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Some half a million years ago, Peking man lived in Zhoukoudian, in
the southwestern suburbs of Beijing. The climate of that time was
warmer and more humid than it is today. Forests and lakes in the
area supported large numbers of living creatures. The fossil
remains of Peking man, his stone tools and evidence of use of fire,
as well as later tools of 18,000 years ago, bone needles and
article of adornment from the age of Upper Cave Man are the
earliest cultural relics on record in China today.
Some four to five thousand years ago, settlements to the southwest
of Beijing were thriving on basic agriculture and animal husbandry.
Story has it that the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huang Di) battled
against the tribal leader Chiyou in the "wilderness of the
prefecture of Zhuo. "Zhuolu, a town west of present day Beijing, is
perhaps the site of the first metropolis in the area. Yellow
Emperor's successor, Emperor Yao, was said to have established a
legendary capital Youdu (City of Quietude) that was where the city
of Ji was actually built.
During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), the Marquis of Yan
annexed the territory of the Marquis of Ji, making the city of Ji
his new capital. The approximate location was north of Guang' anmen
Gate in presentday Beijing near the White Cloud Temple
(Baiyunguan).
Early in the third century BC, the first Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi
Huang) set about conquering six states and unifying China. The city
of Ji was named administrative center of Guangyang Commandery, one
of 36 prefectures in China's first feudal empire. For 10 centuries,
through to the end of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Ji remained a
strategic trading and military center and the object of frequent
power struggles.
Two emperors during that period -- Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty
(581-618) and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty -- left their
mark on the city. Emperor Yang amassed troops and supplies at Ji
for expeditions against Korea. Emperor Taizong also used the city
for military training. He built the Temple for Compassion for the
Loyal (Minzhongsi), which is dedicated to troops who died in
battle. This temple was the precursor of the Temple of the Origin
of the Dharma (Fayuansi) located outside the old walls of the city.
At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Ji was little different from
any other large feudal cities. Several centuries later, however,
when the Tang was nearing a state of collapse, the Qidans (Khitans)
came from the upper reaches of the Liaohe River and moved south to
occupy Ji and make it their second capital. They called the city
Nanjing (Southern Capital) or Yanjing. Emperor Taizong of the Liao
Dynasty (916-1125) carried out reconstruction projects and built
palaces, which were used as strongholds from which the Qidans set
out to conquer the central plains of China.
In the early 12th century, the Nuzhen (Jurchen) conquered the Liao
and established the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234). In 1153, Wan Yanliang
moved the Jin capital from Huiningfu in present day Liaoning
Province to Yanjing and renamed it Zhongdu (Central Capital) as a
challenge to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), which had its
capital at Lin'an (present day Hangzhou). Before the ascension of
Wan Yanliang to the throne, the city of Yanjing had changed little
from the Liao period.
The rebuilding of the new city began in 1151 with expansion to the
east, west and south. Palaces were constructed on a scale similar
to the Northern Song (960-1127) capital at Bianliang (modern
Kaifeng), and many of the actual building materials were
transported from Bianliang. The new expanded city, with its
splendid buildings in the center measured roughly five kilometers
in circumference. The registered population of the Imperial Palace
in the center measured roughly five kilometers in circumference.
The registered population of Zhongdu amounted to 225,592
households, or approximately one million people.
Mongol armies occupied Zhongdu in 1215. At this time, the city of
Kaiping (in present day Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) served as
the principal Mongol capital (Shangdu), while Yanjing was given
provincial status. It was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan formally
adopted the new dynasty's name -- Yuan -- and made Yanjing the
capital. Kublai Khan rebuilt the city and gave it the Chinese (Han)
name of Dadu (Ta-tu) or Great Capital, though in Mongol it was
known as Khanbalig (Marco Polo's Cambaluc), the City of the Great
Khan. When the Mongols finally eliminated the Southern Song and
unified China, Dadu became the political center of the country for
the first time in history.
The construction of Dadu began in 1267 and ended in 1293, extending
throughout the entire period of Kublai Khan's rule. The magnificent
palaces of the Jin capital Zhongdu were destroyed by fire during
the dynastic turnover from the Jin to the Yuan. When the capital
was rebuilt, the original site of Zhongdu was replaced by a larger
rectangular area centered in a beautiful lake region in the
northeastern suburbs.
The construction of Dadu consisted of three main projects -- the
imperial palaces, the city walls and moats, and the canal. The
first stage was construction of the palace buildings, most of which
were completed in 1274. The next stage was construction of the
mansions for the imperial princes, the government offices, the
Taimiao (Imperial Ancestral Temple) and Shejitan (Altar of Land and
Grain) to the east and west of the palace, and a system of streets
for ordinary residences. In 1293, the strategic Tonghui Canal,
connecting the capital to the Grand Canal, was completed.
