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[[File:Beijing-diorama.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Fifteenth-century Beijing as depicted in a diorama at the American Museum of Natural History]]
*''Other Names'': 燕京 ''(Yànjīng / Yenching)'', 大都 ''(Dàdū)'', 北平 ''(Běipíng)''
*''Other Names'': 燕京 ''(Yànjīng / Yenching)'', 大都 ''(Dàdū)'', 北平 ''(Běipíng)''
*''Chinese'': 北京 ''(Běijīng / Peking)''
*''Chinese'': 北京 ''(Běijīng / Peking)''
==History==
==History==
The city of Beijing got its start in [[1264]] or [[1271]] as the [[Mongol]] capital of the [[Yuan Dynasty]], called at that time [[Dadu]] ("great metropolis"). The Mongol city fell to the rebel [[Hongwu Emperor|Zhu Yuanzhang]] in [[1368]], who then established the Ming Dynasty, naming [[Nanjing]] his capital.
Some notable settlement existed in the area since at least the [[Sui Dynasty]], when the first version of the [[Grand Canal]] connected this area to the capital region of [[Luoyang]] and [[Chang'an]] to the west. The city gained greater significance in [[1264]] or [[1271]] when it was named capital of the [[Mongol]] [[Yuan Dynasty]], called at that time [[Dadu]] ("great metropolis"). The Mongol city fell to the rebel [[Hongwu Emperor|Zhu Yuanzhang]] in [[1368]], who then established the Ming Dynasty, naming [[Nanjing]] his capital.
Renovations or expansion of the [[Grand Canal]], completed in [[1415]], connected Beijing more fully and effectively with [[Hangzhou]] and other major cities of the south; this marked the beginning of a significant shift in Ming trade patterns and attitudes, with the country turning inwards to a considerable extent; domestic trade networks connecting with the canal thrived while overseas ventures declined.
Renovations or expansion of the [[Grand Canal]], completed in [[1415]], connected Beijing more fully and effectively with [[Hangzhou]] and other major cities of the south; this marked the beginning of a significant shift in Ming trade patterns and attitudes, with the country turning inwards to a considerable extent; domestic trade networks connecting with the canal thrived while overseas ventures declined.