Chinese Dynasties & their Capital Cities

Xia (21st-16th century B.C.)
- Yuncheng 運 城, in Shanxi Province

Shang (16th century-1066 B.C.)
- Erlitou 二里头, in Henan Province
- Aodu 隞都, at modern Zhengzhou in Henan Province
- Yin 殷, near modern Anyang

Western Zhou (1066-771 B.C.)
- Zongzhou 宗周 (Hao), near Xi'an in Shaanxi Province

Eastern Zhou (770-256 B.C.)
- Chengzhou 成周, at modern Luoyang

Warring States (475-221 B.C.)
- Various

Qin (221-206 B.C.)
- Xianyang 咸陽, in Shaanxi Province

Western Han (206 B.C.-A.D.220)
- Chang'an 長安, at modern Xi'an in Shaanxi Province

Eastern Han (A.D. 25-220)
- Luoyang 洛陽 (雒), in Henan Province

Three Kingdoms:
Wei (A.D. 220-265)
- Luoyang 洛陽, in Henan Province
Shu (A.D. 221-263)
- Chengdu 成都, in Sichuan Province
Wu (A.D. 222-280)
- Jianye 建業, at modern Nanjing in Jiangsu Province

Western Jin (A.D. 265-316)
- Luoyang 洛陽 (雒), in Henan Province
- Chang'an 長安, at modern Xi'an in Shaanxi Province

Eastern Jin (A.D. 317-420)
- Jiankang 建康, at modern Nanjing in Jiangsu Province

Sixteen States (A.D. 304-439)
- Various

Southern Dynasties (A.D. 420-589)
- Jiankang 建康, at modern Nanjing in Jiangsu Province

Northern Dynasties (A.D. 386-581)
- Datong 大同, in Shanxi Province
- Luoyang 洛陽 (雒), in Henan Province
- Chang'an 長安, at modern Xi'an in Shaanxi Province
- Linzhang 临漳, in Hebei Province

Sui (A.D. 581-618)
- Chang'an 長安, at modern Xi'an in Shaanxi Province

Tang (A.D. 618-907)
- Chang'an 長安, at modern Xi'an in Shaanxi Province

Five Dynasties (A.D. 907-960)
- Kaifeng 開封, in Henan Province

Northern Song (A.D. 960-1279)
- Kaifeng 開封, in Henan Province

Southern Song (A.D. 1127-1279)
- Lin'an 臨安, at modern Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province

Liao (Khitan) (A.D. 916-1125)
- Linhuang 臨潢, in Inner Mongolia

Western Xia (A.D. 1038-1227)
- Xingqing 興慶, at modern Yinchuan in Ningxia Province

Jin (A.D. 1115-1234)
- Daxing 大興, at modern Beijing

Yuan (A.D. 1271-1368)
- Dadu 大都, at modern Beijing

Ming (A.D. 1368-1644)
- Nanjing 南京, in Jiangsu Province
- Beijing 北京, at modern Beijing

Qing (A.D. 1644-1911)
- Shenyang 瀋陽 (Mukden), in Liaoning Province
- Beiping 北平, at modern Beijing

Republic of China (A.D. 1911-1949)
- Beiping 北平, at modern Beijing
- Nanjing 南京, in Jiangsu Province
- Chongqing 重慶, in Sichuan Province

Republic of China (Taiwan) (A.D. 1949- )
- Nanjing 南京, in Jiangsu Province

People's Republic of China (A.D. 1949- )
- Beijing 北京


Liang Jieming
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DragonSeedLegacy

(ed. - For those who can read chinese, you can also have a quick overview over the dynasty's capital at
http://www.ccnt.com/china/history/review/review.htm)

Hey.. isn't the capital of western Zhou at Hao 镐 ?



Isn't it supposed to be Taipei?

Hehe, ok I'm not Taiwanese so I might be wrong, but from what I understand, Nanjing is still the official capital and Taipei the Administrative capital unless this has been changed in recent years and my source is out of date. Anyone else can confirm this?

