34°18′30″N 108°51′30″E / 34.30833°N 108.85833°E
| Chang'an | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 長安 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 长安 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Perpetual Peace" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chang'an ([ʈʂʰǎŋ.án] ; traditional Chinese: 長安; simplified Chinese: 长安; pinyin: Cháng'ān) is the traditional name of Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in what is now the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty, China's first emperor, held his imperial court and constructed his massive mausoleum guarded by the Terracotta Army.
From its capital at Xianyang, the Qin dynasty ruled a larger area than either of the preceding dynasties. The imperial city of Chang'an during the Han dynasty was located northwest of today's Xi'an. During the Tang dynasty, the area that came to be known as Chang'an included the area inside the Ming Xi'an fortification, plus some small areas to its east and west, and a substantial part of its southern suburbs. Thus, Tang Chang'an was eight times the size of the Ming Xi'an, which was reconstructed upon the site of the former imperial quarters of the Sui and Tang city. During its heyday, Chang'an was one of the largest and most populous cities in the world. Around AD 750, Chang'an was called a "million-man city" in Chinese records, with modern estimates putting it at around 800,000–1,000,000 within city walls.[1][2] According to the census in 742 recorded in the New Book of Tang, 362,921 families with 1,960,188 persons were counted in Jingzhao Fu (京兆府), the metropolitan area including small cities in the vicinity.[3]
- ^ (a) Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth: An Historical Census, Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987. ISBN 0-88946-207-0. (b) George Modelski, World Cities: –3000 to 2000, Washington, D.C.: FAROS 2000, 2003. ISBN 0-9676230-1-4.
- ^ Haywood, John; Jotischky, Andrew; McGlynn, Sean (1998). Historical Atlas of the Medieval World, AD 600-1492. Barnes & Noble. pp. 3.20, 3.31. ISBN 978-0-7607-1976-3. Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
- ^ New Book of Tang, vol. 41 (Zhi vol. 27) Geography 1.