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48-653: The city-state of Ji was inhabited by the tribe of the Yellow Emperor in the Shang dynasty , and became one of the founding vassal states of the Zhou dynasty . According to Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian , King Wu of Zhou , in the 11th year of his reign, deposed King Zhou of Shang and conferred titles to nobles within his domain, including the rulers of the city states Ji and Yan . According to

96-630: A jiedushi , a military regional commander. In 742, Youzhou was renamed Fanyang Commandery (范阳郡). In 759, during the An–Shi Rebellion , Shi Siming declared himself emperor of the Great Yan dynasty and made Fanyang, Yanjing (燕京) or “the Yan Capital.” After the rebellion was suppressed, the seat of government became Youzhou Lulong Dudufu (幽州卢龙都督府). Under the Liao dynasty (907–1125), the city

144-811: A Di , defeated the Former Yan and briefly unified northern China. But after losing the Battle of Feishui in 383, the Former Qin's control crumbled as the Later Yan , Northern Wei and other kingdoms broke away. In 385, the Northern Yan, under Murong Chui and seized Ji from the Former Qin. At around 398, the Former Yan governor of Ji, Gao Hu, surrendered to the Northern Wei , led by the Tuoba clan of

192-534: A "Hill of Ji" northwest of the city, which would correspond to the large mound at the White Cloud Abbey , outside Xibianmen about 4 km north of Guang'anmen. South and west of Guang'anmen, archaeologists have unearthed remnants of concentrated human habitation dating back to at least the 400s   BC. In 1956, during the construction of the Yongding River viaduct, 151 ancient wells dating to

240-404: A priority in the city's archaeological work. 39°53′39″N 116°22′57″E  /  39.894262°N 116.382425°E  / 39.894262; 116.382425 Ji (state in modern Beijing) Ji ( simplified Chinese : 蓟 ; traditional Chinese : 薊 ; pinyin : Jì ) was an ancient state in northern China during the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties from at least

288-468: A province to a commandery and renamed Zhuojun back to Youzhou, which was one of over 300 Tang Prefectures. With the creation of a separate prefecture called Jizhou (蓟州) in present-day Tianjin in 730, the name Ji was transplanted from Beijing to Tianjin, where a Ji County (蓟县) still exists today. In Beijing, the city of Ji gradually became known as Youzhou. The seat of the government of Youzhou remained in place but took on slightly different names. In 616,

336-643: The Book of Rites , King Wu of Zhou was so eager to establish his legitimacy after his battle victory over the Shang that before dismounting from his chariot, he named the descendants of the Yellow Emperor to the State of Ji. The 11th year of the reign of King Wu of Zhou approximates to 1145   BC. The Beijing Municipal Government designates 1045   BC as the first year of the city's history. At some time in

384-624: The Grand Canal to Zhuojun, to carry men and materiale for his campaigns against Goguryeo . Outside of Ji, the Linshuo Palace was built in 609 to accommodate the emperor during his trips and to and from Korea. The brutal reign of Emperor Yang brought rebellions against the Sui dynasty. One of these, led by Dou Jiande rose from Zhuojun and besieged Ji in 620 but was defeated by Luo Yi , a Sui general who joined Li Yuan 's insurrection against

432-462: The Han dynasty triumphed over Chu in 206 BCE, the Zhou feudal system was initially reinstated, with Emperor Gaozu recognizing nearly independent kings and granting large territories to his relatives. These two sets of kingdoms were placed under hereditary rulers assisted by a chancellor ( xiàng ). Parallel to these, some Qin commanderies were continued, placed under a governor appointed directly by

480-674: The Han dynasty , Zang Tu was appointed the Prince of Yan , and governed the Principality of Yan from Ji. When the Han court began to purge former supporters of Xiang Yu, Zang Tu became fearful and rebelled. Liu Bang as the Emperor Gaozu personally led a campaign against Zang Tu in Ji. Zang Tu was defeated and killed in 206   BC. Emperor Gaozu appointed his childhood friend Lu Wan as

528-489: The Kingdom of Wei controlled ten of the Han dynasty's prefectures including Youzhou and its capital Ji. The Wei Kingdom reorganized and decentralized the governance of commanderies under Youzhou. Guangyang Commandery became the State of Yan (燕国), which had four counties: Ji County, Changping, Jundu and Guangyang County, and was governed from the city of Ji. Fanyang Commandery was governed from Zhuo County. Yuyang Commandery

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576-662: The Wang Mang interregnum , Guangyang Principality became the Guangyou Principality. During the Eastern Han dynasty , Youzhou was as one of 12 prefectures and contained a dozen subordinate commanderies, including the Guangyang Commandery. In AD   24, Liu Xiu moved Youzhou's prefectural seat from Ji County (in modern-day Tianjin) to the city of Ji. In AD   96, the city of Ji served as

