Why did the founding emperors of the past dynasties choose their capitals, Xi'an, Luoyang, Nanjing, and Beijing?
There are many dynasties in Chinese history, but if you look closely, there are only four cities with the most capitals of these dynasties, namely Xi'an, Luoyang, Nanjing, and Beijing. So what's going on? Is there anything special to say?
In fact, the capitals of past dynasties must not be chosen casually. If you choose it casually, once it is breached, the country will lose all the people's support and will be destroyed. For example, in the conflict between Chu and Han, Xiang Yu's capital was easily destroyed, and it was impossible to gather the support of the people. In choosing the capital of the past dynasties, these factors must be considered: mountains, water, and royal aura.
Why are there mountains? In fact, this is mainly from the perspective of protecting the capital, because we know that the capital of a country is an important place for rebels or foreign armies to attack. Therefore, the capital must be located in a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so that the capital will not be easily attacked. For example, Xi'an has Hangu Pass, Luoyang has Taihang Mountain, Nanjing has Zhongshan, and Beijing has Yanshan. These mountains can serve as natural barriers for the capital. Because if they want to climb mountains, by the time they cross the mountains, they will be exhausted and half dead, let alone fighting.
Another factor is water source. Why? Because the royal capital of all dynasties must have been a gathering place for residents. People all over the world know that this is the capital of the country, and they all want to crowd here. It is so glorious to live here next to the emperor. Therefore, under this trend of thinking, many people flocked to the royal capital. So when there are more people, they need to eat and drink water, so water sources become extremely important. For example, Nanjing has the Qinhuai River, Luoyang has the Yellow River, Xi'an has the Wei River, and Beijing is also on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. With sufficient water sources, people's lives can be guaranteed.
The last point is that the feng shui of the capital must be good. This is mainly due to the superstition of the ancients, who believed that the capital must have the aura of the king of earth in order to deter the country's monsters and monsters. For example, Chang'an City has been the capital of the country since ancient times, so the imperial atmosphere in Chang'an City is the strongest. Chang'an City is located there, which is like a promising monarch firmly occupying the country. The feng shui of Nanjing city is even more popular. It is said that the feng shui of Nanjing city is that of a tiger sitting on a dragon's disk, and the king is full of domineering. Others like Luoyang and Beijing have even better feng shui, and they are built in the ideal place of a royal capital.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Song Dynasty, the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun fell into the hands of the Liao Kingdom. From then on, the Liao Kingdom went south if it wanted to go south, and if it wanted to attack the Song Dynasty, it could attack the Song Dynasty. It was very convenient, but the Song Dynasty could just I couldn't sleep well. Facing the Liao Kingdom, which could rush to kill them at any time, the Song Dynasty was always on tenterhooks. Therefore, from then on, Chinese monarchs realized the importance of the north.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di abandoned the city of Nanjing and moved the capital to the north in order to guard the then sixteen states of Yanyun and prevent northern Mongolia from moving southward. You know, as the emperor, Zhu Di had very strong military capabilities. He once said a very famous saying: The emperor guards the gate of the country, which means that as the emperor, he guards the gate of his country. The emperor guards the gate of the country. What a domineering sentence. This sentence also reveals the importance of the royal capital and the importance of kings of all dynasties defending the royal capital. For example, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen could have endured the humiliation and escaped, went to the south to establish political power and continue to resist the Qing Dynasty. However, because he lost the capital, he felt that he was a sinner of the country and the nation, so he hanged himself. This also shows that the emperors had no regard for the capital. value. When Chu and Han fought, it was stipulated at the beginning that whoever arrived in Xianyang first would be the boss.
For the country, the capital is the face of the country, and the important image of the country must not be lost. Therefore, when choosing a location, the founding emperors of the past dynasties carefully considered it.