symbol of the People's Republic of China and depicted on its coat of arms, burned twice during the Ming Dynasty and was finally restored in 1651.
The Manchus invaded China and overthrew the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty. Beijing remained the capital of Qing China throughout the dynasty's reign. As during the previous dynasty, the city was also called Qingshi, or in Manchu - Gemun Heceng. In 1900, the city suffered a siege and invasion by a combined army of Western powers during the Boxer Rebellion.
In 1911, China experienced the bourgeois Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew Qing rule and established a republic, and the capital was initially planned to be moved to Nanjing. However, after the high Qing dignitary Yuan Shikai sided with the revolutionaries and forced the emperor to abdicate, thereby ensuring the success of the revolution, the revolutionaries in Nanjing agreed that Yuan Shikai would become president of the established Republic of China and that the capital would remain in Beijing.
Yuan Shikai began to gradually consolidate power in his hands, which in 1915 ended with him declaring the creation of the Chinese Empire, and himself as the emperor. This decision turned many revolutionaries away from him, and he himself died a year later. After his death, China disintegrated into regions controlled by local warlords, the strongest of which began frequent clashes for control of Beijing (Zhili-Anhui War, First Zhili-Fintian War and Second Zhili-Fintian War).
After the success of the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition, which pacified the northern warlords, in 1928 the capital of the Republic of China was officially moved to Nanjing, and Beijing was renamed Beiping - (Chinese 北平, pinyin Běipíng, literally "Northern Calm"), which was intended to emphasize illegitimacy military government in Beijing.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Beijing fell into Japanese hands on July 29, 1937. During the occupation, the name "Beijing" was returned to the city, and the puppet Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established, under which the ethnically Chinese parts of Japanese-occupied northern China were assigned. It was then merged with Wang Jingwei's main occupation government in Nanjing. The Imperial Japanese Army stationed Detachment 1855 for Bacteriological Research in the city, which was a subdivision of Detachment 731. Japanese doctors conducted experiments on humans there.
On August 15, 1945, simultaneously with the surrender of Japan in World War II, Beijing was again renamed Peiping.
On January 31, 1949, during the civil war, the city was taken by the communists without a fight. On October 1 of the same year, the CCP, led by Mao Zedong, announced the creation of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square. A few days earlier, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference decided to establish the capital in Beiping and return its name to Beijing (Beijing).
At the time of the formation of the administrative unit of the central city of Beijing, it included only the urban area and the nearest suburbs. The urban area was divided into many small districts, which were located inside the modern Second Ring Road. Since then, several counties have entered the territory of the city of central subordination, thus increasing its area several times and giving its borders the current outline. Beijing's fortress wall was destroyed between 1965 and 1969. for the construction of the Second Ring Road in its place.
After Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms began, Beijing's urban area expanded significantly. If before this it was located inside the modern Second and Third Ring Roads, now it gradually extends beyond the recently built Fifth Ring Road and approaches the Sixth Ring Road under construction, occupying territories previously used for agriculture and developing them as residential or business areas. A new business center emerged in the Guomao area, Wangfujing and Xidan areas became booming commercial areas, and Zhongguancun Village became one of the main centers of China's electronics industry.
In recent years, urban expansion and urbanization have brought with them many problems, including traffic congestion, air pollution, the destruction of historic buildings and a significant influx of migrants from poorer regions of the country, especially rural areas.
In early 2005, the government adopted a plan designed to stop Beijing's expansion in all directions. It was decided to abandon further development of the city in the form of concentric rings, concentrating it in two semicircular stripes to the west and east of the city center.
Geography and climate
Beijing sits at the northern tip of the roughly triangular Great Plain of China. The plain extends on the southern and eastern sides of the city. The mountains located to the north and west of Beijing protect the city and the main agricultural breadbasket of northern China from the advance of the Mongolian deserts and steppes. The northwestern regions of Beijing's administrative territory, especially Yanqing County and Huairou District, include the Jundu Mountains, while the western regions of the city are bordered by the Xishan Mountains. The construction of the Great Wall of China, which in this section stretches along the mountain ridges along the northern border of Beijing, took advantage of these landscape advantages to protect against northern nomadic tribes. Mount Dongling, part of the Xishan Mountains and located on the border with Hebei Province, is the highest point in Beijing, its height is 2303 m. Among the major rivers flowing through Beijing, the Yunding River and the Chaobai River are both part of the Haihe River basin and flow in the southern direction. In addition, Beijing is the northern terminus of the Great Canal of China, which passes through the Great Chinese Plain and ends in the south at Hangzhou. The Miyun Reservoir, built on the upper reaches of the Chaobai River, is the largest in Beijing and is a key element of the city's water supply system.