624-458: The Zhou 's vassal states —including Qin , Jin and Wei —began annexing their smaller rivals. These new lands were not part of their original fiefs and were instead organized into counties ( xiàn ). Eventually, commanderies were developed as marchlands between the major realms . Despite having smaller populations and ranking lower on the official hierarchies, the commanderies were larger and boasted greater military strength than

672-608: The circuit had been introduced, bringing back a three-tier system). In the Warring States period , the chief administrative officers of the areas were known as commandery administrators ( Chinese : 郡守 ; pinyin : jùnshǒu ; lit. 'defender of the jun'). In the Han dynasty , the position of junshou was renamed grand administrator ( 太守 ; tàishǒu ; 'grand defender'). Both terms are also translated as "governor". A grand administrator drew an annual salary of 2,000 dan ( 石 ) of grain according to

720-578: The "Middle Capital" and (4) Xiadu (下都) or the "Lower Capital", a larger settlement south of Linyi, in modern-day Yi County, Hebei Province, that was built in the 300s   BC. By the time, the State of Qin invaded Yan in 226   BC, the capital of Yan was back in Ji. The city of Ji is believed to be located in the southwestern part of present-day urban Beijing, just south of Guang'anmen in Xicheng and Fengtai Districts . Historical accounts mention

768-473: The 11th century to the 7th century BC. The state was based in the walled City of Ji , or Jicheng, located in the modern day Guang'anmen neighborhood of southwestern Beijing . Around 7th century BC, Ji was conquered by the larger State of Yan , which took the City of Ji as its capital. The city remained the primary urban center in the area until the 13th century, when Kublai Khan built the larger city of Dadu to

816-535: The Prince of Yan and his family ruled Ji for three generations. In 117   BC, Emperor Wu of Han appointed his son Liu Dan as the Prince of Yan. Liu Dan held the title for 38 years. In 106   BC, Emperor Wu of Han organized the Western Han dynasty into 13 province-sized prefectures, each administered by a cishi (刺史) or inspector. The city of Ji was the prefectural seat for Youzhou, which governed roughly

864-629: The Prince of Yan. In 195   BC, he became distrustful of Lu Wan and invaded Ji. Lu Wan fled to the Xiongnu in the steppes. To tighten control of the region, the Emperor Gaozu sent his son Liu Jian to Ji as the Prince of Yan. After Liu Jian died in 181   BC, Gaozu's widow, the Empress Lü Zhi controlled the Han court, and made her nephew Lü Tong as the Prince of Yan. When Empress Lü Zhi's regency ended in 179   BC, Liu Ze became

912-612: The Principality of Yan was converted to Guangyang Commandery . In 73   BC, Liu Jian's son, Liu Jian was appointed the Prince of Guangyang and the Guangyang Commandery became the Guangyang Principality. Liu Jian's tomb is now Dabaotai Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum in Fengtai District of Beijing. His grandson Liu Jia was ousted from the principality after Wang Mang 's seized the Han throne. During

960-451: The Qin capital at Xianyang in 207   BC. Xiang Yu then divided the country into Eighteen Principalities , appointing Zang Tu as the lord of Ji and Han Guang as the lord of nearby Liaodong. Han Guang refused to cede Ji to Zang Tu, who seized the city and killed Han Guang. Zang Tu then sided with Liu Bang , the lord of Sichuan, in the war against Xiang Yu . After Liu Bang prevailed and founded

1008-528: The Spring and Autumn, Warring States and Han dynasty were discovered. In 1957, a rammed earth platform was found south of Guang'anmen along with tiles used for palace construction. Since then more wells and tiles have been discovered, and the wells are most densely concentrated in south of Xuanwumen and Hepingmen. Archaeologists have yet to discover remnants of city walls from the Zhou dynasty that have been found at

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1056-451: The Sui. Li Yuan founded the Tang dynasty . During the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) and Later Jin (936–947 CE), Fanyang was an important military garrison and a commercial hub. To the north of the city lay the military region of Yingzhou (营州) with Daizhou (代州) to the west. The Tang dynasty reduced the size of a prefecture, as a unit of administration administrative division, from

1104-761: The Warring States, including the southern wall of the Yan, which separated the Beijing Plain from the Central Plain, and built a national roadway network. Ji served as the junction for the roads connecting the Central Plain with Mongolia and Manchuria. The First Emperor visited Ji in 215   BC and, to protect the frontier from the Xiongnu , had the Qin Great Wall built north of Ji and fortified Juyong Pass . The Qin conscripted men from throughout

1152-642: The Xianbei, who established the first of the Northern dynasties . Ji became the prefecture capital of Youzhou. This designation continued through the remainder of the Northern dynasties, Eastern Wei , Northern Qi and Northern Zhou . During the Sui dynasty , Youzhou became Zhuojun or Zhuo Commandery and Ji remained the capital of the commandery. Emperor Yang of Sui mobilized more than million men and women to build

