History of Shaanxi(¿´ÉÂÎ÷¡ª¡ªÓƾÃÀúÊ·)

History of Shaanxi(¿´ÉÂÎ÷¡ª¡ªÓƾÃÀúÊ·) ÄÚÈݼò½é

Shaanxi is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. So places of historical interest can be found almost all around the province. The name Shaanxi came into being in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Then during the Spring and Autumn Period Shaanxi was under the control of the Kingdom of Qin, so it is now also called ¡°Shaan¡± or ¡°Qin¡± for short. Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi, ranks first on the list of China's seven largest ancient capitals. From 11th century B.C. , Xi'an or its vicinity has been established as the capital city by 13 kingdoms or feudal dynasties successively, including the Western Zhou, the Qin, the Han, the Sui and the Tang. It serves as an ancient capital city beyond comparison with regard to the number of dynasties and span of time. In this volume ¡°history of Shaanxi¡± begins with fossil of Lantian Man in the Prehistoric Age until the Qing Dynasty. The events and figures in history are introduced on the basis of a variety of cultural resources including lots of historical sites, ancient tombs, ancient buildings and artifacts of national class. The first chapter begins with the fossil of a man's skull discovered in Lantian County in the Prehistoric Age. Then it introduces Banpo Men who lived in the matriarchal clan community and had a rather high level of productivity during Yangshao Culture. The Yellow Emperor, the legendary leader of Huaxia tribesmen in the patriarchal clan community during the Longshan Culture has been worshiped as the forefather of the Chinese nation. His legends are discussed in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 the Zhou Dynasty experienced three different stages of historical development: the Zhou Clan, the Zhoufang State and the Western Zhou Dynasty. In this great dynasty the development of China's bronze culture reached its peak. Then Qin Dynasty as the first unified, multinational and powerª²centralized state in Chinese history exerted great influence on the following dynasties. The various weapons, terracotta warriors and horses, and bronze chariots and horses discovered around the First Qin Emperor's Mausoleum show the unprecedented prosperity and progress of the Qin Dynasty in its military affairs, economy and culture. In Chapter 5 the Han Dynasty, one of the most powerful empires, continues a very important episode in Chinese history. The Han attached great importance to the development of agriculture, textile, potteryª²manufacture and paper making. During the region of Emperor Wu Di, the Silk Road was formally opened. Chapter 6 talks about Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, when the changes of regime were most frequent in Chinese history. Historical sites like Wuhou Tomb in the south of Shaanxi Province, Caotang Temple in the middle and Tongwan City in the north remember the history fondly. Chapter 7 talks about Sui Dynasty, a short but significant dynasty, connecting Southern and Northern Dynasties and Tang Dynasty.Stories about Daxing City, Daxingshan Temple and Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty are the main content in this chapter. Tang Dynasty is one of the most significant and the most prosperous eras in the history of China. Chapter 8 talks about Chang'an City in Tang Dynasty, emperors and their mausoleums and temples of Tang Dynasty. Chang'an City, the first international metropolis with more than one million residents, was the cultural center of the world. The city was in careful planning and reasonable layout, with unique architecture.There were altogether 21 emperors in Tang Dynasty. Except Emperor Zhaozong (Li Ye) and Emperor Ai (Li Zhu), the other 19 emperors were buried in Guanzhong Area of Shaanxi. During Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Chang'an City was not the political, economic and cultural center any more, but a lot of architectures were built and preserved until today. Chapter 9 talks about Xi'an Beilin Museum, Chongyang Palace and Zu'an Stele Forest, Dangjia Village, Chang'an City in Ming Dynasty and so on¡£