Jicheng (Beijing)
Ji or Jicheng was an ancient city in northern China, which has become the longest continuously inhabited section of modern Beijing.
Archaeological finds in southwestern Beijing where Ji was believed to be located date to the Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BC).
With the creation of a Jizhou (蓟州) during the Tang dynasty in what is now Tianjin Municipality, the city of Ji took on the name Youzhou.
In the 13th century, Kublai Khan built a new capital city for the Yuan dynasty adjacent to Ji to the north.
According to the Book of Rites, King Wu of Zhou was so eager to establish his legitimacy after his battle victory over the Shang that before dismounting from his chariot, he named the descendants of the Yellow Emperor to the State of Ji.
The rulers of the Yan built several capitals and moved their seat of power in response to threats from the nomadic tribes from the north and neighboring kingdoms from the south.
The city of Ji is believed to be located in the southwestern part of present-day urban Beijing, just south of Guang'anmen in Xicheng and Fengtai Districts.
[6] Historical accounts mention a "Hill of Ji" northwest of the city, which would correspond to the large mound at the White Cloud Abbey, outside Xibianmen about 4 km north of Guang'anmen.
[7] South and west of Guang'anmen, archaeologists have unearthed remnants of concentrated human habitation dating back to at least the 400s BC.
[6] In 1956, during the construction of the Yongding River viaduct, 151 ancient wells dating to the Spring and Autumn, Warring States and Han dynasty were discovered.
[8] The fact that the other four capitals were buried beneath farmland and the Guang'anmen area is a densely populated section of urban Beijing accounts for the greater difficulty of searching for Ji's ruins.
In 209 BC, a group of conscripts who were delayed in their march to the north by flooding in central China and faced penalty by death, rose in rebellion under the leadership of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.
Han Guang sent his subordinate Zang Tu to help rebel leader Xiang Yu, who succeeded in capturing the Qin capital at Xianyang in 207 BC.
[12] When Empress Lü Zhi's regency ended in 179 BC, Liu Ze became the Prince of Yan and his family ruled Ji for three generations.
[13] Youzhou was composed of the Shanggu, Zhuo, Guangyang, Bohai, Yuyang, Right Beiping, Liaoxi, Liaodong, Xuantu and Lelang Commanderies.
After Emperor Wu died, Liu Dan conspired with the Empress Gaichang and Sang Hongyang to subvert the throne.
[12] When the plot was foiled, Liu Dan was forced to commit suicide in 80 BC and the Principality of Yan was converted to Guangyang Commandery.
[12] Liu Jian's tomb is now Dabaotai Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum in Fengtai District of Beijing.
[14] Near the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the commander of Fanyang was Liu Yan, better known as the governor of Yizhou Province a few years later.
[16] To help sustain the troops garrisoned in Youzhou, the governor in AD 250 built the Lilingyan, an irrigation system that greatly improved agricultural output in the plains around Ji.
In the early 4th century, the Western Jin dynasty was overthrown by steppe peoples who had settled in northern China and established in a series of mostly short-lived kingdoms.
In 319 AD, Shi Le, the founder of the Later Zhao Kingdom, captured Ji from Duan Pidi, a Xianbei chieftain nominally loyal to the Jin dynasty.
[25] In 2002, the then-Xuanwu District government erected a commemorative pillar in Binhe Park along the western 2nd Ring Road, just south of the Tianning Temple to mark the location of Jicheng and its importance to the history of Beijing.
[26] In 2009, the Beijing Administration for Cultural Heritage made the study and discovery of Ji during the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Qin and Han eras a priority in the city's archaeological work.
