THE LONG MARCH TO BEIJING

A Brief History of Beijing

Time & Dynasty	Used Name	Event
1045BCE (Western Zhou)	Jin City	Pioneer city of China
226BCE (Qin Dynasty)	Jin City	Emperor Qin attacked Jin successfully
581-618 (Sui Dynasty)	Zhuo Shire	Population over 130,000
618-907 (Tang Dynasty)	Youzhou	Military centre and business centre
916-1125 (Liao Dynasty)	Nanjing	As accompanying capital
1153 (Jin Dynasty)	Zhongdu	Occupied by a minority group in northeast China
1215 (Yuan Dynasty)	Yanjing	Occupied by Mongolia leader Genghis khan
1272 (Yuan Dynasty)	Dadu	As capital city of a united country for the first time
1368 (Ming Dynasty	Beiping	Ming Dynasty established
1403 (Ming Dynasty)	Beijing	Emperor Yongle changed the name to Beijing
1406 (Ming Dynasty)	Beijing	Began to build Forbidden City
1421 (Ming Dynasty)	Beijing	Move to new site (now in City centre)
1564 (Ming Dynasty)	Beijing	Central part of the city now has formed
1644 (Qing Dynasty)	Beijing	Qing Dynasty established
1860 (Qing Dynasty)	Beijing	Old Summer Palace was burnt down by invaders
1900 (Qing Dynasty)	Beijing	Eight-nation Allied Forces occupied this city
1912 (Qing Dynasty)	Beijing	Last emperor Puyi was forced to abdicate crown
1937	Beijing	War of Resistance against Japan broke out
1945	Beiping	Civil war between two factions broke out
1949	Beijing	The People's Republic of China was founded

Beijing is one of the four ancient cities of China (together with Xi'an, Luoyang, Nanjing), the best preserved, and famous around the world. The city is also knlwn as a cradle of humanity. As early as 700,000 years ago, Pekin Man lived in Zhoukoudian area of this city. Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Palaeolithic homo sapiens also lived there about 27,000 years ago. There were cities in the vicinities of Beijing by the 1st millennium BCE, and the capital of the State of Yan, one of the powers of the Warring States Period (473-221 BCE), Ji, was established in present-day Beijing.

Beijing's location was strategic: in the northeast corner of China's ancient heartland, surrounded by the mountain passes that separated the empire from Manchu and Mongol territories to the north and connected to the rich Yangzte Basin by the Grand Canal. 

 

Tiananmen Gate

By the 15^th Century, Beijing had essentially taken its current shape. It is believed that Beijing was the largest city in the world from 1425 to 1650 and from 1710 to 1825. Notable buildings constructed during the Ming period include the Temple of Heaven (built by 1420) and the Tiananmen Gate, now a state symbol of China and featured on its emblem, was first built in 1420 and rebuilt several times later. Tiananmen Square was built in 1651 and enlarged in 1958. Today, Beijing has a population of more than 21 million but is not the largest city in China. Shanghai has more than 24 million as is regarded as the largest city in China.