Jieming
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DragonSeedLegacy

Liang Jieming is right.
ROC still sees the whole mainland China as its territory, and its capital at Nanjing, although the real government capital is in Taipei. The Constitution is outdated.

Now I have a question,

Wasn't Wei's capital Xu Chang, or is Xu Chang located in Luoyang?
Or Maybe I'm just assuming this because Cao Cao lived in Xu Chang.

The names get really confused after awhile so you may be right. Names have be changing and locations shifted like just across the river for instance, and then it becomes a different city with a different name but because modern cities are so huge the cover both sides of the river and the dual name becomes redundant etc. :-) I'll go back and check Wei's capital again. Thanks!

Jieming
DragonSeedLegacy

Xu Chang is not Luo Yang trust me on my three kingdoms knowledge here. Xu Chang is somewhat south east of Lou Yang but more to the east. Yes Wei's Capitial was Xu Chang at one time I also beleave it was Luo Yang and yet another city even more to the north but for convienence lets stick with Xu Chang.

Ok, I defer to the expert here. I've amended the list. Thanks Liu Ce!

Jieming
DragonSeedLegacy

Thanks but I'm no expert.

Does anyone know if the chinese character for Xu Chang is 许昌 or 徐昌 ?

Ah thanks. I was going to try and get that too. Unfortunately I don't know which is correct.

Jieming
DragonSeedLegacy

I do not know off hand but when I get home I will try to look it up. Further more once I see it I will not be able to reproduce it since it will not be on the computer but I hsould be able to take a picture.

How come according to the chinese website at
http://www.ccnt.com/china/history/review/review.htm , the capital of 3 kingdom's Wei is at Luoyang 洛阳 ?

Luo Yang was the capital of Later Han, then later was switched by Dong Zhuo going back to Chang an (created the palace of Mei as well). Then when he was gone they came back to Luo Yang. I would assume because Cao Cao basically took the emperors out of power, and was always in control of the capital, it would only be appriopate.

Maybe I can clarify i have yet to come home but from what I know I'd say it was becuase of this.

Cao Mengde's base of operations was Xu Chang when the caolation against Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu's suprise attact was going on. Since this was called Cao Cao's Forces (Still servant of the Han) he did not have a capitial of his own while the Han's capitial which he served was Lou Yang. Xu Chang was merly Cao Cao's base of operations (which is as good as a capitial).

Ghost of Han I know that Wei had two capitials in that empires lifetime I think the two were Lou Yang and Xu Chang but I suspect there may have been yet another to the north.

I do not know if this is enough proof for you but it is all I could find. We all agree that Cheng Du is the capitial of Shu and that Jian Ye is the Capitial of Wu. Well on this map thoughs cities are in a dark bold identifying them as capitials so when you go north and look at Wei's teritrory you can see two capitials. Lou Yang and Chang An. Now also notice Xu Chang it is in bold also but in red. This is becuase since Cao Cao did not have his own dynasty then he could not have a capitial but it is showing that Xu Chang was his base of Operations.

It's this: 许昌.

So did Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi, change the capital to Xu Chang or he stayed in Luo Yang?

Edit: I just checked my Chinese history book, and it says the capital of Wei is Luo Yang as well.

By the way, is 許都 the same as 許昌？

I understand a single map is not alot of proof to make it convincing but I know that Wei had more than one capitial with a mininum of two throughout it's foundation and fall try to give me some more time.

Although Cao Cao is based in Xu Chang, but I reckon the capital of Wei is still at Luoyang. This is b'cos the capital of eastern han is Luo Yang and if you well know, Cao Pi upsurped the throne but the imperial court is still based in Luo Yang. Most chinese history texts mentioned Luoyang as the capital of Wei.

I'll drop the Xu CHang argumant for now... But what of Chang An I know there are two Wei capitials so if I am wrong can someone clarify why Chang An was also in bold on the map given above?

