Kaifeng
Kaifeng is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, most notably during the Northern Song dynasty.
As of the 2020 census, 4,824,016 people lived in Kaifeng's Prefecture, of whom 1,735,581 lived in the metropolitan area consisting of Xiangfu, Longting, Shunhe Hui, Gulou and Yuwantai Districts. Located along the Yellow River's southern bank, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the west, Xinxiang to the northwest, Shangqiu to the east, Zhoukou to the southeast, Xuchang to the southwest, and Heze of Shandong to the northeast.
Kaifeng is a major city for research in central China, ranking as the world's 138th top city by scientific output as tracked by the Nature Index. The city is home to a campus of Henan University, one of the national key universities in the Double First Class University Plan.
Names
The postal romanization for the city is "Kaifeng". Its official one-character abbreviation in Chinese is 汴. Historically it has also been known as:- Dàliáng
- Biànliáng
- Biànzhōu
- Nánjīng, from its status as the Jurchen Jin's southern capital and not to be confused with modern-day Nanjing
- Dōngjīng
- Biànjīng
Administration
The prefecture-level city of Kaifeng administers five districts and four counties:- Longting District
- Shunhe Hui District
- Gulou District
- Yuwangtai District
- Xiangfu District
- Qi County
- Tongxu County
- Weishi County
- Lankao County
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History
Kaifeng is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China. There have been many changes during the course of its history.Antiquity
During the Spring and Autumn period, there existed two ancient cities in the vicinity of Kaifeng, one is called Yi built by the Wey state and one is Qifeng, built by Duke Zhuang of Zheng south of the present-day city. Wey was later annexed by the state of Wei.During the Warring States period, the lords of the state of Wei held the title of King of the realm of Liang. In 361 BC, King Hui of Wei relocated the Wei capital from the city of An to Yi where he built the city of Daliang. Thereafter, the Wei state was called Liang. During this period, the first of many canals in the area was constructed linking a local river to the Yellow River. When the State of Qin conquered the State of Wei, Daliang was destroyed and abandoned except for a mid-sized market town, which was renamed Junyi.
During the Han dynasty, Junyi was the capital of the Kingdom of Liang ruled by Liu Wu when he was enfeoffed as Prince of Liang. Liu Wu restored the old city walls and constructed many buildings. Daliang became a center of music, art, a refuge for artists, and of splendid gardens despite the trivial political importance of the city at this period. Emperor Jing of Han changed the name of the city of Qifeng to Kaifeng because of a naming taboo. During the Eastern Han era, the Kingdom of Liang was changed to Liang County, and part of it became the Chenliu Commandery but was re-established as a principality during the Cao Wei and Jin dynasty. In 202, Cao Cao repaired the Suiyang Canal in Junyi, opening the Bian River to the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers. The canal's completion allowed grain transport northbound from the Yangtze and Huaihe River regions, and Junyi, strategically located at a waterway and land junction, saw an economic recovery.
Northern dynasties and Sui, Tang
The city fell into decline during the turmoil at the end of the Western Jin dynasty and during the Sixteen Kingdoms era. In 534, Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei changed Chenliu County to Liangzhou. In 555, the Daxiangguo Temple was built. During the Northern Zhou dynasty, Liangzhou was renamed as Bianzhou, named after the Bian River.Early in the 7th century, the old city of Daliang, now called Bianzhou was transformed into a major commercial hub when it was connected to the Grand Canal as well as through the construction of a canal running to western Shandong. In 781 during the Tang dynasty, a new city wall with a circumference of 22 li was constructed by Bianzhou's governor Li Mian. Meanwhile the old city of Kaifeng declined in prominence and later abandoned. The ruins of Qifeng can be found near today's Zhuxian town.
Five dynasties and Song dynasty
During the Five Dynasties period, Emperor Taizu of Liang established his capital in Bianzhou, calling it Dongdu or Eastern Capital. Dongdu was the capital of the successive dynasties of Later Liang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou. In 955, the city underwent further expansion as Emperor Shizong of Zhou mobilized 100,000 civilians to build an outer city. The Song dynasty made Bian its capital when it overthrew the Later Zhou in 960, renamed it the Eastern Capital of Bianliang, or Dongjing.During the Song dynasty, the governmental entity of the capital was the Kaifeng Prefecture and it was the only prefecture of the Capital Region. In 1010, Xiangfu County was established under Kaifeng Prefecture, so the region was also called Xiangfu.
