When was Beijing built?

Beijing is the earliest historical city in the world. During the Shang Dynasty, there were two ancient countries, thistle and swallow, which naturally grew in Beijing today. In 1 1 century BC, Zhou Wuwang destroyed the Shang Dynasty, and the Yan State and Ji State distributed here merged into the territory of the Zhou Dynasty and became the vassal states of the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Historical Records" contains: "When it was destroyed, it was sealed in Beiyan", and "Gongyi and Yan called it". Zhao Gongxuan, who has the same surname as the Zhou royal family, followed the old customs and established the Yan State, that is, the Yan State in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

In 1970s, archaeologists discovered a large Shang and Zhou cultural site in Dong Jialin Village, northeast of Liu Lihe Town, fangshan county, Beijing, including residential address, burial area and ancient city site. Through the textual research of tombs and unearthed artifacts and the investigation of the ruins of the ancient city, the experts come to the conclusion that this is the initial fief of Yan State in the early Zhou Dynasty, and the ancient city should be the capital of Yan State.

Since Liu Lihe Site was confirmed as the capital of Yan State, the founding date of Beijing was inferred as BC 1045 and BC 1995, which was officially confirmed by the Beijing Municipal Government.

Yandou Ji Cheng is located in Guang 'anmen area, north of the original Baiyun Temple. With the strength of Yan State, Ji Cheng has been built into a world famous city-Yanjing, which is as famous as Handan of Zhao State, Linzi of Qi State and Wancheng of Chu State. The ruins of Beijing City have lasted for thousands of years since Ji Cheng, but it has always been located at the ancient ferry where Yongding River flows into Beijing Plain through Xishan Mountain. This pivotal position connecting the North China Plain with Mongolia and northeast China is the main reason for the rise of Ji Cheng.

There are three theories about the origin of Beijing, and there are different opinions in academic circles.

In the riverside park outside Guang 'anmen in the south of Beijing, there stands a "Ji Cheng Memorial Column", on which is engraved the History of Building a City in Beijing written by the famous historical geographer Hou Renzhi. Looking up at this not gorgeous "Ji Cheng Memorial Column", people feel a sense of mission with history. Some experts believe that Beijing, as the seat of ancient Ji Cheng, originated here.

Is the birthplace of Beijing really here? In fact, for a long time, there have been different opinions about where Beijing originated and how it evolved during the period.

There are three representative views: First, the source of Beijing should be Dong Jialin of Liu Lihe River in Fangshan District. Its main basis is that the ruins of the old city here and a large number of artifacts, tombs and chariots and horses prove that it was once the second old city of Yan State when the Western Zhou Dynasty was enfeoffed, and Beijing City originated from North Xin 'an and the old city area in Shijingshan District today. Third, Beijing City began in Guang 'anmen, Xuanwu District.

Guo Moruo, a late historian, writer and poet, once mentioned in The Ancient History of China that Yan and Ji were two ancient countries in China, and they were merchants in the north.

According to the records in Zuo Zhuan and Historical Records, due to the strategic importance of Yan State and Ji State, in 1046 BC, King Wu divided the descendants of the "holy king" or imperial clan into Ji State and Yan State after the destruction of Shang Dynasty, in order to consolidate his rule in the Central Plains.

These are also the two earliest cities in Beijing so far.

So, which is the source of Beijing, thistle or swallow?

Hou Renzhi, who has profound historical knowledge, believes that Jishan and Hetang are closely related to the origin of Beijing. He believes that the traffic near the ancient Yongding River Ferry seems to be the most suitable place for the birth and growth of a city, just like a city still close to the river ferry. However, the flood of Yongding River is impermanent, and it really threatens the growth of a city like a wild animal.

Therefore, Lugou ancient ferry did not develop into the capital of thistle. On the contrary, not far from the ferry, the terrain is relatively flat, and the water source is not easily threatened by floods. It quickly developed into a transportation hub connecting the north and the south, and then a city was born.

From the natural geographical position, the area outside Guang 'anmen today is just behind the ancient Yongding River flood impact fan. The terrain here is gentle, the soil is fertile, the land is just in the overflow area of diving, and the water source is rich, which is convenient for sinking wells and pumping water. Then, it seems logical that thrips were born here.