The Beijing urban area is located at 39°54′20″ N. w. 116°23′29″ E. d. / 39.905556° n. w. 116.391389° E. (G)39.905556, 116.391389 (39.9056, 116.3914) in the central-southern part of the administrative territory of Beijing and occupies a smaller but constantly increasing part of its area. It diverges in circles enclosed between the concentric ring roads of Beijing, the fifth and largest of which, the Sixth Beijing Ring Road (ring numbering starts from 2) passes through the satellite cities of the Chinese capital. Tiananmen Gate and Tiananmen Square form the center of the city. Adjacent to the north is the Forbidden City, the former residence of Chinese emperors. West of Tiananmen is the government headquarters of Zhonnanhai. From east to west, the center of Beijing is crossed by Chang'anjie Street, one of the main transport arteries of the city.
Beijing is located in a monsoon-prone humid continental climate (Dwa according to the Köppen climate classification), characterized by hot, humid summers due to the influence of the East Asian monsoons and cold, windy, dry winters influenced by the Siberian anticyclones. The average temperature in January is −7… −4°C, in July - 25… 26°C. There is more than 600 millimeters of precipitation per year, 75% of which falls in the summer, so in Beijing it can often be below -10 in winter, without snow.
A serious problem in Beijing is severe air pollution and poor air quality due to emissions from industrial plants and transport. Sand produced by desert erosion in northern and northeastern China leads to seasonal sandstorms that can paralyze city life. In the first four months of 2006 alone, there were eight sandstorms in Beijing. The fight against pollution has become one of the main tasks of the authorities in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Plan
Introduction
1 Prehistoric times
2 The beginning of Chinese statehood
3 First Chinese empires
4 Liao and Jin Dynasties
5 Yuan Dynasty
6 Ming Dynasty
7 Qing Dynasty
8 Republic of China
9 People's Republic of China
Introduction
The capital of the People's Republic of China, Beijing has a very ancient and rich history.
1. Prehistoric times
The earliest remains of hominids that lived in the territory of the central city of Beijing were discovered in a cave on Mount Longgushan near the village of Zhoukoudian, in the Fangshan region. There, in the 1930s, bones of synanthropes were found - representatives of the species Homo erectus, who lived in these places between 77 and 230 thousand years ago.
Traces of representatives of the species Homo sapiens, who lived in these areas during the Paleolithic period, between 27 and 10 thousand years ago, were also found in the caves. On the plains around Beijing, archaeologists have discovered the remains of Neolithic settlements, indicating that already 6-7 thousand years ago people were engaged in agriculture in these places.
2. The beginning of Chinese statehood
The first mentions of Beijing in historical chronicles are associated with the events of the 11th century BC. BC, when the Zhou Dynasty overthrew the Shang Dynasty. Sima Qian writes in “Historical Notes”:
Shao Gong Shi was from the same family as the founder of the house of Zhou and bore the family surname Ji. The Zhou Wu-wan, having defeated the Yin ruler of Zhou, granted Shao-gun land in Northern Yan.
Modern historians interpret it this way: Shi was one of the representatives of the Zhou clan, a relative of Wen-wan on the lateral line, and bore the title “Shao-kung”. Wu-wan allocated him an inheritance in the north of Zhou so that he would cover the central lands from barbarian raids. Since these lands were limited to the north by the Yanshan Mountains, after the name of the mountains the entire estate began to be called “Yan”.
The city became the capital of the Yan Kingdom Ji(Chinese 薊), which was located in the southwestern part of modern Beijing, in the Xuanwu and Fengtai districts. Initially, it was a separate city-state (Confucius mentions that the rulers of Ji were descendants of Huang Di), but around the 9th-8th centuries BC. e. Yan was absorbed and became its capital; Previously, the capital of Yan was located in the area of the village of Dongjialin, which is in Liulihe on the territory of the modern Fangshan region (it was there that the remains of a walled settlement and the graves of about 200 noble people were discovered). For these reasons, Beijing is often figuratively called Yanjing(Chinese 燕京, “capital of Yan”). Like the subsequent rulers of Beijing, the Yan kingdom was constantly under threat of attack by nomads from the northern steppes, and therefore built defensive structures along its northern borders.
In the 3rd century BC. e. The Yan kingdom was destroyed by the Qin kingdom, forming the first centralized empire in Chinese history.
3. The first Chinese empires
With the formation of the Qin Empire, the city of Ji became just a provincial town near its northern border. Qin was a highly centralized state, and as part of the unification of the administrative-territorial division, it was divided into 48 regions - jun(Chinese: 郡), two of which were located on the territory of the modern city of Beijing: Ji became the capital of the Guangyang region (Chinese: 广阳郡), and to the north, in the territory of modern Miyun County, the Yuyang region was created.
The Qin Empire turned out to be short-lived and was soon replaced by the Han Empire. Initially, the bonds of centralization were weakened, and Ji City became Guangyang's destiny(Chinese: 广阳国), but in 106 BC. e. Emperor Wu divided the territory of the empire into 13 districts - zhou(Chinese: 州), and Ji became the capital of Yuzhou County (Chinese: 幽州).
During the era of the Three Kingdoms, when instead of one state three were formed on Chinese territory, 10 of the 13 Han districts (including Yuzhou) went to the Wei kingdom. Subsequently, when China united again, forming the state of Jin, Ji lost its status as a district center (modern Zhuoxian of Hebei Province became the administrative center of Youzhou). During this period, the Buddhist temple complex of Tanzhe was built in the Xishan Mountains.
In 304, the state of Jin was destroyed by the steppe people, who formed sixteen barbarian states in its place. During this period, the territory of modern Beijing was in turn part of the states of Early Qin, Later Zhao, Early Yan and Later Yan. Finally, in 386, northern China was united under the rule of the Northern Wei dynasty, and Ji regained its status as a district center. However, due to the fact that back in 370, Jizhou County was created on the territory of modern Tianjin (Ji County still exists there), the city of Ji, located on the site of modern Beijing, began to be called Yuzhou, like the entire district.
The Sui dynasty, which reunified China in 612, began a war with the Korean states. To deliver troops and food, Emperor Yangdi built a network of canals connecting Yuzhou with the North China Plain. These wars were continued by the Tang Dynasty that succeeded the Sui Dynasty; In memory of the victims of these wars, Emperor Taizong erected the Fayuan Temple 3 km southeast of Yuzhou.
During the Tang Dynasty, the division of China into 10 provinces was introduced, so the status of the districts decreased. Initially, the Tang Empire had 358 counties, one of which was Yuzhou. In 742, Youzhou was briefly renamed a region Fanyang(Chinese: 范阳郡), however, already in 758 it regained its old name Youzhou. Beginning in 710, in the border regions, to protect against the attacks of nomads, general governorates began to be established, headed by the Jedushi; Yuzhou became the headquarters of Fanyang Jedushi, which was supposed to protect the Tang Empire from si and Khitans. In 755, Yuzhou rebelled Jedushi An Lushan, the An Lushan rebellion became one of the largest armed conflicts in terms of the number of victims in the entire history of mankind. The ten-year rebellion seriously weakened the Tang Dynasty, and opened the way for the Khitan to northern China, which ultimately led to the rise of Beijing.
After the collapse of the Tang Empire at the beginning of the 10th century, the era of five dynasties and ten kingdoms began in China. In the north of China at this time, dynasties replaced one another, ruling for only a few years. In 923, the Shatuo Turks founded the Later Tang dynasty, which at the peak of its power controlled almost all of Northern China. In 936, the military leader Shi Jingtang decided to revolt, and at the same time turned to the Khitans for help. The Khitan demanded territorial concessions for their help. When Shi Jingtang proclaimed the founding of the Later Jin dynasty, he was forced to hand over sixteen counties (including Yuzhou) to the Khitans for their support.
4. Liao and Jin dynasties
In 938, Yelü Yaogu ordered to make the district center of Yuzhou County (Chinese: 幽州) the southern capital of the Liao state, giving it the official name Nanjing Yudufu(Chinese: 南京幽都府).
The Song Empire, which unified much of China in 960, attempted to recapture the lost northern territories. Song Taizu personally led the troops that in 979 approached Liao Nanjing and besieged the city. The city withstood a three-month siege until, finally, in the battle on the Gaoliang River (northwest of modern Xizhimen), the Song army was defeated by the Khitans. After this, the troops of the Song Empire never again went so far to the north.