I think you guys maybe right on this. Xu Chang was the base of operations or even only an adminitrative capital. Louyang and Changan maybe have been the official capitals at one time or the other. We could just list both Louyang and Changan together as the Wei capital if there isn't any strong argument for either one.

Jieming
DragonSeedLegacy

Magority wins I'm afraid untill I can prove it. I'll try asking at SoSZ and other various 3K boards as well as dive deep into research.



That thery is flawed I'm afraid Dong Zhou burned Lou Yang to the ground it could not have been simply rebuilt that fast...

Cao Cao moved the capital to Xu Chang when he rescued the emperor.
Cao Pi moved into Luoyang with Wei

technically, Cao Cao's time is prior to founding of Wei

開封at the time of Five Dynasties and Song was called 汴梁or汴京since it situated around 汴河. It is also refered to as 東京 during Song.

臨安was not really the official capital of Southern Song since the government wouldn't want to appear as only trying to staying in the south not recovering the lost territory. So they called 臨安 a 行在 which means only a temperorary capital for the emperors.

Dear everyone. maybe we have to define some terms before we begin to argue.
First we must define the term:"capital". why we call a city "a capital"? Geneally speaking because the emperor lived in it . If this is right. xu chang is the captital during the time that Han xiandi (emperor) was reigning. From the time he was held under duress by cao cao till he lay down the sceptre. and then, the captital was luoyang. because cao pi move to there a little late after his enthronement. Our famous history book "zi zhi tong jian " records:"十二月，初营洛阳宫。戊午，帝如洛阳." That roughly means cao pi build a palace in luoyang on december 220 AD ,and then he moved to luoyang.
In China. The term "captital" (都)is not always the city which is the dynast lives in. Altough Han xiandi was in xu chang. Chinese people and offcials in that time believe that luoyang is their captital. though dong zhuo has burned it, and Emperor do not live in it. "都” is a term with faith rather than in fact. so after cao pi moved to luoyang. it was regard as returning to the real captital.
so we can say during the time 196 AD to 220 AD China have two captitals, if you accept the foregoing two definting. But from 220 AD Wei has only one captital.Because the goverment moves to the real captital. In China we say:“还于旧都” .
As for Chang an . It is different. chang an is not a captital since liu xiu rebuilt Han in 25 AD. "zi zhi tong jian" records:"冬，十月，癸丑，车驾入洛阳，幸南宫，遂定都焉"that means liu xiu made luoyang as his captital. altough Chang an is still an important city.
Alas, my English is not very well. I doubt if I have express myself clearly....... if you can't forbear it, please let me know, and tell where the mistake is. I will really appreciate your help~~~~

I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure that Erlitou is considered as a late Xia Dynasty site rather than a Shang Dynasty one. Also, Erlitou is certainly not an ancient name, but merely the name of a village near which Xia Dynasty relics were found.

The capitals of the Western and Eastern Zhou dynasties are also called Hao (or Haojing) and Loyi respectively.

The capital of the Western Jin after 312, when Luoyang fell to the Xiongnu, was Chang'an. The Western Jin ended when Chang'an also fell in 316.

During the Eastern Jin, Jianye's name was changed to Jiankang to avoid the taboo on the name of the last Western Jin emperor, Sima Ye. So during the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, the name of the city was always Jiankang. I will correct the list accordingly.

The first Northern Wei capital at present-day Datong was then known as Pingcheng. The Northern Qi capital at present-day Linzhang was then known as Ye or Yecheng (Ye City) - the same 'Ye' that was Sima Ye's name. The reason why its name wasn't changed is because by the time Sima Ye came to the throne in Chang'an, Yecheng had already fallen to the Xiongnu.

I'll submit an addendum of the various capitals of the 16 Kingdoms sometime.

Well, for the 3 Kingdoms era, Cao Cao operates in XuChang, but that doesn't mean that the Wei‘s capital in located at XuChang. From history, Cao Cao never become an Emperor during late Han Dyansty. His son, Cao Pi, lived in Ye(邺) before he overthrown Han Dynasty to found Wei Kingdom, which he picked LuoYang(洛阳) as Wei's capital.