1200-574: The administration were merged into one level, typically rendered in English as prefecture, marking the end of the commandery. Some Emperors to referred to this level of administration as a jun ("commandery"), but most used zhou ("province") and the political function was the same, regardless. By the end of the Tang dynasty the term jun saw no more use in China (and a new higher tier of administrative unit,

1248-494: The central government. By the Eastern Han dynasty, the commanderies were subordinated to a new division , the province ( zhōu ). — establishing a three-tier system composed of provinces, commanderies, and counties . Based upon legendary accounts of the Yellow Emperor 's Nine Provinces which were geographic rather than formal political areas, there were initially 13 provinces and roughly 100 commanderies. China

1296-706: The city of Ji was successively controlled by the Di -led Former Qin , the Jie -led Later Zhao , the Xianbei -led Former Yan and Later Yan . In 319 AD, Shi Le , the founder of the Later Zhao Kingdom, captured Ji from Duan Pidi , a Xianbei chieftain nominally loyal to the Jin dynasty. In 349, Ran Min , an ethnic Han general seized control of this kingdom, which he renamed Ran Wei in 350. But before he could capture Ji,

1344-650: The city was taken by the Murong Xianbei, led by Prince Murong Jun who swept down from Manchuria . Murong Jun then defeated Ran Min and extinguished the Ran Wei. In 352, he declared himself emperor and made the city, the capital of the Former Yan Kingdom. Five years later, the Former Yan's capital was moved further south to Ye in southern Hebei. In 369–70, the Former Qin , led by Fu Jian ,

1392-557: The counties. As each state's territory gradually took shape in the 5th- to 3rd-century BCE Warring States period, the commanderies at the borders flourished. This gave rise to a two-tier administrative system, with counties subordinate to commanderies. Each of the states' territories was by now comparatively larger, hence there was no need for the military might of a commandery in the inner regions where counties were established. The border commanderies' military and strategic significance became more important than those of counties. Following

1440-501: The country to be garrisoned at the forts north of Ji. In 209   BC, a group of conscripts who were delayed in their march to the north by flooding in central China and faced penalty by death, rose in rebellion under the leadership of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang . The rebellion spread to Ji, where Han Guang revived the Yan Kingdom. Han Guang sent his subordinate Zang Tu to help rebel leader Xiang Yu , who succeeded in capturing

1488-472: The first year of the city's history. The capital of the state was the walled City of Ji or Jicheng ( t 薊城, s 蓟城, Jìchéng ). The city was located in the southwestern part of present-day Beijing, just south of Guang'anmen in Xicheng and Fengtai Districts . At about the 7th century BC, Ji was absorbed by neighboring Yan , which made the City of Ji, its capital. Commandery (China) A commandery ( Chinese : 郡 ; pinyin : jùn )

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1536-538: The government was called Youzhou Zongguanfu (幽州总管府); in 622, Youzhou Dazongguanfu (幽州大总管府); in 624, Youzhou Dadudufu (幽州大都督府) and in 626, Youzhou Dudufu (幽州都督府). In 645, Tang Emperor Taizong launched another war against Goguryeo using Ji as the base of forward operating base. He built the Fayuan Temple in the western suburbs to commemorate the war dead. From 710, the head of the government in Youzhou became

1584-418: The late Western Zhou dynasty or the early Eastern Zhou dynasty , the neighboring State of Yan conquered Ji and made the city its capital. The Yan state eventually became one of the seven powers of the Warring States period (476–221   BC). The rulers of the Yan built several capitals and moved their seat of power in response to threats from the nomadic tribes from the north and neighboring kingdoms from

1632-458: The northwest, which eventually absorbed the City of Ji. Ji was a small state during the Shang dynasty that was inhabited by a tribe that was said to have descended from the Yellow Emperor , and became one of the vassal states of the Zhou dynasty . According to Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian , King Wu of Zhou , in the 11th year of his reign, deposed King Zhou of Shang and conferred titles to nobles within his domain, including

1680-790: The other four capitals. In 1974, excavations around the White Cloud Abbey uncovered remnants of city walls but three tombs from the Eastern Han dynasty found underneath the walls indicate the walls post-date the tombs. The fact that the other four capitals were buried beneath farmland and the Guang'anmen area is a densely populated section of urban Beijing accounts for the greater difficulty of searching for Ji's ruins. In 2008, city authorities in Beijing announced that archaeological efforts would accompany urban renewal constructions projects in southern Beijing to search for more artifacts of Ji in

