Jin Zhongdu

Timeline

1. 1123–1140Yanjing · North ChinaAfter Jin captured Yanjing, it established Nanjing (later renamed Yanjing Prefecture) as a forward base for controlling Yanyun and campaigning south against Song, forming a dual-capital pattern north and south with the Supreme Capital at Huining.
2. 1141–1150Yanjing Imperial City and Six Ministries offices · North ChinaAfter the Shaoxing Peace Treaty, Song and Jin were divided by the Huai River; Yanjing became the actual administrative center for Jin's rule over the Han lands of North China, frontier defense, and operations in Jiangnan, with the Six Ministries and regional pacification commissioners mostly working here.
3. 1149–1150Yanjing · North ChinaAfter Wanyan Liang (Hailing Wang) acceded in 1149, he strongly advocated moving south; by 1150 he was already expanding palaces in Yanjing and relocating Han scholars, preparing for the formal establishment of the capital at Zhongdu and large-scale construction in 1153.
4. 1153Jin Zhongdu · North ChinaIn 1153 Hailing Wang decreed the move of the capital to Yanjing, renaming it Zhongdu, and carried out large-scale expansion of walls and palaces; Jin's political center shifted south from Huining, and Zhongdu became the formal capital.