The official capital of ROC is Taipei.

Nanjing is no longer the official capital of ROC.

i thought there are more than 2 empires settled in nanjing

When was it changed?

Its in Suzhou

it's absolutely 许昌.
there is no 徐昌 in China history



Wei's capital is 許昌.and 許都 really is the same as 許昌,and it was also called 許.
even Cao pi became the emperor of Wei,he did not change the capital.
the capital was been changed by Si mayang ,the emperor of east Jin.

Cao cao had a poem--铜雀台赋 (tong que tai fu)which was created in 許昌 at the time before the war of Chi bi. and after losing the war,he went back to 許昌.after he died,Cao Pi founded Wei also in 許昌.

Nope, the Han emperor was in Xuchang until 220. When Cao Pi deposed him and took the throne, he moved the capital to Luoyang. The Western Jin only carried on in the capital that the Wei had established. Also, by 220 Cao Cao's base of power had already shifted to Ye, the capital of the Principality of Wei. From Ye, he kept tabs on the emperor in Xuchang. See Viewer's reply earlier, in which he says the same thing.





Sun Quan's base of operations was only Wu prefecture (Suzhou) until 211. After that, he was based in Zhiling (which he renamed Jianye, i.e. today's Nanjing), where he built the famous Stone Citadel (Shitou Cheng). In 221, he shifted his capital west to E on the middle reaches of the Yangzi River, which he renamed Wuchang (today's Wuhan). In 229, when Sun Quan finally changed his title from King/Prince of Wu to Emperor, he moved his capital back to Jianye (Nanjing). The 8-year period when the capital was at Wuchang has usually been ignored by all but serious scholars of the Three Kingdoms, and I only found out about it when doing research to answer this question.

During parts of the Tang, Luoyang was also considered as a capital; Empress Wu certainly prefered it, and used Ch'angan as little as possible.

Luoyang was regarded as the Eastern Capital of the empire during the Tang.

Luoyang was officially the capital of the emperor. Because of destruction of the capital dued to fighting of the rebels and was deserted and cannot be restored nor can it be supplied easily with food. The capital was shifted to Xuchang which was resourceful and close to Luoyang and was regarded as a grain basin. There fore capital was shifted from Luoyang to Xuchang.

Isn't the Shang capital Chao Ge?

Haha..
Taiwan capitol is Taipei not nanking....
check it out guys..

Officially, the taiwanese constitution still considers Nanking (Nanjing) as their official capital and Taipei is only their temporary capital.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761577607/Taiwan.html

From http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Taiwan.html

"¹Since 1949, Taipei has been the "provisional" capital of the Republic of China, formally Nanjing on the mainland remains the official capital. Taipei was also the capital of the province of Taiwan until 1967 when is was moved to Jhongsing. "

I think my city Changchun, Jilin Province was a capital city for something I can't remember. It was the capital of Manchuko though.

Nanking , the capital of Taiwan? Well, that's history. China has been taken over by the communist in 1949, and the all the leaders of the Kuomingtang has fled to Taiwan after the 3 years Civil War. Now China is known as the People's Republic of China. Maybe some Taiwanese still hope that KMT can win over the Communist Party and rule China again. But looking at the current situation is it possible?

In 1938, a Chinese intellectual met Ishii at the Kwangtung Army headquarters in Manchukuo's capital city, Changchun.
( Quote from book " Factories of Death---Japanese Biological Warfare, 1932-1945, and the American Cover-up by Sheldon H Harris Publisher: Routledge 1994)

Hi Charlotte, finally get to meet you. My apologies for not being more chatty, was really tired as I was working, was up by 7am this morning right up to 5pm and even had to miss the second part of the ACM talk to rush off and handle stuff.

Read my post #39. The official capital so far as I can tell, is still Nanjing and not Taipei. It's like Singapore's official language is Malay and not English.