For many years, people have not excavated such convincing cultural relics here as the river, but experts believe that this is only because "Yan" annexed "Ji" and made Ji "Yan" its capital. Ji City experienced Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Liao, Jin and other dynasties, until Kublai Khan gave up the capital of the Jin Dynasty and built the Yuan Dynasty capital with Qionghua Island as the center in its northeast suburb.

Of course, it is very difficult to explore the cultural artifacts before Yan Dou and Ji Cheng in this area.

To prove this point, some experts analyzed the geological and topographic maps of Beijing in 1970s. Judging from the disturbance data, experts found that the area inside and outside Guang 'anmen is indeed the most disturbed area by human activities in the suburbs of Beijing, or the area with the widest distribution and deepest disturbance of artificial backfill.

The Origin and Changes of Beijing City

According to the documented history, Beijing urban construction city has a history of 3040 years. At that time, its name was Ji, which was the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. In Sui Dynasty, Ji Cheng was the seat of Zhuo County, and in Tang Dynasty, it was called Youzhou. The Liao Dynasty took Du Ji as its capital and renamed it Nanjing, also known as Yanjing. After the Liao Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty officially moved its capital here and named it Zhongdu. In the Yuan Dynasty, a new city named Dadu was founded in the suburbs of Zhongdu. The Ming Dynasty rebuilt Dadu before it was called Beijing. The Qing dynasty continued to build the city of Beijing until the feudal dynasty finally collapsed.

The growth of "Ji" The name "Ji" was first seen in the Book of Rites: "Anti-business, not getting off the bus, the Yellow Emperor is later than Ji." It tells the fact that Zhou Wuwang immediately set out to enfeoffment the descendants of the Yellow Emperor to Ji after destroying the influence of Shang Dynasty. "Thistle" is the name of the northern vassal state of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it was also the capital of that time. In other words, at least in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was already a city called "Ji" near Beijing today.

In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, "Yan" and "Ji" enfeoffed the country of Ji, and at the same time enfeoffed another vassal state in the north, namely Yan. "Historical records. "Yan Zhaogong Family" records: "Destroy Zhou Wuwang and seal Zhao Gong as Beiyan." The Northern Yan mentioned here is what we call the Yan State. In this way, in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were actually two vassal states of the Western Zhou Dynasty in present-day Beijing and its vicinity, one was Jizhou, and the other was Yan State established near Jizhou.

So, where was the original fief when Zhou Wuwang was enfeoffed? Historians have been arguing for a long time, and there has been no conclusion. Later, a site of the ancient city of the Western Zhou Dynasty and a large burial area were discovered near the Liu Lihe River in Fangshan District, southwest Beijing, from which a large number of funerary objects were unearthed. Only after this, the unsolved case about the initial fief of Yan State in history was finally solved satisfactorily.

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the political structure around Beijing changed greatly. Yan State, located in the south of Jizhou, increased its power, gradually annexed Jizhou in the north and moved its capital to Jicheng. Since then, there has been a saying of "Yan Dou Jicheng". Later, Beijing was also called Yanjing, which also came from here. (Left, Chemakeng, Liu Lihe Yanguo Cemetery)

Qiu Ji and Ji Cheng are most interested in the exact location of the Ji Cheng site. Where is it in Beijing today? Are there any remains of ancient thrips in Beijing today? Li Daoyuan, a great geographer in the Northern Wei Dynasty, made a credible annotation on the origin of "Yu" and explained the relationship between "Yu" and "Yu". Li Daoyuan said, "In the past, Zhou Wuwang was sealed to thistle, but now there is thistle mountain in the northwest corner of the city. Because this mountain is famous for its city, it is Qufu of Luyou, and it is the Yingshan of Qi. " According to this statement, the name of Ji Cheng originated from Qiu Ji in the northwest corner of the city. Just like Qufu in Lu and Yingqiu in Qi, it is named after a remarkable geographical feature, that is, it is close to a hill that protrudes from the ground.

