Site of Xanadu

The Shangdu site of the Yuan Dynasty is located in Wuyi ranch of Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on the North Bank of the Luanhe River. Founded in the sixth year of the Mongolian emperor Xianzong (1256), it was originally named "kaipingfu". In the fifth year of the central unification (1264), it was renamed "Shangdu", also known as "Shangjing" and "Luanjing". It was the place for emperors and empresses to spend summer. In 1369, the second year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty, it was renamed "Kaiping mansion". Soon after that, the mansion was abandoned and changed to Wei. In 1430, it was abandoned. In 1956 and 1973, the cultural relics team of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Inner Mongolia University carried out archaeological investigation on it. The site of Shangdu in Yuan Dynasty is located in Wuyi ranch of Zhenglan Banner, on the alluvial plain of North Bank of lightning River (upper reaches of Luanhe River). Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, began to build a city in the sixth year of the Mongolian emperor Xianzong (1256), initially named Kaiping Prefecture. After Kublai Khan ascended the throne, he changed the name of the state to yuan in the eighth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1271), and called Kaiping Prefecture Shangdu, also known as Shangjing or Luanjing, the Xia capital of the Yuan Dynasty. Every summer, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty led important ministers to come here to spend the summer and deal with government affairs, so the palace city was built into a garden style farewell hall. The whole city is composed of palace city, imperial city and outer city. Its perimeter is about 9 kilometers, 2050 meters from east to west, and 2115 meters from north to south. The walls of the palace are built with bricks. There are buildings at four corners, including crystal hall, Hongxi hall, MuQing Pavilion, Da'an Pavilion and other pavilions, which lead the river into the city and build ponds and marshes. Around the Imperial City, the city walls are inlaid with stones, and the roads are neat and orderly. In the south of the palace, there are the official offices. In the northeast and northwest of the palace, there are Qianyuan temple and Longguang Huayan Temple. The outer city is entirely built of earth. In the northwest of the Imperial City, there are imperial gardens for the emperor to watch in the north and official offices, temples and workshops in the south. Outside the city, there are three Guanxiang areas in the East, South and West, where the shops, houses and warehouses are located. Yongle was abandoned in the early Ming Dynasty, and the city walls and building foundations were still on the ground. In Mongolian, this city is called "zhaonaimansumo", which means 108 temples, according to the numerous buildings in the city site. It is a national key cultural relic protection unit.

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 the vast jinlianchuan grassland, which forms a layered and radial distribution with the Palace site as the center It is the product of the integration of farming civilization and nomadic civilization. It is also the outstanding example of the integration of grassland culture and Central Plains farming culture.

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

Evolution of construction

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, forming a layered and radial distribution centered on the palace ruins, namely, the palace and temple buildings mainly composed of civil engineering, and the traditional Mongolian yurt architecture of nomadic people.

Well preserved Palace City, Imperial City, outer city walls, neat and symmetrical streets and alleys, scattered architectural relics, grassland with good natural ecology, numerous cultural relics and beautiful ecological environment constitute the most complete preserved large-scale ancient capital sites in China.

Cultural relics

outer city

The outer city is in the shape of a curved ruler, extending around the West and north sides of the imperial city

Chinese PinYin : Yuan Shang Dou Yi Zhi