History of Beijing
- Wade-Giles romanization:
- Pei-ching
- Conventional:
- Peking
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The early empires
With but few interruptions, Beijing has been the capital of China for some eight centuries, and in number of years as the imperial capital it is exceeded only by Xi’an (Chang’an) in Shaanxi province and Luoyang in Henan province. In prehistoric times the area around Beijing was inhabited by some of the earliest-known human beings. Between 1918 and 1939 the fossil remains of Peking man (formerly Sinanthropus pekinensis; now known as Homo erectus pekinensis), who lived about 770,000 to 230,000 years ago, and of Upper Cave man, who lived about 50,000 years ago, were unearthed at Zhoukoudian, a village in Beijing municipality about 30 miles (50 km) southwest of the central city.
While long periods in Beijing’s early history remain blank, it is certain that some 3,000 years ago Neolithic communities settled on or near the site where the city now stands. During the Zhanguo (Warring States) period (475–256 bc) of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 bc), one of the powerful feudal states, the kingdom of Yan, established its capital, named Ji, near the present city of Beijing; this was the first capital city to be associated with the site. The city was destroyed by the troops of Shihuangdi, founder of the Qin dynasty (221–207 bc).
During the Qin, the Yan capital was incorporated into one of the 36 prefectures then established throughout the country. A new town was built during the succeeding Han dynasty (206 bc–ad 220) that was also known as Yan. Throughout the Han period and the turbulent centuries that followed, however, the place remained a provincial town, most of the time caught in the fateful struggle between the Han Chinese to the south and the nomadic Xiongnu, or Huns, to the north.
During the period of Sanguo (Three Kingdoms; ad 220–280), the city was again called Yan. The northern border of ancient China ran close to the present city of Beijing, and northern nomadic tribes frequently broke in from across the border. Thus, the area that was to become Beijing emerged as an important strategic and a local political centre.
For nearly three centuries (from the end of the Xi [Western] Jin dynasty in 316/317 to the beginning of the Sui dynasty in 581), the northern territory, including the site where Beijing now stands, was largely under the control of invading nomads. It was not recovered by the Han people until the Tang dynasty (618–907), when it became known as Youzhou. By the middle of the Tang, measures were being taken to prevent the nomadic Tangut tribes of Tibet, such as the Xi Xia, and the Khitans (a Turco-Mongolian people from Manchuria) from raiding the borderlands and the local capital. The position of Youzhou consequently became increasingly important. A number of states emerged in North China after the fall of the Tang dynasty. One of these was established by the Khitans, who, after destroying Youzhou, founded the Liao kingdom (907–1125) and built one of their capitals on approximately the same site, calling it Nanjing (“Southern Capital”) to distinguish it from other capitals in their Manchurian homeland. The Liao capital was bounded by a square wall with a perimeter of almost 14 miles (23 km) and a height of some 32 feet (10 metres). It had eight gates and enclosed a fine imperial palace in the centre, which indicated the strong influence of Chinese city planning.
In the mid-12th century, when the Juchen, a Tungus people from eastern Manchuria, defeated the Liao and established the state of Jin, the Liao capital was rebuilt as the new Jin capital and renamed Zhongdu (“Central Capital”). Zhongdu under the rule of the Juchen was constructed on a larger scale, with splendidly decorated palaces and halls.
Between 1211 and 1215 the Mongols—under the leadership of Genghis Khan, one of the great conquerors of history and founder of the Yuan, or Mongol, dynasty (1206–1368)—repeatedly attacked and finally took the city from the Jin. In the battle the palaces of Zhongdu were set on fire and blazed for more than a month. When all China fell to the Mongol hordes, Kublai Khan (1215–94), a successor to Genghis Khan, determined to build a new capital at Beijing, abandoning the old city of Karakorum in Mongolia. In 1272 he named the new capital Dadu (“Great Capital”); under the Mongols it became for the first time the political centre of all China.
Dadu was larger than any of its forerunners and was rebuilt slightly northeast of the old site. The square of the outer wall measured about 18 miles (29 km) in length and enclosed an area of more than 20 square miles (50 square km). The city walls were built with pounded earth, and once each year labourers were called in to repair them with mud. The Imperial Palace, which was approximately to the west of the modern-day one, was situated in the southern half of the capital city. The chief palace architect at the time was an Arab, appointed by Kublai. The city of Dadu exemplified the imposing and variegated architecture of the Mongol period. The square walls and the 12 gates were all modeled on the Chinese plan, but the inner chambers and living quarters were often in the styles found in Mongolia or Central Asia. It was at that time that a waterway, the Tonghui Canal, was dug and connected to the Grand Canal, so that boats transporting tribute rice from the provinces south of the Yangtze could sail into one of the new lakes inside the city. Dadu, which had magnificent imperial palaces and treasures drawn from every corner of the country, was the scene of stupendous feasts given by the khan (ruler) on state occasions. These characteristics and the well-organized post stages on the roads leading to the city astounded the Venetian traveler Marco Polo, who visited Dadu in the 1280s.
Centuries of growth
The Ming and Qing dynasties
In the mid-14th century Zhu Yuanzhang headed a peasant revolt that overthrew the Mongol dynasty and, as the Hongwu emperor, established the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). He moved the capital to Jinling in Jiangsu province and called it Nanjing; Dadu was renamed Beiping (“Northern Peace”) and was placed under his son’s rule. On Zhu’s death (1398) the throne passed to his grandson in Nanjing, but his son, Zhu Di (also called the Yongle emperor), who ruled Beiping, usurped the throne. In consequence, in 1403 the city was renamed Beijing (“Northern Capital”), and in 1421 it was officially made the capital city of the Ming dynasty.
Beijing in the Ming period grew on a yet grander scale than under the Mongols. The former city walls and the extant moats, palaces, and temples were built mainly in the 15th century. The old city of Dadu, including its palaces, was largely demolished. The new city was situated farther southwest, which left the northern part of the Mongol city derelict while at the same time slicing off one gate from the east and west walls, respectively. In 1553 an outer wall was begun, to include the increasing number of inhabitants living outside the city. However, when the entire construction was subsequently found to be too costly, the plan was abandoned on the completion of the south wall; thus emerged the present shape of the old city. Unlike the city wall of pounded earth of Mongol times, the walls of the Ming city were faced with a layer of bricks to prevent weathering.
In 1644 Beijing was taken over by Li Zicheng, who led a peasant uprising against the Ming regime. Li’s army held it for only 40 days, for the Manchus were simultaneously preparing an incursion south of the Great Wall, and—thanks to the complicity of a Ming general who opened the gate in the wall at Shanhai Pass—they swept down on the city. Beijing fell intact and in the same year was declared the Manchu capital by Shunzhi, the first emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12).
Beijing remained superficially the same throughout Qing times. The city plan was unaltered, though many palaces, temples, and pavilions were added outside the walls to the west, notably those that comprised the Old Summer Palace, built in the 17th century, and the Summer Palace, built in the late 19th century. The Old Summer Palace was completely destroyed by fire in 1860 by British and French troops during the Second Opium (or “Arrow”) War (1856–60). In the same year, as a result of the treaties of Tianjin in 1858, a permanent British embassy was established in the city, and a legation quarter, situated to the southeast of the palace ground, was reserved for British and other embassies. The legation quarter was besieged for nearly two months by the Boxer rebels in 1900.
The modern city
After the revolution of 1911, Beijing remained the political centre of the Republic of China until 1928, when the Nationalists moved the capital to Nanjing; Beijing was again called Beiping. The city came under increasing pressure from the Japanese, who established the puppet state of Manchukuo in Manchuria in 1931. In July 1937 fighting broke out between Chinese and Japanese troops near the Marco Polo Bridge, southwest of the city; Beiping was subsequently occupied by the Japanese until 1945. After World War II the city reverted to the Nationalists, who were defeated by the communists in the ensuing civil war. In 1949, with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing (with its old name restored) was chosen as the capital of the new regime. The city soon regained its position as the leading political, financial, and cultural centre of China.
Sen-dou Chang David Michael Bonavia The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
In the 1950s and ’60s urban-development projects widened the streets and established the functional districts that characterize the modern city, but political campaigns culminating in the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) delayed many of these projects. Beginning with the economic reforms of the early 1980s, the pace of change accelerated, and Beijing changed dramatically. New shopping centres and residential buildings appeared throughout the city, and high-tech industrial parks were established, especially in the suburbs. One such area, dubbed “Silicon Valley,” was developed with government backing between Peking and Tsinghua universities. Another striking change, noticeable particularly in the newer shopping centres, has been the emergence of a consumption-oriented middle class similar to that found in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul (South Korea), and other Asian cities undergoing rapid economic growth. At the same time, Beijing, like other modern cities, has faced growing problems with air pollution, traffic congestion, and overcrowding.
Soon after it was announced in 2001 that Beijing would host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the city embarked on an ambitious program to construct sports venues and housing for athletes and to improve the city’s transportation infrastructure—notably by greatly expanding the subway system. These tasks were accomplished in time for the Games. In addition to construction related to the Olympics, a host of other office and residential high-rise buildings mushroomed throughout Beijing, vastly transforming the look of the city.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica