17th Conference of the Warring States Working Group, University of Leiden, Netherlands, September 17-18, (2003)
Introduction: A capital city has a special status in every country. Normally, this is a political, economical, social center. Often it is a cultural and religious center as well. This is the place of governmental headquarters and of the residence of power-holding elite and professional administrative cadres. In the societies, where transportation means are not much developed, this is at the same time the place, where producers of the top quality goods for elite consumption live and work. A country is often identified with its capital city both by its inhabitants and the foreigners. Wherefore, it is hardly possible to talk about the history of a certain state without making clear, where was located its capital.
The Chinese history contains many examples, when a ruling dynasty moved its capital due to defensive or other political reasons. Often this shift caused not only geographical reorganization of the territory, but also significant changes in power relations within the state, as well as between it and its neighbors. One of the first such shifts happened in 771 BC, when the heir apparent of the murdered King You could not push back invading Quanrong hordes from the nowadays western Shaanxi province, but fled to the city of Chengzhou near modern Luoyang, where the royal court stayed until the fall of the Zhou in the late III century BC. This event is usually perceived as a benchmark between the two epochs – the “Western” and “Eastern” Zhou respectively, distinctly distinguished one from another.
Maria Khayutina
17th Conference of the Warring States Working Group, University of Leiden, Netherlands, September 17-18, (2003)
Introduction: A capital city has a special status in every country. Normally, this is a political, economical, social center. Often it is a cultural and religious center as well. This is the place of governmental headquarters and of the residence of power-holding elite and professional administrative cadres. In the societies, where transportation means are not much developed, this is at the same time the place, where producers of the top quality goods for elite consumption live and work. A country is often identified with its capital city both by its inhabitants and the foreigners. Wherefore, it is hardly possible to talk about the history of a certain state without making clear, where was located its capital.
The Chinese history contains many examples, when a ruling dynasty moved its capital due to defensive or other political reasons. Often this shift caused not only geographical reorganization of the territory, but also significant changes in power relations within the state, as well as between it and its neighbors. One of the first such shifts happened in 771 BC, when the heir apparent of the murdered King You could not push back invading Quanrong hordes from the nowadays western Shaanxi province, but fled to the city of Chengzhou near modern Luoyang, where the royal court stayed until the fall of the Zhou in the late III century BC. This event is usually perceived as a benchmark between the two epochs – the “Western” and “Eastern” Zhou respectively, distinctly distinguished one from another.
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