Beijing

Bĕijīng (北京, Wade-Giles: Pei-Ching), or in older transliterations Peking, is the capital city of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the 4 municipalities of the People's Republic of China, which have a provincial-level status. The municipality governs 10 districts and 8 counties.

**北京市**
Province Abbreviation(s): 京 Jīng
Area - Total - % water	Ranked 29th 16,808 km² xx%
Population - Total (Year) - Density	Ranked 26th 13,820,000 822/km²
Administration Type	Municipality

Names

Beijing literally means "northern capital" (as opposed to Nanjing, meaning "southern capital" and Tonkin and Tokyo, both of which mean "eastern capital"). Beijing is sometimes referred to as Peking. The term originated with French missionaries four hundred years ago, and corresponds to an archaic pronunciation which does not take into account a 'k' to 'j' sound shift in Mandarin that occurred during the Qing dynasty.

In China, the city has had many names. Between 1911 and 1949, it was known as Beiping (北平 Wade-Giles Peip'ing) or "Northern Peace". The name was changed because jing means "capital" and the Kuomintang government in Nanjing wanted to emphasize that Beijing was not the capital of China, and Beijing's warlord government was not legitimate. Curiously, many maps of China from Taiwan still use the old name, although most people in Taiwan call the city Beijing.

For the historical names of Beijing, see Capital of China.

History

The metropolitan area of Beijing has been settled in the first millennium BC and the capital of Kingdom Yan (燕) was established there, and named it Ji (蓟). Ji has often been claimed as the beginning of Beijing; but in reality the city has been abandoned no later than the 6th century AD. The exact location of Ji is not clear despite numerous claims of its "discoveries" in recent years. During the great Tang and Song dynasties, only townships existed in this area. By the early 10th century, Kingdom Liao set up a "secondary capital" in the city proper, and called it Nanjing ("the Southern Capital"). Jing Dynasty that annexed Liao and ruled the northern China built its capital there, called Zhongdu (中都), or "the Central Capital". The Mongol force burned Zhongdu to the ground in 1215 AD and rebuilt its own "Grand Capital" (大都) to the north of the Jin capital in 1267 AD, which is the true beginning of Beijing. In 1403 AD, the 3rd Ming emperor Zhu Li, who just grabbed the throne by killing his brother after a bloody civil war and moved the capital from southern China to his own power base in the north, renamed the city Beijing (北京), or "Northern Capital".