Xian, a major historical city, was called Chang'an in ancient times, and is now the capital of Shaanxi province. Today, Xian is the political, economic and cultural center of Northwest China. Following the development of the travel industry and the implementation of the opening up policy, it has become one of the nation's most important tourist cities with tourism becoming the mainstay of Shaanxi's economy.
Xian was an important city in Chinese history. Between 1,000 BC and 1,000 AD it served as the imperial capital for eleven dynasties. This area has been the site of some of the oldest cities in the world's oldest civilization.
Xian's history begins in the Bronze Age, three thousand years ago, when the Western Zhou dynasty, known for their skilled bronze work, built their capital at Fenghao, a few miles southwest. When the Fenghao was sacked by northwestern tribes, the Zhou dynasty moved to Luoyang. In 221 BC the Emperor Qin Shi Huang united Chinese in a single empire, the Qin, with its capital at Xianyang, just northwest of Xi'an.
His successor, the Han dynasty aslo ruled from here duing the 206 BC to 220 AD. Near contemporaries of Imperial Rome, they ruled an empire of comparable size and power.
At this time, Xian became the starting point of the Silk Road, which became one of the most important arteries of trade and culture in world history. It was not until 589AD that the Sui dynasty took to build a new capital near Xian called Da Xingcheng or the Great Prosperity City.
The Tang dynasty, who replaced them in 618AD, took over the capital, overplaying it with their own buildings. The city was in its day the capital of a great empire and one of the biggest metropolitans in the ancient world. There were more than 1 million people living the city. The city layout was so symmetrical that it was taken as a model for the building of many other Chinese cities.
In 710, the Tang Dynasty became the golden age for arts, and ceramics, calligraphy, painting and poetry. After the fall of the Tang dynasty, Xian went into a long decline. Although it was never again to play the role of imperial capital, it continued to play an important military role in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
 |
|
|
|
 |