In 1012 the name of the city was changed to Nanjing Xijinfu. The Niujie Mosque, which still exists today, was built in 996, and the Tianning Temple was built in 1100-1119.
In 1125, the Khitans were driven out by the Jurchens, who founded their own state, Jin. After the Jin military leader Wangyang Liang killed Emperor Xizong and took the throne himself, in the fourth month of the third year of his reign, under the motto “Tiande” (1151), he issued an edict to move the capital from Shangjing to Nanjing. The city was renamed from “Nanjing” (“Southern Capital”) to “Zhongdu” (“Central Capital”), and its full official name became Zhongdu Daxingfu(Chinese: 中都大兴府). Thus, for the first time in its history, Beijing became the capital of a large empire.
Zhongdu was surrounded by a fortress wall with 13 gates (4 in the northern wall, and 3 in each of the others), the remains of which are still preserved in the Fengtai region. In 1198, the Lugouqiao stone bridge was built across the Yundinghe River.
5. Yuan Dynasty
For half a century, there were only ruins on the site of Zhongdu. In 1264, Khubilai decided to build his own capital near this place. The construction was led by architects Liu Bingzhong and Amir ad-Din. After its founding in 1271 by the Yuan Dynasty, the city became the new capital of the empire (Khubilai's former headquarters - Shangdu - received the status of "summer capital"). In Mongolian the city was called Khanbalyk(“City of Khan”), in Chinese - Daidu(“Great Capital”).
The new city was built northeast of the ruined Zhongdu, around the Gaoliang River, transformed into six "seas" (lakes): Houhai, Qianhai, Xihai (together known as Shichahai), Beihai, Zhonghai and Nanhai (together known as Zhongnanhai). To further improve the city's water supply, engineer Guo Shoujing built a network of canals, through which water from springs from the Yuquan Mountain located in the northwest through the Kunminghu Reservoir began to flow to Khanbalik. The extension of the Grand Canal allowed grain barges from the southern provinces to unload directly into the city center, which also contributed to population growth.
6. Ming Dynasty
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, shortly after proclaiming himself the first emperor of the Ming dynasty in Nanjing, set out on a campaign against Dadu. The last Yuan emperor, Toghon Temur, fled to Shandu, and General Xu Da, having occupied the city, razed the Yuan palaces to the ground. The city itself was renamed Beiping(Chinese 北平, “Northern pacification”); Nanjing became the capital of the new state.
On the borders of the new empire, Zhu Yuanzhang began to create inheritances, which he distributed to members of the imperial clan, primarily to his sons. His fourth son, Zhu Di, received the inheritance with the capital in Beiping; his task was to protect Chinese lands from a possible attack by the Mongols from the north. Since Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son died during his lifetime, after the death of the emperor in 1402, the 16-year-old grandson inherited the throne, which did not please the living sons of Zhu Yuanzhang. During the fast-moving civil war, Zhu Di won, and in 1403 he became the new emperor. In 1421, he moved the capital of the empire from Nanjing to Beiping, and renamed the city Beijing(Chinese 北京, “Northern capital”, in Russian tradition reads as Beijing). It was under Zhu Di that such famous Beijing sites as the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven were built. The transfer of the capital to the north forced the imperial authorities to pay more attention to the defense of the northern borders; that part of the Great Wall that runs through the territory of the central city of Beijing was mainly built during the Ming Dynasty.
History of Beijing dates back more than 500,000 years. In 1929, during excavations in the town of Joudaokou, anthropologists found that on the territory of modern Beijing there once existed settlements of the ancestors of a person unknown to science at that time and later nicknamed “Beijing man.” The first settlements in this area by modern people date back to the third millennium BC. At that time, people mainly ate the fruits of agriculture and hunting.
During the Zhou Dynasty in place modern Beijing A military fortress was built to protect the northeastern borders of the empire and trade with neighboring peoples. Despite the construction of military fortifications of the Great Wall, the city could not hold its defense against the northern invaders for long. During the Song Dynasty, the Mongol Khitan tribe took control of China's northern territories and founded the Liao Dynasty, with its administrative center at Yanjing, in what is today Beijing. In 1125, the Liao were captured by the Manchu tribe of the Jurchens, who in turn founded the capital of Zhongdu, on the same site with tall palaces and a population of over 1 million people (equal to the population of Ancient Rome at the peak of its power in the 1st century AD). Unfortunately, Zhongdu was burned to the ground in 1215. Kublai Khan, the grandson of a powerful conqueror, having defeated the Jing Dynasty in the north and the remnants of the Song Dynasty in the south, founded the Yuan Dynasty with its capital Dadu on the site of the destroyed Zhongdu. The Mongols treated the conquered population harshly, as a result of which, at the first signs of weakening of the central government, numerous uprisings broke out.
