Since the beginning of the 20th century, China people have begun to face up to ancient history? Five ancient capitals? The concepts of Xi, Luoyang, Beijing, Kaifeng and Nanjing. Compared with the well-known Xi, Luoyang, Beijing and Nanjing, Kaifeng is nameless. But in history, Kaifeng is by no means a nobody. Although it has not been a long time as the capital, it still ranks in the top five with the glory of the Great Song Dynasty. Then, why did Kaifeng in its heyday decline?

0 1, the Warring States will be a hero.

Many people's impression of Kaifeng as the capital city may have started from the glorious moment of the Song Dynasty. In fact, as early as the Warring States Period, Kaifeng became one of the few metropolises.

In the sixth year (364 BC), Wei, who was badly beaten by tigers and wolves in Shanxi, finally gave up the hometown of Jin State, crossed the mountains and rivers to the east and came to the open Huanghuai Plain, and took root in Daliangcheng, southeast of Kaifeng today. From then on, Wei was occasionally called by Mencius? Guo Liang? . Wei, who came down from the Loess Plateau, must choose a place with more resource advantages to build its capital in order to dominate the Central Plains. In addition to Luoyang, where the Zhou royal family lives, Qilu in the east and Huaisi in the south, the Yellow River girder in the north is naturally the best choice.

Wei dug a gap near Kaifeng, irrigated fertile fields, and at the same time communicated the two major water systems of Huanghuai, thus making Daliang the political and economic center of the Central Plains in the early Warring States period, laying the foundation for Wei's hegemony. It can be said that Kaifeng, the capital of Wei State, is an effective attempt of the early Central Plains regime and the first demonstration of Kaifeng's superior location conditions.

In 2002, it was the capital of Song Dynasty.

After the middle Tang Dynasty, Guanzhong became increasingly broken, and the Tang emperor in Chang 'an had to rely on the wealth of Jianghuai to continue his life for the huge imperial center.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang, as the capital, was also baptized by the war. The macho men in the Five Dynasties troubled times hoped to find a new overlord in the new world. So, what is the most suitable node for enjoying the wealth of Jianghuai? Kaifeng,

Became the most suitable choice.

At this time, Kaifeng has become a shipping hub connecting the north and the south, and the Jianghuai it connects has become the wealth center of China. After the Five Dynasties, the Northern Song Dynasty, which unified most parts of the Central Plains, still failed to resist this temptation. Song Taizong and Zhao Guangyi completely suppressed the sound of moving the capital to Luoyang after the sound of candles and axes, and determined Kaifeng as the imperial capital of the Song Dynasty.

Figure/Kaifeng House

03, after the glory

The glory of Kaifeng is closely related to the established national policy of the Song Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, which lost sixteen states and Hexi in Hetao, the strategic space in the north was very narrow, and the danger of riding a flat tomb by Hu increased day by day. Therefore, it is obviously not enough to defend the northern Khitan Tangut in Luoyang. Instead of considering the military with topography, it is better to put the capital directly on the land and water hub of the Great Plains and let go of wealth and goods to develop national strength. Is it dangerous in Germany? The emperors of the Song Dynasty thought so, and the glory created by the Song Dynasty did not live up to their hopes.

However, it did not bring Zhao the great national strength he imagined. The Song Dynasty emperors who dreamed of buying back sixteen states with money were greeted only by jurchen. With the tragedy of the change of Jingkang, the story of Kaifeng was liquidated.

Kaifeng in the Jin Dynasty was the refuge of Jurchen after she lost Hebei, and the imperial capital had no imperial power.

During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Kaifeng's waterway continued its relative prosperity relying on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

Kaifeng, located in the middle of Guangye, is not suitable as a base for the unified dynasty to explore and defend Xinjiang, and its political role is bound to decline.

1855 after the diversion of the Yellow River, the Shandong section of the canal gradually silted up, and the northern section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal silted up, and the canal effect of Kaifeng connecting the north and the south was hard to find. As a result, a once brilliant capital of the Great Song Dynasty finally fell.