The establishment of a capital was a very important national event in the history of Chinese dynasties, because the development of a country is often inseparable from its administrative center. Kyoto is a symbol of the power of ancient emperors. The quality of its development and the solemnity of its image are directly related to imperial power. In other words, the capital city of a country also reflects the vitality and development of the entire country. Therefore, when ancient emperors chose their capitals, they were very cautious for fear of harming the fate of the country!

However, in Chinese history, there are also records of multiple capital moves. A careful study of the historical records of capital moves since the Yin and Shang Dynasties in China reveals that the Chinese dynasties moved their capitals mostly because of the ecological environment and military struggles. The ones we are familiar with include "Pangeng moved to Yin", "Ping Wang moved eastward", "Jin Dynasty moved south", "Anshi Rebellion", "Ni Ma crossed Kang Wang" and so on. In addition to the above-mentioned capital relocation, in fact, since the Manchus entered the customs in 1644, the imperial court has always had voices in mind to move the capital. In 1895, more than 1,300 people submitted a letter to the imperial court requesting to move the capital. What is going on?

The Eight-Power Allied Forces lined up in front of the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City

As we all know, the Qing Dynasty in the late Qing Dynasty was in trouble both internally and externally. As soon as the foreigners attacked, they lost the capital Beijing, and the empress dowager Cixi who was in charge hurriedly led her people to escape. Although the country was not destroyed, it had a great impact on the country. It is obvious that the capital cannot be saved. If the capital is lost, the world will be in chaos. It is reasonable for the Qing Dynasty to consider moving the capital. It can be said that since the Opium War, the Qing Dynasty has been vocal about moving the capital.

After Gordon, the leader of the foreign gun team, helped the Qing Dynasty pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he made a suggestion to the court before returning to China: "One day, China will make Beijing its capital. Don't start a fight with foreign countries for a day, because the capital is too close to Haikou, and foreign soldiers can easily march in and be unable to stop them. This is a desperate risk. "It means that if you can't defeat the foreigners, just run away and choose a suitable place. As the capital of the country, it will not be as convenient as it is now if foreign wars continue. As for where to move to, Gordon was embarrassed to say since he was not familiar with the business. It was just that the Manchu Qing Dynasty was concerned about the land of Longxing and did not take moving the capital seriously!

Treaty of Shimonoseki

Later, a few years after Gordon proposed that the Qing Dynasty would move the capital, the Manchu Qing Dynasty encountered major difficulties again, and people began to talk about moving the capital again. In fact, the background of this capital move stems from the Qing Dynasty's 1894 Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War. China was defeated by Japan, and the Beiyang Fleet was completely destroyed.

The following year, the Qing government was forced to send Minister Li Hongzhang to Japan to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi. The treaty stipulated that the Qing government would cede Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan and pay an indemnity of two silver yen. One hundred million taels.

In the spring of 1895, the imperial examination was being held in Beijing. At that time, candidates from all over the country gathered in Beijing. When the news of the defeat of the Shimonoseki Treaty of Sino-Japanese War came, thousands of people waiting for the release of the results were indignant. As for the ceded land in Liaodong, Taiwanese Juren cried bitterly.

Guangxu

Then on April 22, Kang Youwei and others who took part in the imperial examination wrote the 18,000-word "Emperor's Letter to the Supreme Being", which was responded to by people from eighteen provinces. More than 1,300 people signed a letter to Emperor Guangxu, proposing four strategies to save the country. It was known in history as "the letter on the bus". The second item is to move the capital to Xi'an to establish the foundation of the world!

Kang Youwei proposed that Xi'an should be the location for moving the capital: "If the place where the capital is set out from Rehe and Liaoshen in the north will be more vulnerable to strong enemies; if it goes to Bianliang and Jinliang in the south, it will not be able to control the natural dangers." "If you go to Shu, it's too deep; if you go to Jin, it's too close." The capital of Tianfu is as strong as Qinzhong."

The book also points out that Beijing is too close to the ocean and is easily threatened by foreign powers. It was captured by the British and French forces in 1860. Xi'an is an ancient capital with thousands of years of history. The terrain is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is far away from the ocean. The only way to stabilize people's hearts is to move the capital to Xi'an. Later, with the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 and Emperor Guangxu being imprisoned by Cixi, these policies were not implemented.

Xi'an City Wall

Historically, the Western Zhou Dynasty was the first dynasty to choose Xi'an as its capital. However, since the Han Dynasty, only small countries such as the Former Qin and the Later Qin have chosen Xi'an as their capital. This was chosen as the capital. It was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that Xi'an became the capital of a "big country" again.

However, after experiencing the glory of the Tang Dynasty, Xi'an's status also plummeted. In the subsequent thousand years of history, Xi'an was never selected as the capital again.

Although Xi'an is now the capital of Shaanxi Province and the political and economic center of the region, it has long lost its former glory and is now only a second-tier city! But we have to say that ancient Xi'an was located in the Guanzhong Plain, with a superior geographical location. It was the first choice for the capital of various dynasties in history. Moreover, Xi'an has a history of more than 1,100 years, which is longer than the history of many countries today. Long, it’s just that the development of today’s era does not allow it to be the capital!