Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
Chinese historical sources identify the earliest settlements in these parts from
1045 BC. In later centuries Beijing was successively occupied by foreign
forces: it was established as an auxiliary capital under the Khitan, nomadic
Mongol people who formed China's Liao dynasty (907-1125). Later the
Jurchens, Tungusic people originally from the Siberian region, turned the city
into their Jin-dynasty capital (1115-1234) during which time the city was en-
closed within fortified walls, accessed by eight gates.
But in AD 1215 the army of the great Mongol warrior Genghis Khan razed
Beijing, an event that was paradoxically to mark the city's transformation into a
powerful national capital.
The city came to be called Dadu ( Great Capital), also assuming the Mongol
name Khanbalik (the Khan's town). By 1279, under the rule of Kublai Khan,
grandson of Genghis Khan, Dadu was the capital of the largest empire the
world has ever known.
The basic grid of present-day Beijing was laid during the Ming dynasty, and
Emperor Yongle (r 1403-24) is credited with being the true architect of the
modern city. Much of Beijing's grandest architecture, such as the Forbidden
City and the iconic Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Temple of Heaven
Park, date from his reign.
The Manchus, who invaded China in the 17th century to establish the Qing
dynasty, essentially preserved Beijing's form. In the last 120 years of the Qing
dynasty Beijing, and subsequently China, was subjected to power struggles
and invasions, and the ensuing chaos. The list is long: the Anglo-French
troops who in 1860 burnt the Old Summer Palace to the ground; the corrupt
regime of Empress Dowager Cixi; the catastrophic Boxer Rebellion; General
Yuan Shikai; the warlords; the Japanese occupation of 1937; and the Kuo-
mintang. Each and every period left its undeniable mark, although the shape
and symmetry of Beijing was maintained.
Modern Beijing came of age when, in January 1949, the People's Liberation
Army (PLA) entered the city. On 1 October of that year Mao Zedong pro-
claimed a 'People's Republic' from the Gate of Heavenly Peace to an audien-
ce of some 500,000 citizens.
