Site of Xanadu

Site of Xanadu

Located in Zhenglan Banner grassland of Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the site of Shangdu of Yuan Dynasty was the capital of the largest empire in the history of the world. It was built in 1256 ad. it was the birthplace of the Great Yuan Dynasty and Mongolian Yuan culture in China, where Kublai Khan ascended the throne and established the Yuan Dynasty.

Shangdu of the Yuan Dynasty is adjacent to Shangdu River in the South and Longgang mountain in the north. It is surrounded by vast jinlianchuan grassland. It has formed a layered and radial distribution with palace sites as the center. It has not only palaces and temples with civil structure as the main structure, but also the overall layout form of traditional Mongolian yurt architecture of nomadic people. It reflects the grand style of a highly prosperous grassland capital and is a symbol of agricultural civilization and tourism The product of the integration of pastoral civilization is an outstanding example of the integration of grassland culture and Central Plains farming culture.

In 1988, the site was listed in the third batch of national key cultural relics protection units in China. On June 29, 2012, the 36th World Heritage conference officially announced in St. Petersburg, Russia that China's yuanshangdu site will be included in the world heritage list.

World Heritage Site

Site of Xanadu

Selected time: 2012

Selection criteria: Cultural Heritage (II) (III) (IV) (VI)

Location: n42 21 28.80 E116 11 06.46

Heritage number: 1389

Heritage Description:

Shangdu site of the Yuan Dynasty is the capital site of the Yuan Dynasty in China. It is located about 20 kilometers northeast of the government of Zhenglan Banner, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on the North Bank of lightning. This grassland capital, founded by nomadic people in northern China, is regarded as the product of the wonderful combination of farming culture and grassland nomadic culture in the Central Plains.

In 2012, according to the selection criteria (II) (III) (IV) (VI), the site of yuanshangdu was approved as a cultural heritage by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and listed in the world heritage list.

The archaeological survey and local excavation confirmed that the site is well preserved, and there are abundant cultural relics buried inside and outside the city. According to the records, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty was built by Kublai Khan in 1256, covering an area of 2500 hectares. The city was built by skilled craftsmen at home and abroad, and then expanded for decades. The capital is square, with three parts: the outer city, the inner city and the palace city. The outer city is 17 Li in circumference, and the shops in the city are adjacent to each other. The palace city is about half the size of the Forbidden City. For 100 years between the 13th and 4th centuries, it was the second political, military, economic and cultural center after Yuandadu (today's Beijing). It was also a place for the royal family to entertain and rest. In Marco Polo's travel notes, it is recorded that the capital of the Yuan Dynasty "has a Marble Palace, which is very beautiful. Its houses are painted with gold and painted with many birds, animals, flowers and trees. It is extremely skillful and skillful, which can be seen to entertain people."

World Heritage Committee evaluation:

Located to the north of the Great Wall, the Shangdu site of the Yuan Dynasty contains a large number of remains of Kublai Khan's legend, covering an area of more than 25000 hectares. Yuanshangdu was designed in 1256 by Liu Bingzhong, the Han aide of the Mongolian ruler. It is a unique attempt to integrate Mongolian nomadic culture and Han culture. Kublai Khan started the Yuan Dynasty, ruled China for a hundred years, and expanded its territory beyond Asia. The religious debate in this area has enabled Tibetan Buddhism to spread in Northeast Asia and become a cultural and religious tradition in many parts of the region. The capital of Yuan Dynasty was built on the basis of traditional Chinese geomantic theory. There are temples, palaces, tombs, nomadic tents and water conservancy engineering relics including tiefangan canal in Shangdu site of Yuan Dynasty

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Historical evolution

According to historical records, Shanrong and Donghu people first entered the upper reaches of Luanhe River.

In the third century AD, after Donghu, there were two branches Xianbei and Wuhuan. The location of Shangdu in Yuan Dynasty was the residence of Wuhuan people.

After the fourth century AD, Tuoba Xianbei rose and established the Northern Wei Dynasty. The capital of the Yuan Dynasty was located in the pastoral area outside the great wall of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

In the 10th century, Liao Dynasty and Jin Dynasty took it as a good place for hunting and touring.

In 1168, wanyanyong, Emperor Shizong of Jin Dynasty, named it jinlianchuan, which means "Lianzhe Lianye is connected with Jinzhiyuye".

In 1211, Genghis Khan led Mongolian cavalry to the South and occupied Huanzhou in the upper reaches of Luanhe River. Jinlianchuan became Genghis Khan's summer resort.

In 1215, Genghis Khan took Liangxing of Huanzhou as his "Summer Palace". When Genghis Khan enfeoffed the generals, the upper capital area of the Yuan Dynasty was the hereditary territory of the Muhuali family.

