Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

has a rich history dating back to more than 6000 years ago. The below is a detailed discussion on the city's history. See also

Timeline

* Zhou dynasty established its capital in Feng () and Hao () between the late 11th century BC and 770 BC, both located west of contemporary Xi'an. In 770 BC, the capital was moved to

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

due to political unrest. *The state Qin moved its capital to Xianyang 350 BC just north of today's Xi'an on the north shore of Wei River. *

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

(221–206 BC) constructed its capital in Xianyang. It was burned by Xiang Yu at the end of the dynasty. *202 BC: Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

, established Chang'an province as his capital; his first palace Changle Palace () was built across the river from the ruin of the Qin capital. This is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Chang'an and Xi'an. *200 BC: Emperor Liu Bang built Weiyang Palace in Chang'an. *194 BC: Construction of the first city wall of Chang'an began, which was not finished until 190. The wall measured 25.7 km in length, 12–16 m in thickness at the base. The area within the wall was ca. 36 km². *AD 190: The most powerful tyrant of the time, Dong Zhuo, moved his court from

to Chang'an in a bid to avoid a coalition of powerful warlords going against him. *582: Emperor of

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

ordered a new capital to be built southeast of the Han capital, called Daxing (大興, ''great excitement''). It consisted of three sections: the palace, the imperial city, and the civilian section. The total area within the wall was 84 km², The main street ''Zhuque Avenue'' measured 155 m in width. It was at the time the largest city in the world. The city was renamed Chang'an (長安, ''Perpetual Peace'' or ''Eternal Peace'') by the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. *7th century:

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monk

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

established a sizeable translation centre after returning from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

with

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

scriptures. *652: Construction of Great Wild Goose Pagoda began. It measured 64 m in height. This pagoda was constructed for the storage of the translations of Buddhist sutras obtained from India by the monk

. *707: Construction of Small Wild Goose Pagoda began. It measured 45 m in height. After the

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

of 1556, its height was reduced to 43.4 m. *781: The Nestorian Stele, also known as the Nestorian Stone, Nestorian Monument or Nestorian Tablet, is a stele erected during the

documenting 150 years of early

Christianity in China Christianity has been present in China since the early medieval period, and became a significant presence in the country during the early modern era. The Church of the East appeared in China in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty. Catholic C ...

. *904: The end of the

brought destruction to Chang'an. Residents were forced to move to

, the new capital. Only a small area continued to be occupied after the destruction. *13th century: Marco Polo said that the people of Xi'an were all idolaters. *1370: The

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

built a new wall to protect a much smaller city of 12 km². The wall measured 11.9 km in

circumference In geometry, the circumference () is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. The circumference is the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to a line segment. More generally, the perimeter is the curve length arou ...

, 12 m in height, and 15–18 m in thickness at the base. *1936: Xi'an was the site of the Xi'an Incident during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. The Xi'an Incident brought the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

into the

Second United Front The Second United Front ( zh, t=第二次國共合作 , s=第二次国共合作 , first=t , l=Second Nationalist-Communist Cooperation, p=dì èr cì guógòng hézuò ) was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Co ...

so the two forces could concentrate on fighting against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. *1949: May 20, 1949: The

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

captured the city of Xi'an from the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Xi'an

Timeline

References

Further reading

External links