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60-404: Liu Wu was initially created prince of Dai ( 代王 ) in 178 BC. In 176, he became prince of Huaiyang ( 淮陽王 ) instead and his brother Liu Can ( 劉粲 ) replaced him as prince of Dai. In 168, this was changed again to Liang . After Emperor Jing ordered the execution of Chao Cuo at the urging of Yuan Ang , Liu Wu was besieged at his capital Suiyang by the armies of Wu and Chu during

120-582: A peasant rebellion . The emperor, Wang Mang was killed and decapitated by the rebels two days later. After the Western Han period, the Eastern Han government settled on Luoyang as the new capital. Chang'an was therefore also sometimes referred to as the Western Capital or Xijing ( 西京 ) in some Han dynasty texts. In 190 AD during late Eastern Han, the court was seized and relocated back to Chang'an by

180-482: A vineyard , and fields for playing popular sports such as horse polo and cuju (ancient Chinese football ). On the northwest section of the main outer wall there were three gates leading out to the Forbidden Park, three gates along the western section of the main outer wall, three gates along the southern section of the main outer wall, and three gates along the eastern section of the main outer wall. Although

240-431: A large population because of its role as the political and military center of China. By 2 AD, the population was 246,200 in 80,000 households. This population consisted mostly of the scholar gentry class whose education was being sponsored by their wealthy aristocratic families. In addition to these civil servants there was a larger underclass to serve them. Initially, Emperor Liu Bang decided to build his capital at

300-638: A peak at 100 BC; and the fourth from 1 BC–24 AD when it was destroyed. The Xuanpingmen gate was the main gate between the city and the suburbs. The district north of the Weiyang Palace was the most exclusive. The main market, called the Nine Markets, was the eastern economic terminus of the Silk Road. Access to the market was from the Northeast and Northwest gates, which were the most heavily used by

360-540: A pond the size of those in the West Palace. The Daming Palace and the Xingqing Palace (along the eastern wall of the city) had small lakes to boast. The Serpentine River Park had a large lake within its bounds that was bigger than the latter two lakes combined, connected at the southern end by a river that ran under the main walls and out of the city. There were five transport and sanitation canals running throughout

420-506: A supplier and, in the end, chose to fast to death in prison. For his support during the rebellion, his brother Emperor Jing gave him many honors and privileges. His private gardens rivaled the emperor's and the prince expanded his number of retainers, bringing in Yang Sheng ( 羊勝 ), Gongsun Gui ( 公孫詭 ), and Zou Yang ( 鄒陽 ). He became a famous patron, particularly of fu poets such as Sima Xiangru . One particularly influential piece

480-775: The Gengshi Emperor , a former pretender to the Han throne during the post- Xin dynasty interregnum. However, Xuan had been killed by the Chimei before he had a chance to move to his fief. The kingdom/principality was reinstated for a final time in 79 AD, when Liu Bing (劉昞), a son of the Emperor Ming , was granted the fief. Bing died without designating an heir, and the kingdom was dissolved. In 2 AD, Huaiyang consisted of 9 counties: Chen (陳), Ku (苦), Yangjia (陽夏), Ningping (寧平), Fugou (扶溝), Gushi (固始), Yu (圉), Xinping (新平) and Zhe (柘). The population

540-552: The Han dynasty was located northwest of today's Xi'an. During the Tang dynasty , the area that came to be known as Chang'an included the area inside the Ming Xi'an fortification, plus some small areas to its east and west, and a substantial part of its southern suburbs. Thus, Tang Chang'an was eight times the size of the Ming Xi'an, which was reconstructed upon the site of the former imperial quarters of

600-554: The Rebellion of the Seven States . His mother the empress dowager Xiaowen urged the emperor to send the imperial army to relieve him. General Zhou Yafu succeeded in counselling against a direct assault: instead, his force took advantage of disorder among the rebels to establish a strong camp at Xiayi ( 下邑 , modern Dangshan in Anhui ) athwart their line of supply and communication along

660-532: The Si River . Ignoring Liu Wu's pleas for help and imperial orders to advance to the city, he occupied his time strengthening his defenses and sending Han Tuidang 's cavalry raiders to disrupt what little overland supply the rebels could manage from Chu. Having wearied their armies assaulting Suiyang, the rebel princes were forced to fall back for supplies and their assaults on Xiayi were defeated with such prepared ease that Zhou initially refused to be woken from bed. This

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720-622: The Sui and Tang city. During its heyday, Chang'an was one of the largest and most populous cities in the world. Around AD 750, Chang'an was called a "million-man city" in Chinese records, with modern estimates putting it at around 800,000–1,000,000 within city walls. According to the census in 742 recorded in the New Book of Tang , 362,921 families with 1,960,188 persons were counted in Jingzhao Fu ( 京兆府 ),

780-536: The Tang dynasty . In 779, the Tang dynasty issued an edict which forced Uighurs in the capital, Chang'an, to wear their ethnic dress, stopped them from marrying Chinese females, and banned them from pretending to be Chinese. Between 783 and 784, Chang'an was again occupied by rebels during the Jingyuan Rebellion . In 881, Chang'an was occupied by the rebel Huang Chao , who made it the seat of his Qi Dynasty. In 882,

840-681: The Western Jin dynasty from 312 to 316. It was also the capital of Former Zhao (318–329), Former Qin (351–385) and Later Qin (384–417). In 417, a century after the Western Jin lost Chang'an, the city was reconquered by Liu Yu of Eastern Jin , who founded the Liu Song dynasty in 420. The city was lost to Northern Wei by 439. When Northern Wei split in two, Chang'an became the capital of Western Wei (535–557), and also of its successor state Northern Zhou (557–581). The Sui and Tang empires occupied

900-741: The Yangshao culture was established in Banpo , in what is now the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty , China's first emperor, held his imperial court and constructed his massive mausoleum guarded by the Terracotta Army . From its capital at Xianyang , the Qin dynasty ruled a larger area than either of the preceding dynasties. The imperial city of Chang'an during

960-399: The jiedushi ( 佑國軍節度使 ). Han Jian rebuilt Chang'an on the basis of the old Imperial City. Much of Chang'an was abandoned and the rebuilt Chang'an, called "Xincheng (lit. new city)" by the contemporary people, was less than 1/16 of the old Chang'an in area. The rest of the city was overrun by nature and was used for agriculture. Then the northern and eastern city wall was expanded a little and

1020-494: The metropolitan area including small cities in the vicinity. The Han capital was located 3 km northwest of modern Xi'an . As the capital of the Western Han, it was the political, economic and cultural center of China. It was also the eastern terminus of the Silk Road , and a cosmopolitan metropolis. It was a consumer city, a city whose existence was not primarily predicated upon manufacturing and trade, but rather boasted such

1080-533: The Daming Palace connected by three gates in the northeast, the walled-off East Park led in by one gate in the northeast, and the Serpentine River Park in the southeast was simply walled off by the main exterior wall, and open without gated enclosures facing the southeasternmost city blocks. There was a Forbidden Park to the northwest outside of the city, where there was a cherry orchard , a Pear Garden ,

1140-684: The East Market, yet the rest of the city was at a safe distance from the blaze (which was largely quarantined in East Central Chang'an). The citizens of Chang'an were also pleased with the government once the imperial court ordered the planting of fruit trees along all of the avenues of the city in 740. Within the West Park was a running stream and within the walled enclosure of the West Palace were two running streams, one connecting three ponds and another connecting two ponds. The small East Park had

1200-501: The Korean Silla dynasty modeled their capital of Gyeongju after the Chinese capital. Sanggyeong , one of the five capitals of the state of Balhae , was also laid out like Chang'an. During Tang, the main exterior walls of Chang'an rose 18 ft (5.5 m) high, were 5 mi (8.0 km) by six miles in length, and formed a city in a rectangular shape, with an inner surface area of 30 sq mi (78 km ). The areas to

1260-428: The Tang dynasty briefly regained control of Chang'an. However, the Tang forces, although welcomed by the inhabitants, looted Chang'an before being driven back by the forces of Huang Chao. In revenge, Huang Chao conducted a systematic slaughter of the inhabitants after retaking the city. Chang'an was finally retaken by the Tang government in 883. In 904, the warlord Zhu Quanzhong ordered the city's buildings demolished and

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1320-452: The area south of Luo River, which according to Chinese geography was in modern Luoyang . This location was the site of the holy city Chengzhou , capital of Eastern Zhou . However, the strategic military value of a capital located in the Wei Valley became the deciding factor for locating the new capital. To this end, it is recorded c 200 BC he forcibly relocated thousands of clans in

1380-470: The bank of the Wei River. The eight avenues divided the city into nine districts. These nine main districts were subdivided into 160 walled 1×1  li wards. About 50–100 families lived in each ward. Historically, Chang'an grew in four phases: the first from 200 to 195 BC when the palaces were built; the second 195–180 BC when the outer city walls were built; the third between 141 and 87 BC with

1440-460: The base tapering upward 8 m for a top width of 2 m. Beyond this wall, a 6.13 m wide moat with a depth of 4.62 m was spanned by 13.86 m long stone bridges. The wall was later expanded to 12–16 m at base and 12 m high. The moat was expanded to 8 m wide and 3 m deep. The expansion of the wall was likely a solution to flooding from the Wei River . The entire city

1500-471: The capital was divided into three prefectures and construction began. At its founding in 195 BC, the population of Changan was 146,000. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han , the diplomat Zhang Qian was dispatched westward into Central Asia . Subsequently, Chang'an city became the Asian gateway to Europe as the point of departure of the Silk Road . On 4 October 23 AD, Chang'an was captured and sacked during

1560-431: The center of heaven with an axis mundi running upward from the imperial throne to its heavenly counterpart. The ruins were greatly expanded to 7×7 li in size and renamed Changle Palace ( 长乐宫 ; 長樂宮 ; Chánglègōng ). Two years later, a new palace called Weiyang Palace ( 未央宮 ; Wèiyānggōng ) was constructed 5×7 li . Prime minister Xiao He convinced Liu Bang that both the excessive size and multiplicity of palaces

1620-487: The city had many different streets and roads passing between the wards, city blocks, and buildings, there were distinct major roads (lined up with the nine gates of the western, southern, and eastern walls of the city) that were much wider avenues than the others. There were six of these major roads that divided the city into nine distinct gridded sectors ( listed below by cardinal direction ). The narrowest of these streets were 82 ft (25 m) wide, those terminating at

1680-425: The city included : Locations and events in the southeast sector of the city included : Locations and events in the west central sector of the city included : Locations and events in the central sector of the city included : Locations and events in the east central sector of the city included : Locations and events in the northwest sector of the city included : Locations and events in

1740-405: The city, which had several water sources, and delivered water to city parks, gardens of the rich, and the grounds of the imperial palaces. The sources of water came from a stream running through the Forbidden Park and under the northern city wall, two running streams from outside the city in the south, a stream that fed into the pond of the walled East Park, which in turn fed into a canal that led to

1800-402: The common people. The former connect with a bridge over the Wei River to the northern suburbs and the latter connected with the rest of China to the east. An intricate network of underground passages connected the imperial harem with other palaces and the city. These passages were controlled by underground gatehouses and their existence was unknown. In 200 BC after marking the boundaries of

1860-534: The construction materials moved to Luoyang , which became the new capital. The residents, together with the emperor Zhaozong , were also forced to move to Luoyang. Chang'an never recovered after the apex of the Tang dynasty, but there are some monuments from the Tang era still standing. After Zhu Quanzhong moved the capital to Luoyang, the Youguo Governorate ( 佑國軍 ) was established in Chang'an, with Han Jian being

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1920-504: The construction of many new palaces. He also added the nine temples complex south of the city, and built the park. In 120 BC, Shanglin Park, which had been used for agriculture by the common people since Liu Bang was sealed off, was turned into an imperial park again. In the center of the park was a recreation of the three fairy islands in Kunming Lake . Chang'an was briefly the capital of

1980-423: The elderly minister stabbed to death outside the walls of the imperial suburb of Anling . They were responsible for nine related murders as well. Upon the emperor's discovering their involvement, Liu Wu ordered them to commit suicide and presented their bodies to the emperor, but he never regained his brother's favor and was only seldom received at court. Instead, following custom, Liu Che , the prince of Jiaodong ,

2040-434: The empress dowager and upset the emperor even more". He counseled the emperor to drop the issue. In discussion with the empresses, he blamed the murders solely upon the two courtiers and explained they had already been lawfully punished. Liu Wu died at home in 144 BC after a trip to Chang'an . His memorial to his brother asking to extend his stay at the capital was rejected and he took ill soon after returning home. He

2100-439: The empress dowager took the occasion of an imperial feast to demand that Emperor Jing name Liu Wu as his crown prince in preference to his other sons. He immediately agreed, only to be talked out of it by his advisors. Yuan Ang in particular counseled strongly against breaking the laws of succession, as the act would set a highly destabilizing precedent. Acting in support of their patron, Gongsun Gui and Yang Sheng conspired to have

2160-605: The empress dowager was at first inconsolable, but Emperor Jing placated her by dividing the realm of Liang into five pieces and bestowing them upon Liu Wu's sons. The tomb of the Prince of Liang and his wife is located within Mount Mangdang in present-day Yongcheng in Henan . It is the site of the oldest known surviving Chinese murals, depicting the four symbols : the blue dragon , white tiger , red bird , and black turtle . The paint