Chen Ziang, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Qiu Ji Gu Lan", which includes: "Looking north at Qiu Ji, looking for Xuanyuan Taigu. Ying Long disappeared, and the shepherd gave birth to yellow dust. " Therefore, at least in the Tang Dynasty, Qiu Ji is still vivid, so it is possible for Chen Ziang Qiu Ji to write nostalgic poems. Since the relative position of Jiyu Mountain mentioned by Li Daoyuan is credible, we are willing to determine the position of Jiyu Mountain according to the map according to this important clue and referring to relevant literature records. From the analysis of geographical location and situation, Ji Mountain recorded by Li Daoyuan is near Guang 'anmen in Beijing today. Now there is a high mountain outside the west wall of Baiyun Temple, which is probably the site of Gujishan Mountain. In the early days of Beijing's liberation, some pieces of pottery from the Warring States period were found among the newly excavated local tyrants around the high hill, which shows that this high hill has a very long history. 1957 During the spring and summer, archaeologists carried out a planned excavation of this mound and found an ancient city wall buried underground, as well as some sites and relics from the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties. For various reasons, this discovery failed to reach the bottom of the local cultural layer, so there was no direct evidence of the early urban site, but there was not enough evidence to deny that it was not the former site of Guji Mountain. The final location of Jishan Mountain needs further archaeological discoveries to confirm.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Ji Cheng and Ji Cheng had a very prominent military position in northern China. Ji Cheng is the seat of Zhuojun in Sui Dynasty and Youzhou in Tang Dynasty, so Ji Cheng is also called Zhuojun or Youzhou for short. After the unification of the whole country, both Yang Di and Emperor Taizong took Ji Cheng as their base to March to the northeast, which is a typical example that Ji Cheng was often used as their offensive stronghold when the Han Dynasty was strong in the Central Plains.

Liao Dynasty, the capital of Liao Dynasty, was the northern minority regime established by the Qidan people. The Khitan nationality is one of the ancient ethnic minorities in China, originally living in the Xilamulun River basin in the upper reaches of the Xiliao River in eastern Inner Mongolia. Shortly after the annexation of sixteen states, the Khitan rulers changed the country name to Liao, with its capital Huangfu (now Zuo Qi, Bahrain, Inner Mongolia), and established its capital in Youzhou (with its capital outside the capital city). Because this capital is located in the south of the territory under its jurisdiction, it is called Nanjing, also known as Yanjing. Why did Qidan build Nanjing in Youzhou? There are two reasons: first, use the favorable geographical situation here as a stronghold to attack the Central Plains south; Another reason is that after the occupation of sixteen states by the Khitan, the ruling territory has been greatly expanded. The newly occupied areas are densely populated, rich in products and superior in natural conditions, and the level of economic, cultural and production development is much higher than that of the northern grassland areas where the Khitan nationality originally lived. Therefore, in order to strengthen the rule of the newly occupied areas and win more wealth, Youzhou City naturally became the political center of Liao in North China.

Zhongdu, the ruling center of the Jin Dynasty, became more and more powerful when Liao and Northern Song Dynasties confronted each other along the Tang Harbor. In less than two years, the Jin people made a comeback and attacked the Song Dynasty. When Jin Jun arrived at the gate of Yanshan Mansion, the defenders of the Northern Song Dynasty surrendered without fighting. So after occupying the Yanshan mansion, the Jin army marched straight into the Yellow River and reached the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang. At this time, Song Huizong, like a frightened bird, quickly abdicated to his son Zhao Huan, that is, Song Qinzong. In the first year of Jingkang (1 126), Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, was captured by the Jin army, and Emperor Huiqin and more than 3,000 royal families and bureaucrats were imprisoned, and the Northern Song Dynasty perished. After the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty's sphere of influence suddenly expanded to the Huaihe River Basin, and its rule over the North China Plain turned into a relatively stable state. Therefore, the rulers of the Jin Dynasty moved the capital from Huining House (now Baicheng Zi in Acheng, Heilongjiang Province) on the far side of the Songhua River to Yanjing. In the third year of Jin Tiande (1 15 1), in March, the owner of Jin ordered Liang and Kong Yanzhou to expand the new capital on the basis of Yanjing City. In the first year of Jin Zhenyuan (1 153), Yan Yanliang officially moved the capital and changed Yanjing to Zhongdu. From then on, Beijing's history as the ruling center of China's feudal dynasty really began. Jinzhongdu is the last big city developed on the former site of Beijing's primitive settlement, and it is also the key to the transition to the national political center. At the same time, it plays a connecting role in the history of Beijing's urban construction, so it deserves special attention.