I'm not sure if your reply was in response to the discussion of the Tang Dynasty Capitals, but if it was I believe that these statements are not entirely true. During the time of the Tang there where two official capitals, Chang'an and Luoyang. During a great portion of the Tang Dynasty, Chang'an remained the primary capital, with Luoyang as a secondary eastern capital. This was due in large part to the influx of wealth and culture that flowed from the Silk road, though the original destination had been Luoyang in the time of the Eastern Han. The Tang was definitely the height of Chang'an in history. It is true that in 691 CE Wu Zetian reportedly moved about half a million people from Chang'an to Luoyang in order to increase the size and prestige of that capital, but the primary capital was soon moved back to Chang'an and by 743, Luoyang was demoted from it's capital status, leaving Chang'an as the only capital during the last 150 years or so of the Tang. It actually doesn't suprise me much that Wu Zetian wanted to move the Capital, because the air in Chang'an was very dusty by comparison to Luoyang, although I have no basis for this other than simple observation of modern Xi'an and Luoyang, and the proximity to the desert that Xi'an has and Luoyang does not.

Isn't Changchun also capital of either Later Jin (fore-father of Qing dynasty) or one of the capitals of Yuan or some other Northern countries (like North Wei or something) during the imperial era? In addition, which cities were the summer capitals of Yuan and Qing dynasties?

The emperors of Shang dynasty loved to move their capitals, and they had a few capitals. Chao Ge was one of the capitals, and I think it was the last one.

I think grandeur's reply was directed toward the 3 kingdoms' discussion. However, your statements about Tang dynasty were correct and excellent!

I was born and grew up in Taiwan. We have been taught that Nanjing is the official capital of ROC and Taipei is the temperary capital of ROC in Taiwan as well as the 省會 (sheng3 hui4 - government location) for the province of Taiwan. Whether or not ROC or KMT could take back the mainland China is not the point. It is an ideal and a dream. However, I do not know whether the current ROC government has changed this part or not because they want to change many things in Taiwan, including the national flag as well as the ethnicity of the people in Taiwan. I was surprised to hear that Dr. Sun Yat-sen was an foreigner to Taiwan people!!! I would quote a popular sarcastic mainland Chinese statement to describe the current Taiwanese government's actions, "很好, 很強大!" (Very good! Very powerful! ...NOT!)

Note: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen has very strong support from many oversea Chinese communities. Whichever Chinese government embraces Dr. Sun Yat-Sen would have the support of the oversea Chinese. Why do you think the mainland Chinese government would step on Confucious and other famous Chinese people during Mao's time and Cultural Revolution, but they were always very respectful of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his widow. Just because Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his widow were good people was not the real reason underneath! (Sorry for my Chinese English sentence structure.)

Also, there were 5 dyansties and 10 kingdoms in the 5 dynasties period. Where were the capitals of those different kingdoms and dynasties during that time. There were two kingdoms in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas that I liked a lot, and their kings were excellent and colorful people.

One (郭威 guo wei) had beautiful tatooed birds around his neck and was known for his tatoos. He had no sons and gave his throne to his sister's son, 柴榮 (cai2 rong2), who was a great king but died young and only had a baby son. Song Taizu took the throne from Cai Rong's son and gave a noble title to the Cai's family. All throughout the Song dynasty, Cai's family had respect and honor from the Song royalties. The legend had it, one of the princess of Cai's family fell in love with the famous sixth son of the famous General Yang's family.

The other (錢穆王 - qian2 mu4 wang2) had many stories associated with him because of his great popularity with the people. He was a great king also, and he had made Hangzhou area to be very prosperous during the time of wars and faming in other areas of China -- I like him a lot. I think his sons were not that good, and they were either conquered or surrendered to Song dynasty.

yea~ but still officially, the "Republic of China" 's map is still considering the china as a whole, and its "lost capital" is still NanJing....... and before china was taken controlled by Communists, NanJing was indeed the capital