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Bianjing (Kaifeng)

Type Object Region China Time 960–1127

Capital of the Northern Song, also called the Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture, one of the most populous and commercially prosperous cities in the …

Timeline

  1. 960Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture · HenanAfter founding the Song, Zhao Kuangyin made the Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture the capital, inheriting the Later Zhou capital's foundations and establishing the Northern Song political center.
  2. c. 1000–1100Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture · HenanCanal transport on the Bian River and commercial prosperity drove urban expansion; the ward-market system loosened, and the scale of population, handicrafts, and services ranked among the world's foremost in the 11th century, with scholars often estimating the population at around a million.
  3. 1081–1090Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture · HenanAmid the Yuanyou factional struggles, Bianjing remained the empire's administrative and consumer center; grain continued to arrive by canal, night markets and occupational divisions persisted, and the city's functions and population scale maintained the Northern Song's peak form.
  4. 1127Eastern Capital Kaifeng Prefecture · HenanJin forces breached Kaifeng, Emperors Huizon and Qinzong were taken north, the Northern Song capital's functions ended, and Bianjing's era as the capital of a unified dynasty came to a close.

Sources