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PrefaceBeijing
is a national capital with a thousand years of history. It enjoys being
a much visited world-renowned tourist center. If you are exploring the
famous palace, strolling through the imperial garden, being mesmerized
by the awe inspiring temples or even wandering around the hundreds of
Hutong (alleys), you cannot help but feel amazed and astonished as well
as drawn in by the millennia old mystique. Your curiosity can't stop
being piqued at the immensity of the history, the depth and breadth of
stories and you naturally, almost unknowingly, develop a thirst to know
the meaning behind the ancient relics that form the backbone of this
metropolis. This book will lead back through the history of Beijing, a
long and abundant gallery, along which we can walk back several
thousands of years or even in some cases hundreds of thousands of
years.During the Paleolithic Age, about five hundred thousand years ago,
the first representative Beijingers presented themselves in the
mountain forest, and declared their existence to the celestial bodies.
These were the Sinanthropus better known as "Peking Man" (北人). As they
evolved they developed the ability to manufacture various kinds of tools
and mastered some production technologies, and finally developed into
the Paleoanthropic whose intelligence level is considered similar to
that of modern human beings. They have, through skulls and fossils,
seashells, stone implements and pottery, left a trail for us to follow
and discover the evolutionary processes of their life. In the 21st
Century BCE, China entered the age of recorded history, at that time two
small countries formed in the regions around Beijing - Ji (蓟) and Yah
(燕). In the 1 l th Century BCE, the Zhou Dynasty (周朝, or Chou Dynasty)
was founded, thus establishing the Kingdom ofYan (燕, also Yen) unifying
the two small countries. As Yan became more and more powerful, it became
one of the eponymous seven powerful states of the Warring States
Period (战 In 221 BCE, the Qin Dynasty (秦朝, or Chin Dynasty) unified the
whole country, and the region of Beijing became a province (county).
From then on, over a thousand years, Beijing was always a capital for
territorial states, and a town of military importance. This was because
of its location: to the north and west of Beijing are Yanshan and
Taihang mountains; to the east of city is Liaodong (辽东). These made the
city the frontline of defence during the frequent invasions from the
northern nomads. At the same time, the North China Plain to the south
and Bohai Bay to the southeast provided convenient routes for traffic
and material supply. The cradle for the development of China was mainly
along the Yellow River valley; therefore, the first national capitals
were Chang'an (长安) (now known as Xi'an) , Luoyang (洛阳) and Kaifeng (开封).
However, with economic development, and with growing social contact
and harmony between different nationalities, the influence and border
of China began to widen. During the Yuan Dynasty (元朝), which was
established by Mongolians, in order to control the whole country, the
emperor moved the capital from Mongolia to Beijing, making it the
national capital for the first of many times. In the Ming Dynasty (明朝),
for the purpose of resisting the northern minorities (remnants of the
Yuan Dynasty) and strengthening control of the Liaodong Area, the
emperor moved the capital from Nanjing (南, or Nanking) to Beijing. For
the same reason, this tradition was also adopted by Qing Dynasty
emperors. So we can draw the conclusion that Beijing's selection as a
capital, as far back as the Middle Ages, was not accidental but rather
virtually historic inevitability. After such a long history, there are
so many cultural relics and places of interest that are preserved in the
city that they clearly and authentically record the historical
development of Beijing; shouting out the changes of the times, and
demonstrating the traditional Chinese culture. For instance, why
ramparts are square; why the principal room in a courtyard must face
south; why the imperial palace was called the Forbidden City; what kind
of world view it reflects of ancient China; and what kind of national
feeling leads to the wide dissemination of Buddhism. All the answers
can be found in this book. "To understand the world today, one must
understand China, and to understand China, one must understand its
past."
