Why did Xi, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanjing and Beijing become the ancient capitals of the Millennium?

The history of a city is the history of a nation. China has a long history in choosing the location of its capital. Chen Jian, a scholar in the Ming Dynasty, put forward in On Building a Capital: "According to ancient and modern times, there are four metropolises in the world: Chang 'an, Luoyang, Bianjing and Yan. These four are all from the place where the emperor built his capital. These four metropolises are Xi, Luoyang, Kaifeng and Beijing. In the 1920s, academic works began to refer to Xi, Luoyang, Beijing, Nanjing and Kaifeng as "five ancient capitals" and gradually became public opinion. Later, there was even the saying of "the Seventh National Congress" or even "the Ten Ancient Capitals", and there were different opinions. Throughout the history of China, we can find that, whether it was the ancient unified dynasty, the separatist period or even modern times, most countries' capitals or capital cities were located in or near several cities. Especially the "five ancient capitals" are the most popular. It was not only the capital of the national unified regime, but also a high-ranking dynasty/country with its capital for a long time. The accumulated life of several famous ancient capitals is calculated according to the standard of Shi Nianhai, a recognized historian in academic circles: Xi 'an is 1077, Beijing is 903, Luoyang is 885, Nanjing is 450, Kaifeng is 366, Anyang is 35 1, Hangzhou is 2 10 and Zhengzhou is 355; According to the length of the capital, it is Xi 'an, Luoyang, Beijing, Kaifeng, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou and Anyang. Overall characteristics of ancient capitals Generally speaking, these cities that can become national capitals or capitals must meet the requirements of relevant basic standards (for details, please refer to my last clumsy article "Deciphering the Code of China's Ancient Capital: The Heart of the Quartet, the Foundation of the Country"). From a macro point of view, it is located within the national territory, preferably in the geographical center of the country, or near the birthplace of the ruling group; Microscopically, it is the environment of the capital site itself, including economic, hydrological, military, transportation and other basic conditions. Of course, it is difficult for a place to fully meet these conditions, and it can only choose the most favorable location according to the main contradictions at that time. So there will be a time when the two places will wander around and build the capital, and there will be a phenomenon of aiding Beijing to accompany the capital. Moreover, the capital and the capital are often concentrated in several cities. This phenomenon not only reflects the historical process, but also illustrates the development and changes of the city. The replacement of dynasties and capitals, accompanied by the replacement of dynasties and the characteristics of the city itself, can be roughly divided into several historical stages. In the first stage, the capital city mainly hovered between Xi and Luoyang. During the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the capital was moved many times. Because its core territory is part of present-day Henan province, it is mainly concentrated in present-day Henan province except for temporarily moving its capital to other areas. As a vassal state, in order to explore eastward, the political center of Zhou moved eastward from the west of Guanzhong and the prince of Wu moved to Gao. Soon, the King of Wu replaced the Shang Dynasty, and Haojiang, as the capital, seemed too western, so he chose Luoyi (now Luoyang) in the center of the Central Plains as the capital. So Haojiang became the official capital, numbered Zhou Zong; Luoyi is the capital, and the number is Chengzhou. This is the beginning of China's "dual capital system". At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the capital remained motionless because: first, it was close to the birthplace of Zhou people and had political backing. Second, the natural conditions in Guanzhong area are good, there are risks to defend, and the food supply is sufficient; Third, close to the former enemy, both offensive and defensive. Like the Book of Songs? Elegance? " "People's Labor" said: "Benefit this China and cover all directions; In order to appease the capital of the capital, the four kingdoms will be determined. " In view of the death of the Western Zhou Dynasty in the northwest nationalities such as dogs and Rong, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyi. Qin made its fortune in the west and moved its capital many times. After the unification of the six countries, Xianyang will be its capital. Although Luoyang in the Central Plains was not the capital of the Qin Dynasty, it was replaced by an emperor who toured the country many times. When Liu Bangchu proclaimed himself emperor in the Western Han Dynasty, he made Luoyang his capital. This place is both in the world and close to my hometown. Later, I accepted the advice of Lou Jing and Sean and moved to Chang 'an. Sean said: "Guanzhong has a letter on the left, a fertile land on the right, a forgiveness of Bashu in the south, and the benefit of the tiger in the north. It is blocked on three sides and controls the princes on the same side." The princes are stable, the rivers and mountains hold the world, and the west gives the capital; Governors change, go downstream, and lose. This so-called golden city is thousands of miles away, and the country of abundance is also. "Both Lu and Zhang think that we can learn from Qin Dou's experience. Guanzhong is Liu Bang's hometown. We can rely on Guanzhong for solid and rich self-protection and forge ahead to control the national situation. And Luoyang, the biggest disadvantage is that the defense is more difficult. Zhongzhou Plain is the land of four wars, and Ilo Plain is even more dangerous. The so-called "east, west resistance Song, Lu, last stand, Ilo" is just the words of Luoyang capital theorists. If there is a real war, as Sean said, "Although it is solid and small, Fiona Fang is hundreds of miles, with a vast territory and few people, and it is surrounded by enemies. This is not a country that uses force. "Especially if there is rebellion in China, Luoyang is not as safe as Xi 'an. From the point of view of internal control, the first thing to deal with in the early Qin Dynasty is the potential danger of the rebellion of the old nobles in the six eastern countries, and the first thing to deal with in the early Western Han Dynasty is the separatist forces of the eastern princes, that is, all the internal hostile forces come from the east, so Guanzhong, which is the capital of the west, is a low-risk option; From the point of view of defending foreign enemies, the biggest foreign enemy that Qin and Western Han faced was the Xiongnu in the north. Having its capital in Guanzhong, close to the anti-Hungarian battlefield, is conducive to fully defending the enemy. The fact is the same. Qin took Guanzhong as its political base, recovered the Hetao area, occupied Henan and established a new Qin, which dealt a heavy blow to the Xiongnu forces. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national strength was strong, which dealt a heavy blow to the Huns, opened up five counties in Hexi and the Western Regions, and greatly expanded its territory to the west, so Chang 'an at that time was almost in the geographical center of the country. When Wang Mang was in the New Dynasty, he wandered between Xi 'an and Luoyang, with Chang 'an as the west capital, and tried to move Luoyang as the east capital. After that, the emperor Liu Xuan, who had been in office for only three years, first moved to Luoyang and then moved to Chang 'an. At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu made Luoyang his capital. The main reasons are as follows: he started from Nanyang, and later took Hanoi County north of the Yellow River as the rear area, thus unifying the whole country; Luoyang's convenient geographical transportation can save the huge water transportation cost with Chang 'an as its capital. The national strength of the Eastern Han Dynasty is far less than that of the Western Han Dynasty. In the face of the invasion of the northern Xiongnu and the western Qiang, the heart is willing but unable to do so. However, the debate about returning Chang 'an to Luoyang has never stopped. Du Du, Ban Gu, Zhang Heng and other officials all expounded their political opinions in the form of Du Yi Fu, and discussed the advantages of Chang 'an and Luoyang. However, the Eastern Han Dynasty never returned to Chang 'an, the capital, and the political and cultural centers were all in the Central Plains, but the emperor often went to the Western Regions. This also reflects the two major political and cultural trends of thought in the Eastern Han Dynasty: military retreat and ritual and music revival. During the tripartite confrontation between Wei Shuwu and China, Chengdu, Nanjing and Luoyang were the capitals. Later, the Western Jin Dynasty was born out of the Cao Wei regime and made Luoyang its capital to maintain its rule. At that time, Jiangdong was less affected by the war in the Central Plains and was relatively rich, so Si Marui established the Eastern Jin Dynasty in Nanjing. During the Sixteen Countries and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, wars were frequent, and each regime held its own land. Chang 'an, Luoyang, Anyang, Nanjing and Chengdu continue to be regarded as national capitals, and a number of new capitals such as Wuwei in Gansu and Ledu in Qinghai have emerged one after another. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Jingdi abdicated to Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty, with the title of Sui, and inherited its capital Daxing City (now Xi 'an). After Yang Di ascended the throne, he moved the capital to Luoyang in order to facilitate grain transportation, conquer all directions, and strengthen national economic, social and cultural exchanges and trade development. In the Tang and Sui Dynasties, because the base of Guanlong Group, as the ruling class, was in the northwest and the west Turkistan was the main foreign enemy, Chang 'an was the capital and Luoyang was the east capital. After Wu Zetian proclaimed himself emperor, he made Luoyang his capital. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen, the Xuanwu Army stationed in Kaifeng, usurped the Tang Dynasty and proclaimed himself emperor. After the establishment of the Liang Dynasty, Kaifeng was its capital directly. From then on, Chang 'an lost its status as the capital, and briefly served as the capital of Xijing in the later Tang Dynasty. After the Northern Song Dynasty, it bid farewell to the status of the capital. Therefore, the main reason why the capital moved between Xi 'an and Luoyang is that Xi 'an and Luoyang are both high-quality options of the capital, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and no one can take an absolute advantage. This characteristic phenomenon also reflects: First, the political foundations of the Qin, Western Han and Tang Dynasties were all in the northwest, and they relied on the military strength of this area for many years to gain political power, just as the Han Dynasty said, "Qin and Han Dynasties came, Shandong became a different place, and Shanxi became a general." This background provided a reliable basis for them to build their capital in Guanzhong area. Second, if the dynasty is aggressive, it will take Chang 'an as its capital, such as Qin, Western Han and Tang Dynasties. If you defend yourself, take Luoyang as the capital, such as the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Western Jin Dynasty and many separatist regimes. Thirdly, Xi 'an's geographical damage to the west needs Luoyang's intermediate position to make up for and replace it, so the "dual capital system" appeared. In the second stage, the capital city mostly hovered between Luoyang and Kaifeng. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou, Taiyuan, Chengdu and Jiangling were the capitals of various separatist regimes. The generals of the Zhou Dynasty launched a mutiny in Chen Qiao, made Zhao Kuangyin emperor, established the Song Dynasty, and inherited Kaifeng, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. After the death of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou succeeded to the throne in Yingtianfu (now Shangqiu, Henan Province) and later moved to Lin 'an (now Hangzhou), which is known as the Southern Song Dynasty. The military strength of the Southern Song Dynasty was weak, relying on the Qinhuai River, the natural barrier of the Yangtze River and the rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, which led to the confrontation with Jin Guo, Xixia and Dali. The Qidan tribe first established its capital in Beijing near Huangfu (now Balinzuoqi, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia), and then went south to the Central Plains to capture Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan Province) as its capital, and changed its name to Liao. Later, with the civil strife and the decline of national strength, the capital moved back to Dadingfu, Zhongjing (now Ningcheng County, Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia), and later established its capital in Liaoyang, Beijing, Datong and other places, and the regime was finally destroyed by Jin Guo and Mongolia. After the end of Tang Dynasty, with the eastward movement of political, economic and cultural centers, the capital city rotated between Luoyang and Kaifeng. Kaifeng has become a political center since the late Tang Dynasty. The direct reason was that Xuanwu Army, which controlled the Tang regime, was stationed in Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen forced Tang Zhaozong to move the capital to Luoyang, which was naturally easy to control. After usurping the Tang dynasty and setting up the back beam, Kaifeng was the capital directly. Moreover, Kaifeng took advantage of the convenience of canal water transportation. But then there is a small wandering period between Kaifeng and Luoyang. Kaifeng, the capital of Zhu Wen, moved westward to Luoyang in less than two years, and opened four years later. In the later Tang Dynasty, the beam was destroyed and the capital was moved to Luoyang. After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Tang Dynasty, Kaifeng was the capital two years later, and it remained until the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. But Luoyang has always existed as the capital. Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, has not been completely determined. Song Taizu and Zhao Kuangyin had planned to build Luoyang as their capital, but his brother Zhao Guangyi and his ministers tried to stop them. Zhao Kuangyin took a step back and said Chang 'an is the capital. "According to the victory of mountains and rivers, we can eliminate redundant soldiers and follow the story of Zhou Hanzhi to secure the world." . Zhao Guangyi and others are firmly opposed. Kaifeng is the land of four wars, and there is no natural barrier to defend, so we have to guard it by pure force. The number of guards in the Northern Song Dynasty reached 1.4 million. Kaifeng was also the most prosperous city in the Northern Song Dynasty and the most prosperous city in the world at that time. In order to avoid the Mongolian aggression, Hou Jin moved the capital to Nanjing, with Kaifeng as its capital. Later, after the fall of Nanjing, Kaifeng's position as the capital and capital in history came to an end. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang admired the system of the Song Dynasty and had the idea of building Kaifeng as the capital. However, due to the impassability of waterways around Kaifeng, it was decided to take Nanjing as the capital and Kaifeng as Beijing (about ten years). Kaifeng has the advantages of water conservancy, but it is also a double-edged sword: when Qin Shihuang, he ordered Wang Ben, a general, to attack Dewey's girder (now Kaifeng). If you can't attack for a long time, you will open an army to divert water from Yi Qu to the city, destroying the city and destroying Wei; At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng mobilized an army to besiege Kaifeng, loyalists opened the Yellow River levee, and the Yellow River flood rebels swept Kaifeng, drowning countless people and destroying the city. During the 600 years from the fifth year of Ming Chang in Jin Dynasty to the thirteenth year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River flooded Kaifeng for more than 40 times and invaded and flooded the inner city for 4 times. In those days, the prosperous Song Cheng disappeared and was buried under the loess by sediment. In the third stage, the capital mostly hovered between Beijing and Nanjing. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties from the 3rd century to the 6th century, the Jiangnan regime mostly chose Nanjing as its capital, relying on the natural fortifications of the Yangtze River and abundant local resources to maintain its rule. The Jin State established by the Jurchen nationality has successively established capitals in Adong City of Heilongjiang, Beijing, Ningcheng of Inner Mongolia, Liaoyang, Kaifeng, Datong and other places, and the regime was destroyed under the attack of the Southern Song Dynasty and Mongolia. The Xixia regime established by Xixia people in the northwest with Xingqing House as its capital (now Yinchuan, Ningxia) was destroyed by Mongolia. The Mongols established a unified Yuan Dynasty, with its capital mostly (now Beijing). The Red Scarf Army Uprising Army overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang established Daming, and its capital should be Tianfu (now Nanjing); Later, Judy moved the capital to Shuntianfu (now Beijing) with Yingtianfu as its capital. Jianzhou Jurchen Department changed its name to Qing, entered the Central Plains and moved its capital to Beijing. Yanshan Mountain is in the north and northeast of Beijing, Taihang Mountain is in the west, forming a semicircle surrounded by three sides, and the endless North China Plain is in the southeast. Being close to the northern homeland, there are both natural disasters to prevent and plain agricultural economic foundation, so Beijing has become the ideal capital for northern ethnic minorities to enter the Central Plains. Such as gold, yuan and Qing. 19 12, Nanjing was the capital of the Republic of China, and Beiyang moved to Beijing in the same year. Later, he briefly moved the capital to Luoyang. 1928 After the Northern Expedition was completed, he moved back to Nanjing and became the capital of Chongqing. Beijing is the capital of China people. To sum up, during the two thousand years from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the capital mainly moved between Xi 'an and Luoyang. The 200 years from the late Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty was a period of wandering between Luoyang and Kaifeng. These two periods, in essence, shifted in position on the east-west horizontal axis, and the latitudes were almost the same. After the Jin dynasty, it was a reciprocating period from Beijing to Nanjing, which was essentially a position translation on the north-south longitudinal axis, and the longitude difference was also very small. This regular phenomenon not only reflects the unique geographical and humanistic charm of ancient capital cities, but also shows that they are the product of historical development, and their fate and rise and fall trajectory are closely related to them. Different people have different views on the theory of geographical geomantic omen.