Kaifeng-Dongjing became largest and most prosperous city in China, was the capital, with a population of over 400,000 living both inside and outside the city wall. The historian Jacques Gernet provides a lively picture of life in this period in his Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276, which often draws on Dongjing Meng Hua Lu, a nostalgic memoir of the city.
According to the Dongjing Menghualu: "Outside Donghua Gate, the market was bustling... All manners of food, seasonal fruits and flowers, fish, shrimp, turtle, crab, quail and rabbit jerky, cured meats, gold, jade, and treasures, as well as clothings, were the finest in the world. The taste was exquisite, and if a customer requested a dozen or so dishes to go with their wine, they would be readily available".
In addition to daytime trading, there were also night markets and dawn markets. The main street of Dongjing was called the Imperial Street. There were patrol stations located every two or three hundred steps, the patrolmen directed pedestrian and vehicle traffic during the day, and guarded government offices and merchants' residences at night. The city's restaurants, taverns and theaters could accommodate and entertain thousands of people. Daily performances included storytelling, singing, puppet shows, dance and acrobatics. The Northern Song painter Zhang Zeduan's painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival depicts the bustling scenery of the capital and the banks of the Bian River during the Qingming Festival.
Typhus was an acute problem in the city. In third year of Chunhua, a plague swept through the city with a massive death toll.
In 1049, the Iron Pagoda of Youguo Temple was constructed, measuring in height. It has survived the vicissitudes of war and floods to become the oldest landmark in this ancient city. Another Song-dynasty pagoda,, dating from 974, has been partially destroyed.
Another well-known sight was the astronomical clock tower of the engineer, scientist, and statesman Su Song. It was crowned with a rotating armillary sphere that was hydraulically powered, yet it incorporated an escapement mechanism two hundred years before they were found in the clockworks of Europe and featured the first known endless power-transmitting chain drive.
Dongjing reached its peak importance in the 11th century as a commercial and industrial center at the intersection of four major canals. During this time, the city was surrounded by three rings of city walls and probably had a population of between 600,000 and 700,000. It is believed that it was the largest city in the world from 1013 to 1127.
Jin and Yuan dynasties
This period ended in 1127 when the city fell to Jurchen Jin invaders during the Jingkang Incident. The Jurchen Jin dynasty's emperor ordered all the assets and captured prisoners, including the Song imperial family and officials, to be taken back to the Jin capital – Shangjing. Prince Zhao Gou escaped and moved the remaining Song court to Jiankang. The Jurchens retreated during the year but the Song court never moved back to Bianliang. Dongjing was renamed Bianjing. It was captured by the Jurchens again in 1130 and became the capital of a Han-ruled puppet state called Great Qi（大齊）until 1138. It subsequently came under the direct rule of the Jin dynasty, which had conquered most of North China during the Jin–Song Wars. The city fell into ruin, with only the area inside the inner city wall of the early Song remained settled and the two outer rings were abandoned. Fan Chengda, while on a diplomatic mission to the Jin court, described that "The new city was mostly in ruins, some places being plowed for fields. The old city was dotted with shops, all of which were just surviving...old palaces, temples, all of them were in ruins".In 1153, the Jin dynasty built a Central Capital in Daxing Prefecture and make Bianjing the Southern Capital, the secondary capital of the Jin Dynasty. Nanjing was administered by the Kaifeng Prefecture of Nanjing Circuit.
From 1211, Genghis Khan led his troops to attack the Jin dynasty several times. In 1214, Emperor Xuanzong of Jin moved the imperial court southwards to Nanjing-Kaifeng, relying on the Yellow River defense line to resist the Mongols. In 1233, Kaifeng fell to Mongol forces after a 10 months siege. The city was looted and Jin royal family members were captured and massacred.
During the Mongol-ruled Yuan dynasty, Bianliang became the capital of Henan Jiangbei Province, which was established in 1268. In 1260, Marco Polo arrived at Kaifeng, and wrote about it in his diaries.
File:East Market street, Kaifeng-1-.JPG|thumb|right|200px|East Market Street, Kaifeng, 1910. The synagogue of the Kaifeng Jews lay beyond the row of stores on the right