Where is the capital of the Yuan Dynasty
The capital of the Yuan Dynasty is Beijing.
On March 28, the eighth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, issued an edict to change Beijing's Zhongdu to Dadu, and Beijing became the capital of a unified dynasty for the first time. As to why the Mongolian rulers set their capital in Beijing, later historians have different opinions, and the general public is even more divided. In fact, the changes in capitals of successive regimes exactly reflect the changes in the entire society and even the times.
The reason why the Yuan Dynasty established Beijing as its capital:
For the Mongols, it didn’t matter where they established their capital, as long as they could maintain their nomadic tradition. At least Genghis Khan himself had no intention of establishing Beijing as his capital. of. However, during the reign of Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty, the situation changed significantly. After careful inspection, masters and apprentices Liu Bingzhong and Guo Shoujing, who were deeply trusted by Kublai Khan, unanimously determined that Beijing was the most ideal place to establish the capital. The only drawback was the lack of water resources.
So the master and the apprentice diverted water from Yuquan Mountain and entered Beijing through two water veins above and below the ground. Among them, the above-ground water source flows into the Tonghui River through Taiping Bridge. Because the water comes from the west and symbolizes gold in the Bagua, it is named Jinshui River. The underground vein later became a sacred place for the imperial palace to worship the God of Longquanjing.
After careful consideration, Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, accepted this suggestion and changed Beijing to Dadu on March 28, the eighth year of the Yuan Dynasty, and appointed Liu Bingzhong to be responsible for the design and construction of Dadu. So Liu Bingzhong referred to the traditional Feng Shui theory of the Han nationality and arranged it according to the pattern of the former dynasty and the later market, with the ancestors on the left and the community on the right. It took 24 years to complete, which also established the outline of the current Beijing city.
In addition, when the northern peoples establish a unified dynasty or the main external threat comes from the Northeast, establishing Beijing as the capital is of great significance in maintaining the ancestral family and affecting the national destiny. Therefore, since the establishment of the capital in the Yuan Dynasty, Beijing has ushered in a real take-off and become the longest-lasting capital in the late feudal society of China.
The five capitals of the Yuan Dynasty
The capitals of the Yuan Dynasty are as follows:
1. Shangdu, the first capital after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, is located in today's On the north bank of Lightning River, 20 kilometers east of Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
As early as the spring of 1256 before Kublai Khan came to the throne, he ordered his close minister Seng Zicong to build a city in Longgang, east of Huanzhou City and on the north bank of Luan River, as a symbol of his leadership of the Monan Han Dynasty. It is the residence of the vassal government for local military affairs and common affairs. After the new city was completed in 1258, it was named Kaiping. After the death of Mongol, the Great Khan of Mongolia, Kublai Khan officially ascended the throne here in the spring of 1260 and established the Central Government of the Yuan Dynasty.
2. Dadu, located in today's Beijing, was the second capital established by the Yuan Dynasty and the most important capital in the Yuan Dynasty.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the shift of the center of gravity to the south, Kublai Khan continued to expand the Shangdu. In August of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan named Yanjing, the original capital of the Jin Dynasty, the Zhongdu. A system of patrolling the two capitals was established. In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the dilapidation of the old city of Zhongdu, Kublai Khan decided to build a new city in the northeast of Zhongdu. In February of the ninth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the name of Zhongdu was changed to Dadu.
3. Yuan Zhongdu is located in Baichengzi, Mantouying Township, Zhangbei County, Hebei Province today. Metal Fuzhou, Yuan belongs to Longxing Road.
In the eleventh year of Dade, Wuzong Haishan, who had just ascended to the throne, ordered the construction of Wangwu Chadu palace here. After the palace was completed the next year, he established the Zhongdu Remaining Department and the Kaining Road Dudu General Office. , another capital city was born in the Yuan Dynasty.
Extended information:
Shangdu of Yuan Dynasty is adjacent to Shangdu River in the south, Longgang Mountain in the north, and is surrounded by the vast Jinlianchuan grassland. On June 29, 2012, the 36th World Heritage Conference officially announced in St. Petersburg, Russia, that the Shangdu Site of China's Yuan Dynasty was included in the World Heritage List.
The Yanyun area where Dadu is located has always been the frontier of the Central Plains dynasty's defense against the northern nomads. If the northern nomads want to invade the Central Plains, Yanyun is a must-win area.
Therefore, the Yanyun area can be said to be the place that strangles the throat of the Central Plains and the outside of the Great Wall. As a regime ruled by ethnic minorities, the Yuan Dynasty can control the Central Plains in the south and the outside of the Great Wall in the north.
The Yuan Zhongdu Site is located about 400 meters southwest of Baichengzi Village, Mantouying Township, Zhangbei County, Bashang, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. This is a Yuan Dynasty capital ruins that was lost for more than 600 years and was only discovered in 1999. It is also the best preserved Yuan Dynasty capital ruins in China so far.
Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia-Yuan Dadu
Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia-Yuan Zhongdu
Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia-Yuan Shangdu
The capital of the Yuan Dynasty
The capital of the Yuan Dynasty was Beijing.
The Yuan Dynasty was established by the Mongols and was the first unified empire in Chinese history established by ethnic minorities. Make the capital Dadu. But in fact, during the Kublai Khan period, there was no fixed capital. In other words, the Yuan Dynasty established its capital in many places.
After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the shift of the center of gravity to the south, Kublai Khan continued to expand the Shangdu. In August of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan named Yanjing, the original capital of the Jin Dynasty, the Zhongdu. A system of patrolling the two capitals was established. In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, due to the dilapidation of the old city of Zhongdu, Kublai Khan decided to build a new city in the northeast of the capital. In February of the ninth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the name of Zhongdu was changed to Dadu. In the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the new capital was completed. During the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, Dadu was not only the political, economic and cultural center of the country, but also an international metropolis with a high reputation in the world at that time.
Historical evolution
In 1206, Genghis Khan unified all Mongolian tribes and established the Great Mongolian State. Successively attacked and destroyed the Western Liao, Xixia, Khwarazmo, Jin Dynasty and other regimes. After the death of Borjijin Mengge, a struggle for the throne between Alibuge and Borjijin Kublai Khan was triggered, which led to the division of the Great Mongolia. In 1260, Kublai Khan ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the "central unification" of the Yuan Dynasty.
In 1271, Bo'er Jijin and Kublai Khan changed the name of the country to "Dayuan" based on the meaning of "Great Qianyuan" in the "Book of Changes", and the following year the capital was Dadu. In 1279, the Southern Song Dynasty's exile regime was completely destroyed, ending the long-term chaos since the late Tang Dynasty. After that, the Yuan Dynasty continued to expand externally, attacking Japan, Myanmar, Vietnam, Java, etc., but all failed.
In the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, the throne succession was chaotic and coups were frequent. Politics was never on the right track. Sinicization was sluggish and development stagnated. In the later period, political corruption, powerful officials interfered in politics, and ethnic and class conflicts intensified, leading to peasant uprisings in the late Yuan Dynasty. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, and then the Northern Expedition expelled the Yuan Dynasty and captured most of the capital. After that, the Yuan Dynasty retreated to Mobei, which was called Beiyuan in history. In 1402, Yuan minister Guilichi usurped power and established Tatar, and the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed.
The three capitals of the Yuan Dynasty
The three capitals may refer to the three capitals of the Yuan Dynasty: Yuan Dadu, Yuan Zhongdu, and Yuan Shangdu