In 1368, Zhong Yuanzhang, a poor peasant by birth, founded the Ming Dynasty after the collapse of the turbulent Yuan Dynasty. Dadu was renamed Peiping, and the capital was established in the city of Nanjing, which means "southern capital". After Zhong Yuanzhang's death in 1398, the struggle for power between his 36 sons led to the victory of the decisive and ambitious fourth son, who became known to history as the Yongle Emperor. He moved the Ming Dynasty capital back to Beijing in 1421 and gave the city its present name, which means "northern capital". He also rebuilt the city, giving it a "chessboard" layout, in which form the city exists to this day. A massive building program began in Beijing in 1406. During its implementation, such architectural masterpieces as the Forbidden City (palace complex), the Bell Tower, the Temple of Heaven, etc. were created. The Imperial Palace, located in the center of the city, was surrounded by a network of narrow streets consisting of traditional courtyards-wells. It is worth noting that the bulk of the ancient architectural heritage of Beijing that has survived to date is made up of buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The Yongle Emperor chose a site with a beautiful view to build the imperial cemetery, now known as the Ming Dynasty Tomb. According to the architectural project, the city was expanded, and a moat was built around the palace complex. The central part of Beijing was surrounded by a massive city wall for protection from the northern tribes. For the same purpose, it was decided to reconstruct and strengthen the Beijing part of the Great Wall. As history has shown, all the strengthening measures taken by Yongle were in vain. During the last years of Ming rule, numerous peasant uprisings arose in the country. The largest of them took place under the leadership of Li Zicheng. Despite the fact that he managed to overthrow the ruling dynasty, his attempt to unify the country was unsuccessful. At the same time, the Manchu troops invaded the northeastern part of China. In a decisive battle with the troops of Li Zicheng in 1644, the Manchus were victorious and founded the new Qing dynasty. After this, their troops gradually suppressed pockets of resistance from the remaining parts of the Ming army.
During the reign of the Qing dynasty, today's famous Beijing gardens and park complexes were built. One of them is the famous Old Summer Palace, which was destroyed in 1860 by French and British troops during the Second Opium War. China's defeat in the Opium Wars and the signing of unequal treaties imposed by Western powers gave impetus to the overthrow of the Qin dynasty, the rise of Sun Yat-sen to power and his founding of the Republic of China in 1912. During the existence of the Republic, the capital was again moved to Nanjing, and the name Beiping was again assigned to Beijing, which remained until 1949.
After the end of the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, which assigned some Chinese territories (for example, the city of Qingdao) to Japan as former German possessions. This was the cause of the student uprising on May 4, 1919, who opposed the weakening of China in the hands of northern militarists and Western imperialists. This is how the May 4th Movement arose, one of whose members was Mao Zedong, the founder of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In 1937, after defeating Chinese troops defending Beijing, Japanese troops occupied the city, marking the beginning of a large-scale Japanese intervention in China. Since 1937, full-scale hostilities have unfolded throughout China, which marked the beginning of the war. In the face of an external enemy, communists and nationalists once again united in order to present a united front. After Japan's defeat in World War II, civil war began in China. In 1949, the Nationalists were defeated and fled to the island. Taiwan. This meant a complete victory for the CCP. On October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square, Mao Zedong solemnly proclaimed founding of the People's Republic of China. Beijing has once again become the capital of China. In 1964, the city wall was demolished, along the perimeter of which today the Second Ring Road runs. Tiananmen Square was significantly expanded, and two modern buildings were erected on both sides: the Great Hall of the People (Parliament Building) and the Museum of History and Revolution. In 1950, along with numerous new residential complexes and factories, the Beijing subway was put into operation. The economic reforms launched by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 laid the foundation for the country's modern economic recovery. In the 1990s, roads were widened, new highways were laid, new residential areas were built, and numerous high-rise towers were erected in Beijing's business centers.