From the 49th year of Jiading to the 5th year of Baoyou (1256-1258) in the Southern Song Dynasty, Kublai Khan ordered his near minister Seng Zicong (Liu Bingzhong) to build the city in Longgang phase, east of Huanzhou city and north of luanshui River, and named it Kaiping. After Kublai Khan ascended the throne and established the central government of the Yuan Dynasty, Kaiping mansion was constantly renovated and expanded.

In 1263, it was promoted to the capital and named Shangdu.

From 1271 to 1271, Kublai Khan named the state "Yuan". Shangdu city and Dadu city became the two capital cities used alternately in the Yuan Dynasty, which experienced 11 emperors, 108 years. Until the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Shangdu was the political, economic, military and cultural center of the Yuan Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, kaipingwei was established by the Ming court, and Dushi was moved to the South during Xuande period. The city was abandoned, and then it became a ruin when it was uninhabited for a long time.

In 1996, the Shangdu site of the Yuan Dynasty was listed in China's preliminary list of world heritage sites for the first time.

In 1999, the state invested 1 million yuan to move 103 workers out of the "Wuyi livestock farm" to enclose the site.

In 2002, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region restored more than 300 meters of the imperial city wall of the yuanshangdu site, filled the vegetable cellars, artificial canals and other facilities in the site, and closed the roads in the site.

In 2006, the site of Shangdu city of Yuan Dynasty was listed in the list of World Heritage application again.

In 2008, the World Heritage Application entered the substantive operation stage.

In 2009, the autonomous region established a leading group for the application for world heritage, headed by Barthel, then chairman of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region government. The application for world heritage has entered a critical stage.

In January 2010, in order to restore the original ecological environment of yuanshangdu site, strengthen the environmental management and protection of the site, and promote the process of applying for world cultural heritage of yuanshangdu site, the government established the yuanshangdu site nature reserve, which covers an area of 1814.52 square kilometers, including 34342 hectares of application area and 147110 hectares of buffer area. The wetland, grassland and forest around the site are included in the scope of the heritage protection zone.

In 2011, a series of protection laws and regulations were formulated, including the general plan for the protection of the site of yuanshangdu, the measures for the protection and management of the site of yuanshangdu, and the plan for the protection of the ecological environment and characteristic landscape of the site of yuanshangdu. The museum project of yuanshangdu site with an investment of more than 60 million yuan will be officially opened to tourists on July 15, 2011. In August 2011, in accordance with the requirements of the Convention for the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage and the operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, UN experts conducted on-the-spot investigation and evaluation on the heritage value, protection and management of the yuanshangdu site.

In May 2012, the World Heritage Center issued an official report, which passed the statement on the outstanding universal value of the heritage in the application for world heritage. It was found that its authenticity, integrity and protection and management fully meet the requirements of world heritage, and the site of yuanshangdu was nominated as a world cultural heritage. At the 36th World Heritage Committee meeting held in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 29, it was unanimously agreed that the cultural heritage project yuanshangdu site declared by China should be included in the world heritage list.

geographical environment

Location context

The Shangdu site of the Yuan Dynasty is located in Zhenglan Banner, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, on the Bank of lightning River in the northwest of Duolun County, 116 ° 09 ′ 50 ″ - 116 ° 11 ′ 40 ″ e, 42 ° 20 ′ 40 ″ - 42 ° 22 ′ 13 ″ n.

topographic features

The site of Shangdu in Yuan Dynasty belongs to valley plain and aeolian sandy land. The terrain here is high in the South and low in the north. It is composed of two geomorphic units: low mountains, hills and sand dunes. The altitude is between 1265-1281 meters. The overall landform is Chahar low mountain and hilly area at the northern foot of Yanshan mountain, which is composed of sandy land, typical grassland, forest grassland and wetland.

climate

The Shangdu site of the Yuan Dynasty has a mid temperate semi-arid continental climate with an annual average temperature of 1.5 ℃ and an average temperature of - 17.8 ℃ in the coldest month and 18.7 ℃ in the hottest month. The average annual precipitation is 365 mm, mainly from June to August, accounting for 67% of the total annual precipitation. The annual average wind speed is 3.6 m · s-1, the extreme maximum wind speed is 40.0 m · s-1, the annual average gale days are 72 days (wind speed ≥ 17 m · s-1), and the wind direction is mainly westerly.

Overall layout

The layout of Shangdu site in Yuan Dynasty is divided into Palace City, imperial city and outer city, surrounded by mountains in the north and facing water in the south.

As the ruling center of the great Mongolia, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty is adjacent to the Shangdu River in the South and Longgang mountain in the north, surrounded by the vast jinlianchuan grassland

Chinese PinYin : Yuan Shang Dou Yi Zhi