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Zhou Dynasty established its capital in Feng and Gao between the late 11th
century BC and 770 BC, both located west of contemporary Xi'an.
Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC) constructed its
capital in the north shore of Wei River, which was burned by Xiang Yu at the
end of the dynasty.
202 BC: Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, established
Chang'an County as his capital; his first palace Changle Palace was built
across the river from the ruin of the Qin capital. This is traditionally
regarded as the founding date of Chang'an and Xi'an.
200 BC: Emperor Liu Bang built Weiyang Palace in Chang'an.
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194 BC: Construction of the first city wall of Chang'an began, which did not
finished until 190 BC. The wall measured 25.7 km in length, 12-16 m in
thickness at the base. The area within the wall was ca. 36 square km.
AD 582: Emperor of Sui Dynasty ordered a new capital to be built southeast
of the Han capital, called Daxing. It consisted of three sections: the
Palace, the Imperial City, and the civilian section. The total area within
the wall was 84 square km, The main street Zhuque Avenue measured 155 m in
width. It was the largest city in the world. The city was renamed Chang'an
in Tang Dynasty.
7th century: Buddhist monk Xuan Zang established a sizeable translation
centre after returning from India with Sanskrit scriptures.
AD 701: Construction of Da Yan Pagoda began. It measured 64 m in height.
This pagoda was constructed for the storage of the translation of Master
Xuan Zang.
AD 707: Construction of Xiao Yan Pagoda began. It measured 45 m in height.
After the earthquake of 1556 AD, only 43.4 m remains.
AD 904: The end of Tang Dynasty brought destruction to Chang'an. Residences
were forced to move to Luoyang, the new capital. Only a small area continued
to be occupied after the destruction.
AD 1370: Ming Dynasty built a new wall to protect a much smaller city of 12
square km. The wall measures 11.9 km in length, 12 m in height, and 15-18 m
in thickness at the base.
This city was the site of the Xian Incident in 1936 during World War II.
Xi'an Incident brought the Communist Party of China and Kuomintang to a
truce so the two forces could concentrate on fighting against Japan.
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