Shenyang

Shěnyáng (沈阳) is the largest city in Liaoning, a province in the northeast of the People's Republic of China. Beijing lies approximately 799 km to the west of Shenyang. The city, formerly known by its Manchurian name Mukden, was once the capital city of Manchuria and was the first capital of the Qing dynasty. The first Qing emperor, Nuerhachi, gave the city the name Shengjing (盛京; "prosperous capital") in honor of its status. The word 'jing' (京) means 'capital' in Chinese. Other old names include Houchen and Shenzou. This city became the focus of industrial development in the early 20th century. On September 18th, 1931, was the Mukden Incident which marked the beginning of the war between Japan and China. Shenyang would remain in Japanese control until 1945. Post war, Shenyang was developed as a central player in the large scale industrial development of Dongbei, northeast, china.

A sub-provincial city, Shenyang covers an area of 8,515 square kilometers in central and northern Liaoning province. Shenyang is the seat of government of Liaoning. The importance of this city has left many cultural status symbols. As well as many temples, parks and museums, Shenyang contains two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Shenyang imperial Palace (Listed as part of the 'Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang'); Fu Mausoleum and Zhao Mausoleum (two of the fourteen mausoleums listed under 'Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties'). In 2008, Shenyang will host the football events of the Olympic games.

History

The area of Shenyang has been inhabited since the Neolithic. A large number of stone artifacts, bone implement, earthenware, wooden furniture, jet product along with the remains of houses have been discovered. Of particular note is a wooden carving of a bird. These are know as the Xinle relics. They date to around 7000 years ago. The first city on this site was Hou city; founded as a garrison town for the northeastern borders in 300 B.C. under the rule of Qin Kai. This was the time known as the Warring States period. The city grew steadily but was overshadowed by nearby Liaoyang, which was the administrative center for the region.

In the 17th century, Nurachi unified several tribes of the northeast fringes of china, creating the ethnic group of the Manchus. In 1616, Nurachi made Hetu Ala (western of Xinbin county, Liaoning) his capital and founded the Great Jin or otherwise known, Late Jin Empire. The Ming Emperor set out to destroy this fledgling state. In 1619, the Ming sent 200,000 troops to attack Hetu Ala. The city of Shenyang was to be the headquarters for this military campaign. In comparison, the Late Jin had only 70,000 soldiers. The Ming made the mistake of splitting their army to attack form four directions. Nurachi attacked and defeated each of the Ming divisions in turn, the last division fleeing without fighting. This was the Battle of Sarhu. Narachi continued on the offencive and by 1621 he had captured over 70 cities including Liaoyang and Shenyang. The capital of the Late Jin was moved to Liaoyang just one month after the cities capture. A new palace, sited just outside the Ming city, called Dongjing (East Capital) was started. However, the building work was not yet complete when in 1625, Nurachi moved his capital yet again to Shenyang. Being some 100km north of Liaoyang, he claimed Shenyang had geographical advantages as a center form which to continue attacks on Ming China. Shenyang remained the capital as the Late Jin went on to conquer the whole of Ming China. Thus making Nurachi the first Emperor or the Chinese Qing dynasty. In 1644, he moved his capital form Shenyang to Beijing. The city of Shenyang continued to have special significance to the Qing Emperors. The first three Emperors of the Qing dynasty have their tombs in Liaoning, two of which are in Shenyang. The Qing Emperors would visit Shenyang regularly to pay homage to their ancestors. During their visits they would live in the Imperial Palace of Shenyang.