"Eight Ancient Capitals" refers to the ancient capitals approved by the Chinese ancient capital society and recognized by domestic historians.
The eight ancient capitals of China are Luoyang (from Xia Dynasty), Zhengzhou, Anyang, Xi'an, Kaifeng, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Beijing.
As the Central Plains is not only the main birthplace of Chinese civilization and the Chinese nation, but also the political, economic and cultural center of ancient China for a long time, four of the eight ancient capitals are located in Henan. These ancient capitals have far-reaching influence on architecture, landscape and culture. They are also the representative and crystallization of Chinese civilization. So what are the places of interest and historic sites you have visited?
Beijing
Beijing has a long history and splendid culture. It is one of the birthplaces of human civilization. About four or five thousand years ago, there were fixed settlements in Beijing. Yan in the Warring States period, Qianyan in the Five Dynasties, and Jin, yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties all had their capitals in Beijing. In the early years of the Republic of China, Beijing was still the capital. In 1928, it was renamed Beiping special city. It became the capital of the people's Republic of China in 1949. Important historical and cultural sites include the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the summer palace, the Yuanmingyuan, the temple of heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Ming Tombs, Zhoukoudian Chinese ape man site, etc.
Nanjing
The capital of Jiangsu Province, known as the "ancient capital of Six Dynasties", is also known as the "capital of ten dynasties". Nanjing, known as gouu in ancient times, belongs to the feudal land of Zhouzhang, a senior official of the Western Zhou Dynasty. In 229 ad, Sun Wu moved his capital from Wuchang to Nanjing (Jianye at that time). Since then, the capital of Nanjing has been built, with a circumference of more than ten kilometers. Since then, Nanjing was the capital of song, Qi, Liang, Chen and Southern Tang Dynasties (Jianye and Jiankang at that time). In 1368, when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he changed his name to Nanjing and became the unified political center of the whole country for the first time. Famous historical and cultural sites in Nanjing include: Confucius Temple, Ming Palace Museum, Zhongshan Mausoleum, Zhonghua Gate, Linggu tower, Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, presidential palace, etc.
Xi'an
The capital of Shaanxi Province. The largest city in the five provinces of Northwest China is also an ancient capital with the largest number of capital dynasties and the longest history of emperors. Xi'an is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. In history, there were 13 dynasties, namely, Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Xinmang, Western Jin, former Zhao, Former Qin, later Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang, which established their capitals in Xi'an area for more than 1000 years. Among them, the unified Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties had the greatest influence and the most cultural relics in Xi'an city history. Famous historical sites include: Dayan Pagoda, terracotta warriors and horses of Qin Shihuang, Daming Palace site, FengHao site, Afang Palace site, lantianren site, HuaQingChi, bell tower, etc.
Luoyang
The ancient capital of nine dynasties is one of the birthplaces of Chinese history and culture. Six or seven thousand years ago, Luoyang had developed into a matriarchal clan society. The famous Yangshao culture was first found in Yangshao village in the northwest of Luoyang. Eastern Zhou, Eastern Han, Cao Wei, Wu Zhou, Western Jin, Northern Wei, Hou Liang, later Tang and later Jin had their capital in Luoyang. Luoyang was the capital of the nine dynasties for nearly a thousand years, second only to Xi'an. Famous cultural relics include: Longmen Grottoes, Yangshao site, Baima temple, Luoyang City site of Han and Wei dynasties, Guangwu emperor mausoleum, etc.
Kaifeng
The ancient capital of seven dynasties. In 364 BC, King Hui of Wei moved the capital from Anyi (now in Shanxi Province) to Kaifeng (called Daliang at that time). During the Five Dynasties, the capital of Houliang, later Jin, later Han and later Zhou was established here successively, which lasted for 40 years. In 960 ad, when Zhao Kuangyin established the Northern Song Dynasty, his capital was Kaifeng, which lasted 168 years and was called Tokyo at that time. It was the heyday in the history of Kaifeng. The picture of Qingming River vividly depicts the prosperous scene at that time. Later, it was the capital of Jin. Historical sites include: Cangjie tomb, iron tower, daxiangguo temple, yuwangtai, Longting, Baogong temple, Yuefei temple, etc.
Hangzhou
The capital of Zhejiang Province. The national key scenic tourist city has a history of more than 2200 years since the county was established in Qin Dynasty. Hangzhou is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization. As early as 4700 years ago, human beings lived here. In history, Wu Yue and Southern Song Dynasty had their capital here, called Lin'an. Famous historical and cultural sites include Lingyin Temple, Leifeng Pagoda, Liuhe pagoda, Sun Quan's hometown, Yaolin fairyland, West Lake, etc. In 589 ad, in the ninth year of kaihuang reign of Sui Dynasty, Hangzhou was set up as the abandoned Qiantang county. The name of Hangzhou first appeared in history.
Anyang
Anyang is an important city in Henan Province. Anyang was designated as the capital as early as the 14th century BC. At that time, pan Geng, the 20th king of Shang Dynasty, moved the capital to Yin (now Xiaotun village in Anyang, Henan Province), which lasted 273 years until the end of Shang Dynasty. During this period, the rulers of the Shang dynasty built a lot of buildings and devoted themselves to management, which made Yin an ancient metropolis, which was called Dayi Shang, Tianyi Shang and Shangyi at that time. After the Shang Dynasty, until 2000 A.D. in the 6th century, the Central Plains Dynasty established its capital in Anyang many times, but it made no achievements in urban construction. Because of the war, the ancient city has long been in ruins.