1728-547: The plains around Ji. Ji was demoted to a county seat in the Western Jin dynasty (晋), which made neighboring Zhuo County , in present-day Hebei Province , the prefectural capital of Youzhou. In the early 4th century, the Western Jin dynasty was overthrown by steppe peoples who had settled in northern China and established in a series of mostly short-lived kingdoms . During the so-called Sixteen Kingdoms period,

1776-690: The pre-imperial era. Qin general Wang Jian conquered Ji in 226   BC and the First Emperor completed his unification of China in 221   BC. The country was organized into 48 commanderies . Ji was the capital of the Guangyang Commandery . To prevent the Warring States from regaining their power, the First Emperor ordered the walls of the old capitals be destroyed and Ji's walls were torn down in 215   BC but later rebuilt. The Qin removed defensive barriers dividing

1824-455: The rulers of the city states Ji and Yan . According to the Book of Rites , King Wu of Zhou was so eager to establish his legitimacy after his battle victory over the Shang that before dismounting from his wagon, he named the descendants of the Yellow Emperor to the State of Ji. This was the first mention of Ji in history. The 11th year of the reign of King Wu of Zhou approximates to 1045 BC. The Beijing Municipal Government designates 1045 BC as

1872-529: The same territory as the State of Yan during the Warring States period . Youzhou was composed of the Shanggu, Zhuo, Guangyang, Bohai, Yuyang, Right Beiping, Liaoxi, Liaodong, Xuantu and Lelang Commanderies. After Emperor Wu died, Liu Dan conspired with the Empress Gaichang and Sang Hongyang to subvert the throne. When the plot was foiled, Liu Dan was forced to commit suicide in 80   BC and

1920-478: The seat of both the Guangyang Commandery and Youzhou. Near the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the commander of Fanyang was Liu Yan , better known as the governor of Yizhou Province a few years later. After Liu Yan's reposting, Liu Yu became the commander of Yizhou. His subordinate, Gongsun Zan , eventually attacked Youzhou and killed Liu Yu, becoming the commander of Fanyang. During the Three Kingdoms ,

1968-587: The south. Ji was referred to historians as Shangdu (上都) or the "Upper Capital." Other Yan capitals include: (1) the Liulihe Site in southern Fangshan District of Beijing , which served as the Yan capital prior to Yan's conquest of Ji, (2) Linyi (临易) in present-day Rongcheng and Xiong Counties of Hebei Province to which the seat of Yan moved in 690s   BC, (3) the ancient city of Doudian in Liangxiang of Fangshan District, known as Zhongdu (中都), or

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2016-661: The then- Xuanwu District government erected a commemorative pillar in Binhe Park along the western 2nd Ring Road , just south of the Tianning Temple to mark the location of Jicheng and its importance to the history of Beijing. In 2009, the Beijing Administration for Cultural Heritage made the study and discovery of Ji during the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Qin and Han eras

2064-591: The unification of China in 221 BCE under the Qin Empire , the Qin government still had to engage in military activity because there were rebels from among the six former states who were unwilling to submit to Qin rule. As a result, Qin Shi Huangdi set up 36 commanderies in the Qin Empire, each subdivided into counties. This established the first two-tier administrative system known to exist in China. When

2112-480: Was a historical administrative division of China that was in use from the Eastern Zhou (c. 7th century BCE) until the early Tang dynasty (c. 7th century CE). Several neighboring countries adopted Chinese commanderies as the basis for their own administrative divisions. During the Eastern Zhou 's Spring and Autumn period from the 8th to 5th centuries BCE, the larger and more powerful of

2160-586: Was governed from Yuyuang (in modern-day Huairou District of Beijing), Shanggu Commandery was governed from Juyong (in modern-day Yanqing County of Beijing). The Wei court instituted offices in Youzhou to manage relations with the Wuhuan and Xianbei . To help sustain the troops garrisoned in Youzhou, the governor in AD   250 built the Lilingyan , an irrigation system that greatly improved agricultural output in

2208-414: Was greatly divided during the following five centuries, during the Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties period. The number of administrative units drastically increased due to intense warfare, fluid political boundaries, forced migrations, widespread population loss, and the loss of central government control in many areas particularly during the Sixteen Kingdoms . Although the legacy three-tier system

2256-437: Was renamed Nanjing (南京) and was the southern capital of Liao. It was also called Yanjing. In the following Jin dynasty (1115–1234), the city was called Zhongdu (中都), the central capital of the Jin. After the Mongols took the city, it was renamed Yanjing. After the Mongols razed it, a new city called Dadu was built adjacent to the former Jin capital which was the capital of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). In 2002,

2304-400: Was still in formal effect, rulers of various kingdoms had defined and re-defined provinces until they became increasingly sub-divided, blurring the distinction between provinces and commanderies and reflecting the chaos of China at the time. China was finally re-united by Emperor Wen of the Sui (581–618) in 589. As there were already over 100 provinces, the province and commandery levels of

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