Reign as emperor At the beginning of 1368 Zhu finally proclaimed himself emperor of the Ming dynasty, establishing his capital at Nanjing.
The Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing known as the Forbidden City was constructed between 1406 and 1420 by the Ming emperor Zhu Di and witnessed the enthronement of 14 Ming and 10 Qing emperors over the following 505 years.
The Ming Capitals
Nanjing (literally, “Southern Capital”) was the primary Ming capital until 1420, when the Yongle emperor (reigned 1403–1424) moved the capital to Beijing (“Northern Capital”).
Shenyang in the northern state of Liaoning briefly served as the capital of the Qing dynasty (who referred to it as Mukden) from 1625 until Qing takeover of Beijing in 1644.
Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. The Chinese phrase Four Great Ancient Capitals of China traditionally refers to Beijing, Xi'an, Luoyang and Nanjing. Few cities in the world besides Beijing have served as the political and cultural centre of an area as immense as China for so long.
With but few interruptions, Beijing has been the capital of China for some eight centuries, and in number of years as the imperial capital it is exceeded only by Xi'an (Chang'an) in Shaanxi province and Luoyang in Henan province.
The former name of Beijing is Beiping (Pei-p'ing; “Northern Peace”). The third Ming emperor gave it the new name of Beijing (“Northern Capital”) during the 15th century.
As noted above, the pinyin romanization, "Beijing", was adopted for use within the country in 1958, and for international use in 1979. The United States government continued to follow the Nationalist government in using "Beiping" until the late 1960s.
The Yongle Emperor: Expansion and Exploration
He is often regarded as one of the Ming Dynasty's — and in fact China's — finest emperors. One of the most important changes he brought about to the Ming Dynasty was changing the imperial capital from Nanjing to Beijing, where it remains to this day.
Two factors caused the fall of the Ming dynasty: peasant uprisings (1627–1658) and the Manchu conquest in 1644. However, the cold period in the 17th century lasted for over 200 years. The Ming empire fell into the abyss politically, fiscally, and economically.
It was so named because access to the area was barred to most of the subjects of the realm. Government functionaries and even the imperial family were permitted only limited access; the emperor alone could enter any section at will.
The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987. The complex consists of 980 buildings, encompassing 9,999 rooms and covering 720,000 m2 (72 ha)/178 acres.
The Forbidden City was the political and ritual center of China for over 500 years. After its completion in 1420, the Forbidden City was home to 24 emperors, their families and servants during the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties.
Beijing may be the capital of China today, but for many centuries the country was ruled from Nanjing, a historic city located on the shores of the Yangtze River.
Language reform in the 1950s established an official Romanized spelling system for use in transcribing Chinese words in other languages. In the new (and current) system the old CHI and KI were replaced with JI, and, Běijīng was spelled "Beijing," and not "Peking" any more.
Prior to the unification of China by the First Emperor in 221 BC, Beijing had been for centuries the capital of the ancient states of Ji and Yan. It was a provincial center in the earliest unified empires of China, Qin and Han.
Peking is the name of the city according to Chinese Postal Map Romanization, and the traditional customary name for Beijing in English. The term originated with French missionaries four hundred years ago and corresponds to an older pronunciation predating a subsequent sound change in Mandarin from [kʲ] to [tɕ].
1. Shanghai — 23.4 million people. Shanghai is the undisputed most populous and wealthiest city in China.
One of the most impressive cities in antiquity was Chang'an Cheng, which was founded in 202 BCE and is the oldest city in China, known today as Xi'an. Chang'an Cheng served as the capital of the Xi (Western) Han dynasty.
Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and a special administrative region in China. With 7.4 million residents of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated territories in the world.
China: 2100 BC
Amongst the oldest nations in the World, the next on the list is China as it has been known to exist for over 3500 years. The Shang Dynasty ruled in China in 17th century B.C to 11th century B.C. This is considered as the longest-ruling period for any dynasty.
Canberra is the federal capital of Australia. It occupies part of the Australian Capital Territory in southeastern Australia and is about 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Sydney. It lies astride the Molonglo River.
The Earliest Settlements: The earliest known Chinese culture was the relatively sophisticated Yang-shao, whose people lived in simple, bare settlements and hunted for game with carved stone spears. The Yang-shao settled near the Huang He River around 10,000 BCE, over 12,000 years ago.