Beijing History

Guided China Tour Beijing History 930-1122: A small town situated near to modern Beijing is made the southern capital of the Khitan Mongol Liao dynasty, thousands of kilometres from the ancient heart of the Chinese empire. 1122-1215: The city was invaded by the Jurchen Tartar Jin dynasty 1267-1367: The Mongols, having conquered most of Asia and Eastern Europe, rebuilds the city on the modern site as the capital Khanbalik. 273-92: The capital is captured providing a rich literary resource for western writers and poets for may centuries to come. 1368: The Ming dynasty, having driven out the Mongols, establishes its capital at Nanjing. Da Du becomes Beijing (The Pacified North). 1420: The Ming emperor makes the city the capita again, and sets about fighting of attacks from the north. The Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven are built. 1549: Mongol horsemen fire a message-bearing arrow into a Chinese general's camp saying that they will attack Beijing the following year. Despite this advance announcement, they duly make their way up to the city walls as promised, so much for the Great Wall. 1550: Construction on the city wall begins due to Mongol attacks. The wall is built to protect important sites such as the Temple of Heaven. 1644-1911 A peasant revolt threatens the capital and the last Ming emperor commits suicide by hanging is what is now called ‘Jing Shan Park’. The peasant revolt is later crushed by Manchu forces which set up base in Beijing. Beijing becomes the capital of the Manchu empire. 1858: Opium wars between the Chinese and the British, amongst others, results in the city falling to the superior technology of the British and her allies. A treaty is drawn up and new trade agreements struck. 1860: The occupation by the British and French comes to an end with the occupying forces destroying large areas of the city including the ‘summer palace’. 1911: Yuan Shiki, a military man and entrusted servant of the Qing regime engineers the success of the opposition: the rebellion. He negotiates himself as first president of the new republic of China. 1916: The president dies 1919: Ordinary Chinese people, but primarily students, protest against the government’s decision to hand over Chinese territory to the Japanese. 1928: Beijing becomes Beijing, its name of old as Nanjing is declared the capital. Fighting between local warlords prevails and there is widespread destruction of buildings and art from the old dynasties. 1933: The Japanese invasion is seen as imminent. The government hide the cities treasures and art which is moved to shanghai. 1949: Mao Zedong announces the “People's Republic of China” from Tian'an Men on October 1. The city is then host to multitudes of poor people who ‘reclaim’ large sections of housing and property from the wealthier owners. 1958-59: The Great Hall of the People is constructed to commemorate 10 years of the communist regime; the construction symbolically flattens Tian’an Men Square. The Russian influence on architecture at this point can clearly be seen today. 1966-76: Destructions of artefact and buildings linked to Chinas past is fervent. Art and literature fare equally badly and looters are rife. This is a dark period in history as many are killed for family associations and historic grievances. 1976: Mass demonstrations in Tian’an Men Square follow the death of one of its chief protagonists Zhou Enlai. The death of Mao Zedong at this time is key to bringing the Cultural Revolution to a close. Many of the regimes are arrested and punished. The government is passed to Deng Xiaoping who makes a return to power. 1989: The death of a moderate official becomes mourning in Tian’an Men Square. As this becomes a protest against poor government and corrupt officials; the government sends in tanks and crushes the protest killing several hundred unarmed students. 2001: Beijing is awarded the 2008 Olympic Game; the replacement of old with new takes on a new motivation. 2008: Beijing plays host to the Olympics. There are high levels of pollution as the city gears up to accept the world’s media. At the same time many of those threatening to protest about the games go missing.