2220-560: The gates of the outer walls being 328 ft (100 m) wide, and the largest of all, the Imperial Way that stretched from the central southern gate all the way to the Administrative City and West Palace in the north, was 492 ft (150 m) wide. Streets and roads of these widths allowed for efficient fire breaks in the city of Chang'an. For example, in 843, a large fire consumed 4,000 homes, warehouses , and other buildings in

2280-425: The inner city. These canal waterways in turn streamed water into the ponds of the West Palace; the lake in the Xingqing Palace connected two canals running through the city. The canals were also used to transport crucial goods throughout the city, such as charcoal and firewood in the winter. Locations and events in the southwest sector of the city included : Locations and events in the south central sector of

2340-419: The largest cities in the world. It was a cosmopolitan urban center with considerable foreign populations from other parts of Asia and beyond. This new Chang'an was laid out on a north–south axis in a grid pattern, dividing the enclosure into 108 wards and featuring two large marketplaces , in the east and west respectively. Every day, administrators of the two marketplaces would beat gongs three hundred times in

2400-409: The military aristocracy to this region. The purpose was twofold. First, it kept all potential rivals close to the new Emperor, and second, it allowed him to redirect their energy toward defending the capital from invasion by the nearby Xiongnu . His adviser Liu Jing described this plan as weakening the root while strengthening the branch. After the necessary political structure was set up, the area of

2460-437: The morning and evening to signify the start and stop of business. People who lived in the wards were not allowed to go outside after curfew. Officials with higher ranking had the privilege to live closer to the central avenue. Chang'an's layout influenced the city planning of several other Asian capitals for many years to come. Chang'an's walled and gated wards were much larger than conventional city blocks seen in modern cities, as

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2520-450: The north central sector of the city included : Locations and events in the northeast sector of the city included : The West Palace to the north included : The West Park grounds included : The Daming Palace grounds included : The East Park grounds included : For different buildings and locations in the entire city, the total numbers for each were : Citywide events of Chang'an include : Much of Chang'an

2580-460: The north that jutted out like appendages from the main wall were the West Park, the smaller East Park, and the Daming Palace , while the southeasternmost extremity of the main wall was built around the Serpentine River Park that jutted out as well. The West Park walled off and connected to the West Palace (guarded behind the main exterior wall) by three gates in the north, the walled-off enclosure of

2640-458: The notorious Prime Minister Dong Zhuo , as it was a strategically superior site against the mounting insurgency formed against him. After Dong's death (192) the capital was moved back to Luoyang in August 196, and to Xuchang in autumn 196. By this time, Chang'an was already regarded as the symbolic site of supreme power and governance. The 25.7 km long city wall was initially 3.5 m wide at

2700-533: The prince was eventually relocated to another principality, and Huaiyang became administered by the central government as the Huaiyang Commandery. In 63 BC, Emperor Xuan granted the title Prince of Huaiyang to his son Liu Qin (劉欽), whose descendants held the title until the Xin dynasty was founded. During Emperor Guangwu 's reign, the title "Prince of Huaiyang" was briefly bestowed to Liu Xuan, commonly known as

2760-554: The same location. In 582, Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty sited a new region southeast of the much ruined Han dynasty Chang'an to build his new capital, which he called Daxing ( 大興 ; 'Great prosperity'). Daxing was renamed Chang'an in the year 618 when the Duke of Tang, Li Yuan, proclaimed himself the Emperor Gaozu of Tang . Chang'an during the Tang dynasty (618–907) was, along with Constantinople ( Istanbul ) and Baghdad , one of

2820-485: The smallest ward had a surface area of 68 acres, and the largest ward had a surface area of 233 acres (0.94 km ). The height of the walls enclosing each ward were on average 9 to 10 ft (3.0 m) in height. The Japanese built their ancient capitals, Heijō-kyō (today's Nara ) and later Heian-kyō or Kyoto , modeled after Chang'an in a more modest scale, yet was never fortified. The modern Kyoto still retains some characteristics of Sui-Tang Chang'an. Similarly,

2880-485: The three gateways of each gate. The lanes were separated by median strips planted with pine, elm, and scholar trees . Bachengmen Avenue was an exception with a width of 82 m and no medians. Four of the gates opened directly into the palaces. The overall form of the city was an irregular rectangle. The ideal square of the city had been twisted into the form of the Big Dipper for astrological reasons, and also to follow

2940-465: The three prefectures, which comprised the metropolitan region of Xianyang , Liu Bang appointed Xiao He to design and build the new capital. He chose to site the city on ruins of the Qin dynasty Apex Temple (formerly, Xin Palace). This old Qin palace was meant to be the earthly mirror of Polaris, the apex star, where the heavenly emperor resided. This site thus represented the center of the earth lying under

3000-503: Was 981,423, in 135,544 households. Chang%27an 34°18′30″N 108°51′30″E  /  34.30833°N 108.85833°E  / 34.30833; 108.85833 Chang'an ( [ʈʂʰǎŋ.án] ; traditional Chinese : 長安 ; simplified Chinese : 长安 ; pinyin : Cháng'ān ) is the traditional name of Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic times, during which

3060-401: Was a kingdom/principality that existed intermittently during the Han dynasty . Its territories was located in modern eastern Henan and northwestern Anhui . Huaiyang initially covered the later Chen, Yingchuan and Runan commanderies and a total of more than 60 counties. In 196 BC Liu You (劉友), a son of the Emperor Gaozu and the first Prince of Huaiyang, was granted the territory, but

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3120-401: Was around forty years old. His estate at his death was estimated to include 400,000 catties of gold and an equivalent amount of wealth in land — if true, and assuming the gold was pure, this fortune would be equivalent to more than US$ 30 billion today. His third son was the serial killer Liu Pengli . The other four were (in order) Liu Mai , Liu Ming , Liu Ding , and Liu Bushi . His mother

3180-547: Was composed of vermillion , mica , and malachite . Because of the tomb's high humidity, the mural was cut into five pieces and transferred to a wooden frame in 1992. It was relocated to the Henan Provincial Museum and displayed in 1998. Within a year, the conditions at the museum had warped and cracked the frame and painting. It was somewhat repaired in 2003. The tombs also included ornate jade burial suits and bi . Kingdom of Huaiyang Huaiyang (淮陽國),

3240-724: Was destroyed during its repeated sacking during the An Lushan Rebellion and several subsequent events. Chang'an was occupied by the forces of An Lushan and Shi Siming , in 756; then taken back by the Tang government and allied troops in 757. In 763, Chang'an was briefly occupied by the Tibetan Empire . In 765, Chang'an was besieged by an alliance of the Tibetan Empire and the Uyghur Khaganate . Several laws enforcing segregation of foreigners from Han Chinese were passed during

3300-509: Was effectively the end of the rebellion: the Prince of Chu took his own life and Liu Pi was killed by Yue natives as he fled. Luan Bu followed this by defeating the other rebel princes, who chose either death or execution. The successful strategy earned Zhou Yafu the wrath of the Prince of Liang and his mother, however. They eventually succeeded in poisoning the emperor against him: he was imprisoned on minor issues involving his son's dispute with

3360-572: Was moved to Zhao two years later. Liu Qiang (劉彊), a son of the Emperor Hui , took over Huaiyang. After Qiang's death, the fief passed to his brother Wu (武), who was killed in the Lü Clan Disturbance in 180 BC. At this time, Huaiyang was already reduced to the equivalent of one commandery. Both the Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing appointed one of their sons to Huaiyang, however, in both cases,

3420-501: Was necessary to secure his rule by creating a spectacle of power. In 195 BC, his son, Emperor Hui of Han began the construction of the walls of Chang'an and finished them in September 191 BC. The grid north of the palaces was built at this time with a 2° difference in alignment to the grid of the palaces. The city remained quite static after this expansion. Emperor Wu began a third phase of construction which peaked on 100 BC with

3480-407: Was promoted to crown prince and his mother Lady Wang to empress. Afraid for her younger son's life, the empress dowager refused to eat until he was cleared of any charges. The official charged with the investigation reported back to Emperor Jing that, in his view, Liu Wu had been involved and that "sparing the Prince of Liang would break the law of Han"; nonetheless, "killing him would deeply distress

3540-416: Was sited below the 400 m contour line which the Tang dynasty used to mark the edge of the floodplain. Twelve gates with three gateways each, according with the ritual formulas of Zhou dynasty urban planning , pierced the wall. These gates were distributed three a side and from them eight 45 m wide main avenues extended into the city. These avenues were also divided into three lanes aligned with

3600-413: Was the "Memorial from Prison to the Prince of Liang", whereby Zou Yang successfully pleaded his case against the slander of other courtiers and freed himself from a death sentence not by addressing the charges against him but by multiplying historical examples of the disaster of gossip and libel. When the emperor demoted his eldest son Liu Rong from heir apparent to prince of Linjiang in 150 BC,

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