Yingchang () was one of the important cities in the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fift ...
. It was situated on
Lake Taal Nor in modern
Heshigten Banner,
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
, China.
The city of Yingchang was built by the
Khongirad Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
in 1271, the same year that
Kublai
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the ...
(Emperor Shizu) established the Yuan dynasty. The city was the administrative seat of the Prince of Lu (魯王). This square-walled city incorporated symmetrical elements, wide axial streets from the gates led to an administrative compound in the center north area, emulating the
Tang
Tang or TANG most often refers to:
* Tang dynasty
* Tang (drink mix)
Tang or TANG may also refer to:
Chinese states and dynasties
* Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...
style.
Shortly after
Toghon Temür
Toghon Temür ( mn, Тогоонтөмөр; Mongolian script: ; ; 25 May 1320 – 23 May 1370), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Huizong of Yuan () bestowed by the Northern Yuan dynasty and by his posthumous ...
(Emperor Huizong), the last Yuan emperor, lost
Dadu and
Shangdu
Shangdu (, ), also known as Xanadu (; Mongolian: ''Šandu''), was the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty of China before Kublai decided to move his throne to the former Jin dynasty capital of Zhōngdū () which was renamed Khanbaliq ( pre ...
to the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
in 1368 and 1369 respectively, the Yuan remnants (referred to as the
Northern Yuan
The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Jin ...
in historiography) established their capital at Yingchang. After the death of Toghon Temür in this city in 1370, the Ming armies managed to capture the Yingchang, one of the major cities still in the hands of the Northern Yuan, in the same year.
Luc Kwanten
Luc Kwanten (8 January 1944 – 22 November 2021) was a Belgian sinologist, Tangutologist and literary agent.
Biography
Kwanten was born in Berlin on 8 January 1944, during the Second World War, to a Jewish mother who secretly observed her fait ...
, ''Imperial Nomads: A History of Central Asia, 500-1500'', p.243 (Emperor Zhaozong) fled north soon afterwards and later made
Karakorum
Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in th ...
the capital city.
The Northern Yuan once took back Yingchang in 1374, but the Ming recaptured the city in 1380.
References
{{Northern Yuan dynasty
Medieval cities
History of Inner Mongolia
Yuan dynasty
Former populated places in China
Chifeng