Beijing Jin Dynasty History (1153AD)

In 12th century，the Nuzhen tribe from the Songhua River in the northeast drove out the Khitan Liao and in 1115AD thev set up the Jin Dynasty with the capital in Huining(today Heilongjiang Province)．Later they occupied Yanjing in 1122．In order to maintain their control over the Yellow River Vallev and at the same time remain in easy contact with their base in the northeast,the Jin rulers moved their capital to the citv of Yanjing in 1 1 53．Then Yanjing was made the capital of the Jin Dynasty and its name was changed to Zhongdu(The Central Capital)．Thus Zhongdu became the center of rule over half of China．

Large-scale construction was carried out in Zhongdu under the Jin Dynasty．The old city borders were enlarued to the east,west and south．A new imperial palace was built modeled after the imperial palace at Bianliang，the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty(present city Kaifeng)．Only under the Jin did the city really take fl shape as fin imperial capital，though its size was much smaller than the later dynasties．Its location was to the southwestern part of the present—day Beijing．After the imperial palace was completed，the Imperial Palace of Jin was well— known for its sumptuousness，gorgeousness and splendidness．The Jin rulers also did a lOt of work in water conservancy and water transportation of grain to the capital．For instance，they built some water sluice gates in some rivers or moats from Grand Canal in Tongzhou to the city of Zhongdu，the central capital of Jin．

Though some of die water projects failed，but the construction project of Lugouqiao(known to the West as the (Marco Polo Bridge)is the most successful project．Westerners called it Marco Polo Bridge simply because Marco Polo described it in his book“Travels”and introduced it to the West．The old ferry crossing which served as a gateway to Beijing ftom the Yellow River Valley was made of fl wooden pontoon bridge，which could be easily washed away or burnt down．To meet the military，political，economic and cultural needs of the new imperial capital，the Jin emperor ordered the construction of a big stone bridge built over the Yongding River in 1 1 89．The construction took more than three years and was completed in 1 1 92．It was built in traditional Chinese bridge architecture with white marble stones．It iS 266．5 meters long, 7．5 meters wide with 281 balusters on both sides of the bridge．The most impressive sight about it is the stone carving on its balustrade．There are a total of 485 big or small stone lions built on the top of the balusters．On each baluster there iS a large stone lion and some with one or two smaller ones around，each is different from the other in size and shape．The Italian traveler Marco Polo admired the bridge and wrote in his book：“Ten miles past Khanbaliq(Dadu)，a magnificent stone bridge crosses the river, and it has no comparison anywhere in the world．”It was listed as one of the“Eight Scenic Spots of Yanj ing”under the descriptive title“Lu Gou Xiao Yue”which means the“MorningMoon Over Lugou Bridge”．Later in the Qing Dynasty(1 644—1 9 1 1)，Emperor Qianlong wrote in his elegant calligraphy for the stele marking the respective beauty spots，including the“Lu Gou Xiao Yue”tablet which still stands today by the bridge．Today this more than 800一year-old stone bridge is a world- famous tourist attraction．

The bridge is of another particular significance：The Chinese people resisted the Japanese aggression．It was here that the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out on July 7th,1937 (1937—1945)．

Because of the cultural influence by the Han nationality，the Jin Emperor built not only their imperial palace by imitation but also their imperial gardens in Beijing．But as time passed by,most of their imperial gardens had gone，only the remains or ruins  can  be  seen today．Tongleyuan，  Genfengligong  and Badashuiyuan(The Eight Grant Gardens)were the Imperial Gardens built in the Jin Dynasty．They laid a good foundation for the succeeding dvnasties.