Historical Capitals of China - List of Historical Capitals of China

List of Historical Capitals of China

In alphabetical order:

• Anyang was the capital during the Yin period of the Shang Dynasty (estimated between 1600 BC and 1046 BC): called Yin (殷, pinyin: Yīn).

• Beijing (formerly Romanized as Peking, from Chinese Postal Map Romanization (CPMR); briefly known as Peip'ing in Wade-Giles (WG) or Běipíng in pinyin (py)), the Northern Capital, was and has been the capital of various Chinese governments including (sorted chronologically):

State of Yan (Yen in WG) in Spring and Autumn Period (722-481 BC): called Ji (薊, pinyin: Jì).

Liao Dynasty (907-1125), as a secondary capital: called Yanjing (燕京, pinyin: Yānjīng, "capital of Yan").

Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) from Emperor Shizong until 1215: called Zhongdu (中都, pinyin: Zhōngdū, "central capital").

Yuan Dynasty (1271 to 1368): called Dadu (大都, pinyin: Dàdū, "great capital") in Chinese, Daidu (a direct transliteration from Chinese) in Mongolian and Khanbaliq ("city of the Khan") in the Turkic languages. This was reported as "Cambuluc" by Marco Polo.

Ming Dynasty from the time of the Ming Yongle Emperor (r. 1402/1424) until 1644 called Jīngshī (京師,"capital").

Qing Dynasty from the fall of the Ming in 1644 to the end of the dynasty in 1912.

The Beiyang Government of the Republic of China.

The current capital of the People's Republic of China.

• Chengdu (WG: Ch'eng-tu) was the capital of the Shu Kingdom during the period of the Three Kingdoms. It was briefly the seat of Chiang's ROC government during the Chinese civil war with the Communist Party of China.

• Chongqing (CPMR: Chungking) was the provisional capital of the government of Chiang Kai-shek during World War II (Second Chinese-Japanese War), and was briefly the seat of Chiang's ROC government during the Chinese civil war with the Communist Party of China.

• Datong (WG: Ta-t'ong) was the capital during Northern Wei Dynasty before moving to Luoyang in 493.

• Guangzhou (formerly Romanized Canton from CPMR)

Kingdom of Nanyue (206-111BC)

Republic of China: it was seat of the National Government before the Northern Expedition, and was briefly the seat of Chiang's ROC government during the Chinese civil war with the Communist Party of China.

• Hangzhou (also Hangchou or Hangchow) was the capital of:

The Wuyue Kingdom (904-978), during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.

China during the Southern Song Dynasty: called Lin'an (臨安 Lín'ān).

• Fenghao was the capital during the Western Zhou Dynasty, located near present day Xi'an.

• Kaifeng was the capital of various Chinese governments including (sorted chronologically):

Later Liang Dynasty during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Later Jin Dynasty during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Later Han Dynasty during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Later Zhou Dynasty during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Northern Song Dynasty: called Dongjing (東京 Dōngjīng).

• Luoyang was the capital of various Chinese governments including (sorted chronologically):

Eastern Zhou Dynasty

Eastern Han Dynasty from 25 to 220

Kingdom of Wei during the Three Kingdoms.

Western Jin Dynasty

Northern Wei Dynasty since 493, moved its capital from Datong.

Zhou Dynasty from 690 to 705

Later Tang Dynasty during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Later Liang Dynasty during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, from 909 to 913.

• Nanjing (formerly Romanized Nanking (CPMR) or Nanching in WG), the Southern Capital was the capital of various Chinese governments including (sorted chronologically):

all of the Six Dynasties: called Jianye (建業 Jiànyè) or Jiankang (建康 Jiànkāng). The Six Dynasties are:

Kingdom of Wu during the Three Kingdoms.

Eastern Jin Dynasty

Liu Song Dynasty

Southern Qi Dynasty

Liang Dynasty

Chen Dynasty

Southern Tang during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Ming Dynasty before Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing.

Taiping Tianguo (Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace and Prosperity) during the Taiping Rebellion. Known as Tianjing (天京，literally 'Heavenly Capital') between 1853 and its fall in 1864.

Republic of China after the Northern Expedition until the Japanese invasion in 1937 of WWII, and after the war until Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to Taiwan in 1949.

Wang Jingwei's pro-Japanese collaborationist government.

• Taipei has been the de facto capital of the Republic of China since 1949 when the government relocated to Taiwan.

• Wuhan was the capital of a leftist Kuomintang government led by Wang Jingwei in opposition to Chiang Kaishek during the 1920s.

• Xanadu (Shangdu) (上都) was the summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire.

• Xi'an (WG: Hsi'an; called Chang'an in ancient times) was the capital of various Chinese governments including (sorted chronologically):

Western Zhou Dynasty, also see Fenghao.

State of Qin in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Qin Dynasty 221 BC-207 BC: Xi'an is located near the former Qin capital Xianyang (咸陽 Xiányáng).

Western Han Dynasty from 206 BC to AD 9

Xin Dynasty from 8 to 23

Eastern Han Dynasty

Western Jin Dynasty

State of Former Zhao, a state in the Sixteen Kingdoms period during the Jin Dynasty (265-420).

State of Former Qin from 351 to 394, during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.

State of Later Qin from 384 to 417, during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.

Western Wei Dynasty

Northern Zhou Dynasty

Sui Dynasty from 581 to 618

Tang Dynasty from 618 to 907

• Ye was the capital of Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty.