HistoryBeijing has been around for thousands of years, with evidence of prehistoric humans available. It has been named many things throughout the years, starting with Ji, then Yan then Youzhou, then Dadu. After Dadu, Beijing became Nanjing then Beiping and finally in 1421 Beijing. The Ming Dynasty ruled Beijing and rebuilt much of the city, destroying much of Dadu. Zhu Yuanzhang was born near Beijing, during a time of significant drought. He joined a monastery, but later when Guo Zixing conquered the city he joined him. Zhu rose up to second in command and married Guo's daughter. Zhu rose to supreme power when Guo died. He eventually became emperor after many other leaders died. He started the Ming dynasty. In 1644 a peasant revolt usurped the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty came to power. In 1928 the capital was moved and Beijing again became Beiping. The Japanese occupied Beiping until after WWII. Then in 1945 The People's Republic of China was established and Beijing was restored as the capital. In the 50's and 60's there was rapid development and much of Beijing today was built. There have been many rulers of Beijing, including many dynasties such as the Liao, Yuan, and Qing. Beijing is now a socialist economy.
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Thesis |
Beijing has transformed from times when different tribe leaders fought over the land, to being controlled by different dynasties, to developing into the industrial capital it is now. Beijing will take one of two paths, either it will continue to use fossil fuels in excess amounts, and become too polluted for people to live in, or the government will finally make efforts to cut back on pollution and will continue to prosper.
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Banner: Trey Ratcliff. "Bustling Beijing". Flickr. This is a picture of all the people and cars in Beijing at night.