History of Xi'an

Xi'an was among the most important cities of China before 1000 CE. It remains a major regional centre. Xi'an was known as Chang'an in ancient times.

Zhou Dynasty established its capital in Feng (灃/沣) and Hao (鎬/镐) between the late 11th century BCE and 770 BCE, both located west of contemporary Xi'an. In 770 BCE, the capital was moved to Luoyang due to political unrest.^[1]

Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) constructed its capital in Xianyang, on the north shore of Wei River. It was burned by Xiang Yu at the end of the dynasty.

202 BCE: Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, established Chang'an province as his capital; his first palace Changle Palace (長樂宮/长乐宫) 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.

194 BCE: Construction of the first city wall of Chang'an began, which did not finished until 190 BCE. 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.

190 CE - The most powerful tyrant of the time, Dong Zhuo, moved his court from Luoyang to Chang'an in a bid to avoid a coalition of powerful warlords going against him.

582: Emperor of Sui Dynasty 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.^[2]

7th century: Buddhist monk Xuan Zang, well-known as Tang Sanzang in China, established a sizeable translation centre after returning from India with Sanskrit (the first language spoken in India) 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 Xuan Zang.

707: Construction of Small Wild Goose Pagoda began. It measured 45 m in height. After the earthquake of 1556, its height was reduced to 43.4 m.

904: The end of the Tang Dynasty brought destruction to Chang'an. Residents were forced to move to Luoyang, the new capital. Only a small area continued to be occupied after the destruction.

1370: The Ming Dynasty built a new wall to protect a much smaller city of 12 km². The wall measured 11.9 km in circumference, 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 Xi'an Incident brought the Communist Party of China and Kuomintang to a truce so the two forces could concentrate on fighting against Japan.

1949: May 20, 1949: The People's Liberation Army liberates the city of Xi'an from the Kuomintang.^[3]

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