As the capital city of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Dadu enjoyed
great fame in the 13th century world. The envoys and traders from
Europe, Asia and Africa who paid visits to China were astounded by
the splendor and magnificence of Dadu. Marco Polo's description of
the palaces of Cambaluc, as the called Khanbalig, us most famous of
all:
"You must know that it is the greatest palace that ever was
--?the roof is very lofty, and the walls of the palace are all
covered with gold and silver. They are adorned with dragons, beasts
and birds, knights and idols, and other such things. The Hall of
the Palace is so large that 6,000 people could easily dine there,
and it is quite a marvel to see how many rooms there are besides.
The building is altogether so vast, so rich and so beautiful, that
no man on earth could design anything superior to it. The outside
of the roof is all colored with vermilion and yellow and green and
blue and other hues, which are fixed with a varnish so fine and
exquisite that they shins like crystal, and lend a resplendent
luster to the palace as seen for a great way around."
The new Dadu was a rectangular city more than 30 kilometers in
circumference. In the later years of Kublai Khan's rule, the city
population consisted of 100,000 households or roughly 500,000
people. The layout was the result of uniform planning, the broader
streets all 24 paces wide, the narrow lanes half this width. The
regular chessboard pattern created an impression of relaxed
orderliness.
Achievements in stone and plaster sculpture and painting at this
time reached great heights. The names of two contemporary artisans
have come down to us: the sculptors Yang Qiong and Liu Yuan. The
latter was known for the plaster statues he created for temples.
Liulansu Lane at the northern end of Fuyou Street in present day
Beijing was named after Liu Yuan.
On August 2, 1368, Ming troops seized Dadu and renamed it Beiping
(Northern Peace). Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming
Dynasty (1368-1644), however, made Nanjing his first capital.
Beginning in 1406, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty spent 15
years constructing walls 12 meters high and 10 meters thick at
their base around the city of Beiping. The construction of palace
buildings and gardens began in 1417 and was completed in 1420. The
following year, Emperor Yongle formally transferred the capital
from Nanjing to Beiping and, for the first time, named the city
Beijing (Northern Capital).
Extensive reconstruction work was carried out in Beijing during the
first years of the Ming Dynasty. The northern city walls were
shifted 2.5 kilometers to the south. Evidence of great advances in
city planning is the district known as the Inner (Tartar) City. The
Outer or Chinese City to the south was built during the reign of
Emperor Jiajing (1522-1566), adding to the rectangular city a
slightly wider "base" in the south.
When the Manchus founded the Qing Dynasty in 1644, they began to
build suburban gardens, the most famous of which was Yuanmingyuan.
Construction over the course of an entire century, the imposing
columned palaces and open-air pavilions blended with the serenity
of well-planned gardens to create a masterpiece of garden
architecture unrivaled in the history of China.
A city plan was first laid out in the Yuan Dynasty. Yet only after
extensive reconstruction during the Ming and Qing (1644-1911), did
the city emerge as an architectural masterpiece fit to serve as the
capital of the Chinese empire. A north-south axis bisects the city
with the Imperial Palace was knows as Danei (The Great Within). In
the Ming, it was renamed the Forbidden City (Zijincheng), and more
recently it has come to be called the Palace Museum (Gugong
Bowuyuan). Designed with thousands of halls and gates arranged
symmetrically around a north south axis, its dimensions and
luxuriance are a fitting symbol of the power and greatness of
traditional China.
After the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, China fell prey to
the Northern Warlords and Kuomintang, Beijing suffered the same
fate as the rest of China, hobbling along like an old camel without
a sense of direction. The Chinese People's Liberation Army formally
entered Beijing on January 31, 1949, opening a new chapter in the
long history of the city. It was in Tian'anmen Square on October
1st, 1949, that Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the establishment of
the People's Republic of China, with Beijing as its capital.
The city has changed totally since then. It has expanded from its
old confines within the nine gates of the Inner City wall
(Zhengyangmen, Chongwenmen, Xuanwumen, Chaoyangmen, Dongzhimen,
Fuchengmen, Xizhimen, Andingmen and Deshengmen) to the seven outer
gates (Dongbianmen, Guangqumen, Xibianmen, Guang' anmen,
Yongdingmen, Zuoanmen and Youanmen) and out into the suburbs,
Beijing now covers an area of about 750 square kilometers, which
includes a dozen new living districts built on the outskirts of
town.
Tian'anmen Square is still the center of Beijing, Chang' an
Boulevard now running 38 kilometers from Shijingshan in the west to
Tongxian in the east. The palaces and city towers along both sides
have been designated cultural relics for national protection.
Former imperial residences and gardens have been opened for public
viewing.
New buildings like the International Post Office and Bank of China
have been built along the Second Ring Road, the former line of the
Inner City wall. Old living quarters and blocks of traditional
Beijing-style buildings, such as Liulichang Culture Street, have
been restored. Large-scale construction has been undertaken along
the Third Ring Road and the fourth Ring Road.
Future development in Beijing will continue to preserve the
symmetry of the old city layout while integrating modern
architectural design into the over-all plan.
(China.org.cn)
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