The cities of the Great Han Dynasty-Dadu of the Yuan Dynasty were in the late12nd century and the early13rd century. Another nomadic people in northern China is becoming stronger and stronger. In the Tang Dynasty, the Mongols were called "Wu Meng Shiwei", and they originally lived in Ergon River in Heilongjiang Province. In the eighth century, they began to move westward and nomadic in the Nanshui Valley. In A.D. 1206, Temujin formally established the Mongolian regime, ascended the throne of the Great Khan of Mongolia, and was honored as Genghis Khan by various ministries. Mongolian aristocrats headed by Genghis Khan launched a large-scale war against the south. In A.D. 12 1 1 year, the Mongolian army cut gold heavily. Two years later, it divided its forces and surrounded Zhongducheng in the south, and also occupied some places on the Great Plains south of Zhongducheng. When Mongolian cavalry invaded Jinducheng, the Mongolian aristocratic group had no intention of building a capital here. Therefore, during the war, the Jin Dynasty Palace in Zhongdu City was destroyed by fire, and the first generation of palaces was in ruins. At this time, Zhongducheng has been renamed Yanjing, just a ruined city. Since then, more than forty years have passed and great changes have taken place. At this time, Genghis Khan has been dead for more than 30 years, and his grandson Kublai Khan has inherited the Khan position. In the first year of the unification of China (1260), Kublai Khan came to Yanjing City from the capital of Mongolian Plateau and Linger (now the area around Hal and Linger in outer Mongolia) with great ambition to destroy China in the Southern Song Dynasty. But at this time, the palace in the city has long been in ruins, so Kublai Khan decided to choose a new site in the northeast suburb of the old capital and build a new capital, taking "Yuan" as the country name and naming the new capital as.

At the end of Yuan Dynasty, in the imperial capital of Ming Dynasty, the peasant uprising against Mongolian rulers swept across the country, like a storm. After Zhu Yuanzhang annexed Chen Youqiong and the rebels in Zhang Shicheng, he occupied half of the south of the Yangtze River. In the 27th year of Yuan Dynasty (1367), he sent generals Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to the Northern Expedition. In the first year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty (1September 368), on August 2 (1368), in the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang made his fourth son Judy the prince of Yan in Beiping in order to consolidate the guards in the north and resist the Mongols' southward aggression. In the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398), Zhu Yuanzhang, the great-grandfather of Ming Dynasty, died, and Huang's great-grandson succeeded to the throne, thus establishing the title of the year. At this time, Judy, the prince of Yan, was armed to the teeth and deliberately seized the right to rule, and brought her to Beijing after Judy succeeded to the throne. In view of the fact that the main danger threatening the Ming Dynasty was still the remnants of Mongolia from the Great Wall, he first moved the capital to Beiping and renamed it Beijing. The construction of Beijing City in Ming Dynasty began in the fourth year of Yongle (1406) and was basically completed in the eighteenth year of Yongle (1420), which lasted for fifteen years.

The ruler of the Qing dynasty, the capital of the last feudal dynasty, completely followed Beijing in the Ming dynasty, without any change. Even the Forbidden City only carried out some renovation, partial and small-scale reconstruction and expansion of the building. In order to satisfy the rulers' enjoyment, the Qing Dynasty developed the scenic spots in the northwest suburb of Beijing on a large scale for more than 200 years, and built an unprecedented grand detached palace complex. This is the so-called "three mountains and five gardens" in the northwest suburb, namely, Yuquan Mountain Jingming Garden, Xiangshan Jingyi Garden, Wanshou Mountain Qingyi Garden (Summer Palace), Changchun Garden and Yuanmingyuan Garden. The Qing emperor visited the mountains and rivers here and handled court affairs, which became another political center with equal emphasis on the Forbidden City in Beijing. Many important historical events in the Qing Dynasty are closely related to the gardens in this area. Some people say that Beijing in the Qing Dynasty was a "twin city" system with one south and one north, which is not unreasonable.

The future of Beijing The ancient city of Beijing has gone through 3040 years of vicissitudes. The development of Beijing is closely related to the long history of China. It is rich in historical connotation and full of vitality in the new era. Ancient Beijing has also begun to step into a first-class modern international city. In this new situation, how to pay full attention to the protection of historical and cultural heritage in Beijing's urban construction to reflect the traditional culture of the ancient capital is a problem that everyone who loves and cares about it should think deeply.

References:

Ta Kung Pao