Beijing Replaces Nanjing as Capital
1420
The Yongle Emperor formally declared Beijing the northern capital, relegating Nanjing to secondary status. Grain barges streamed up the Grand Canal to feed a city of a million in the face of the Mongol steppe. The Ming center of gravity had swung permanently north, toward its most dangerous frontier. The relocation required renovating the Grand Canal to carry millions of shi of tribute rice, rivaling the Forbidden City's own construction.
In context
Also in 1420 (4 other events on record)
- Forbidden City Completed in Beijing · East Asia · Politics
- Brunelleschi Begins the Florence Cathedral Dome · Europe · Technology
- Treaty of Troyes · Europe · Politics
- Hussite Wars Begin · Europe · War
Before and after in East Asia
Before and after in Politics
Era
Late Middle Ages (1301–1500), one of 874 events from that era on Saeculum.