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou is the capital of Henan Province and the political, economic and cultural center of the whole province. 3600 years ago, it was one of the important capitals of the Shang Dynasty. Archaeological discoveries in 1955 confirmed that Zhengzhou was the "Bo capital" built by Shang Tang, the founder of the Shang Dynasty. After Shang Tang, Zhengzhou was also the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the spring and Autumn period, and the Warring States period and South Korea, with a history of more than 200 years. The existing Shang city sites in Zhengzhou include the inner city, the outer city, the palace area, and the workshop area, covering an area of 9 square kilometers. Zhengzhou mall is the earliest and largest capital in China, and it is also the first king capital with city walls in Chinese history.
The following statistics are the more objective ranking of the eight ancient capitals in terms of international influence, the number of political power and the time of capital establishment
1、 According to the number of historical capital regimes:
1. Luoyang, the regimes that established or moved the capital here: Diku, Xia (early and late), Shang (early), Western Zhou (five years after Chengwang), Eastern Zhou, Warring States and Han (early), Henan king at the end of Qin Dynasty, Western Han (gaozuchu), Gengshi, Eastern Han, Cao Wei, Western Jin, Northern Wei (493 years later), Sui (Yangdi Hou), Li Wei, Wang Zheng, Tang, Wu Zhou, Dayan, Houliang, houtang, Houjin (gaozuchu), Republic of China（ 32 years). Twenty three regimes.
Accompanying capital regimes: Xinmang, houzhao, Dongwei, beizhou, houhan, Houzhou, BeiSong, Jin. Eight regimes.
Total: 31 regimes.
2. Xi'an, the regimes that established or moved the capital here: Western Zhou Dynasty (early and late years), Qin Dynasty, Western Han Dynasty, Xinmang, Gengshi, Chimei, Eastern Han Dynasty (early Xiandi), Western Jin Dynasty (emperor min), former Zhao Dynasty, Former Qin Dynasty, later Qin Dynasty, Western Yan Dynasty (one month), Eastern Wei Dynasty, Northern Zhou Dynasty, Sui Dynasty (Emperor Wen), Tang Dynasty, Wuzhou Dynasty (two years), huangqi and Dashun (one month). Nineteen regimes.
Accompanying capital regimes: Cao Wei, Hou Zhao, Wu Hu Xia, Hou Tang and the Republic of China.
Total: 24 regimes.
3. In Beijing, the regimes that established or moved the capital here: Zhuhou Ji, Zhuhou Yan, yanwang in the late Qin Dynasty, Qianyan, an Shiyan, Liu Yan, Liao (1125), Jin (Queen of hailing in the middle period), yuan, Ming (empress Cheng zuhou), Dashun, Qing, the Republic of China (early period), Hong Xian, and the people's Republic of China.
Total: 15 regimes.
4. Nanjing, the regimes that established or moved the capital here: Dongwu, Dongjin, Huanchu, houhan, song, Qi, Liang, Chen, Southern Tang, Southern Song (early), Ming, Southern Ming, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Republic of China. Fourteen regimes.
The regime of the accompanying capital: Yang Wu. A regime.
Total: 15 regimes.
5. Kaifeng, the regime that established or moved the capital here: Xia (after Emperor Zhu), Zhuhou Qi, Warring States Wei (after 364 BC), Hou Liang, Hou Jin, Liao (three months after Emperor Taizong), Hou Han, Hou Zhou, Northern Song, Zhang Chu (one month), Liu Qi, Jin (after emperor hailing and Emperor Xuanzong moved to the South), Han song. 13. Political power.
Accompanying capital regime: Ming Dynasty. A regime.
Total: 14 regimes.
6. Anyang, the regimes that established or moved the capital here: Zhuanxu, Diku (early years), Xia (late years), Shang (middle and late years), Wei of Warring States, Zhao (early years), Hou Zhao, ran Wei, Qian Yan, Nan Yan (1 year), Dong Wei, Bei Qi. Twelve regimes.
Accompanying capital regime: Cao Wei. A regime.
Total: Thirteen regimes.
7. Zhengzhou, the regimes that established or moved the capital here: Huangdi, Xia (early years), Shang (early and middle periods), Zheng of Warring States, and Han of Warring States (middle and late periods).
Five regimes in total.
8. Hangzhou, the regimes that established or moved the capital here: Wu Yue and Southern Song Dynasty.
Add up the two regimes.
2、 According to the historical time of capital establishment:
1. Luoyang 1302;
2. Xi'an 1001;
3. Beijing from 907 to 2007;
4. Kaifeng 592;
5. Nanjing 445;
6. 409, Anyang;
7. Zhengzhou 381;
8. Hangzhou, 209.
3、 Ranking by orthodox Dynasties:
Chinese Orthodox Dynasty: a dynasty recognized by history
Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, northern and Southern Dynasties (Southern Dynasties: song, Qi, Liang and Chen; Northern Dynasties: Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi and Northern Zhou), Sui, Tang, Hou Liang, Hou Tang, Hou Jin, Hou Han, Hou Zhou, song, Liao, Jin, yuan, Ming, Qing, Republic of China and Republic of China.
4、 According to the current international influence ranking:
1. Beijing; 2. Xi'an; 3. Hangzhou; 4. Nanjing; 5. Luoyang; 6. Zhengzhou; 7. Kaifeng; 8. Anyang.