History

Xi'an served as the imperial capital for ten ancient imperial dynasties and a number of regional kingdoms. The ten dynasties when Xi’an (Western Peace), then called Chang’an (Perpetual Peace), was the capital of China are as follows: Qin (221–206 BC at Xianyang just northwest of Xi’an), Western Han (200–8 BC), Xin (8–23 AD), Eastern Han (191–195), Western Jin (313–316), Wei (535–557), Zhou (556–581), Tang (618–690), Zhou (690–705) and Tang (705–904).

Xi'an has a great number of precious relics and historical sites, some dating back to its times as capital. More than 4,000 historical sites and tombs have been excavated.

Xian’s history began in the Stone Age, 3,000 years ago, when the Western Zhou Dynasty founded its capital at Haojing, today’s Xi'an. The Western Zhou Dynasty was famous for its bronze, some of which is now displayed in Shaanxi Provincial Museum.

Barbarian invaders caused the collapsed of the Western Zhou Dynasty in 771 BC. The Eastern Zhou Dynasty began and made its capital at Luoyang. In 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shihuang unified the country and built a strong feudal society, with its capital at Xianyang, just north of Xi'an.

However it wasn't until the Tang Dynasty (618–907) that Chang’an (today’s Xi'an) came into its own. Chang’an was one of the biggest international cities at that time, a great metropolis of equal importance with Rome in its heyday. The Tang Dynasty witnessed advances in many fields and the capital city boomed. It was built with grand, symmetrical layouts and became a model for city design at that time.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, Xi'an went into decline and its tenure as capital of China came to an end. Although Xi'an still played an important role as a commercial center on the Silk Road in the later dynasties, it never regained its political or cultural importance.

Last updated date: 23/August/2019