Piero Corradini
THE MANCHU CAPITAL CITIES BEFORE THE CONQUEST OF CHINA
1. The capitals of the Manchus Before the occupation of China and the establishment of their capital in Peking, the Manchus had three capitals: Hetu Ala M-1I~nJtL (since 1634 Xingjing :JI!:.5l:) from 1603 to 1621, Liaoyang JI~~ from 1621 to 1625, and Shengjing :lfr:.5l: (present Shenyang ttr~ or illlW) from 1625 to 1644. Shengjing held its rank as capital city during the entire Qing i~ dynasty and was considered a secondary capital.
2. HetuAla Hetu Ala, located on the southern bank of the River Suzi WFf¥i1J, in pre• sent Xinbin Manchu Autonomous district' tJTiIr¥Nijj~ § ¥it~t*, had been the place of residence2 of Mongke Temiir (Chinese: Mengge Tiemuer 3ifu-l~H~* yr" posthumous name Yuan Huangdi !*J'l'!.?li, temple name Zhaozu Ii!H~) and his nephew Giocangga (Chinese: Jiaochang' an :it I§ 'tc, posthumous name Yi
I Zhonghua Renl1lin GOllgheguo Fellshellg Ditu Ji rp.AR;j:\;tlll".l
2 Qing Shi Gao ~j1f .'t~~ [Draft History of the Qing Dynasty], 2000 (hereafter referred to as QSG),j. I, bellji ;;t>:fic 1, Taizu belljd;:tEl;;t>:fic, p. I. Piero Corradini
Huangdi ~1l! '1%, temple name Jingzu ilfll), grandfather of the first Manchu Emperor Nurhaci.3 Nurhaci ordered the construction of a city4 on January 7, 1603 (the day yiwei z.* of the 30lh year of Ming llA Wanli JjtJ!). In the 151 lunar month of Wanli 31 (February 11 - March 12, 1603), Nur• haci established his seat in Hetu Ala.5 In 1616 he proclaimed himself Em• peror6 of the Later Jin (Hou lin 15t:&) dynasty, adopted the reign name of Tianming7 :k® and made the city his capital.8 Hetu Ala was described by the Korean envoy Yi Minhwan *~ 1f in his lianzhou wenjian lu J!3+1 ~5i!.l~ [Records of Things Heard and Seen among the Jianzhou].9 The city had two walls. The inner wall, erected in 1603,10 was built of wood and stone, II had a perimeter of 5 Ii £ (about 2.5 km) while the outer wall, erected in 1605,12 had a perimeter of 10 Ii (about 5 km). In the outer wall there were nine gates, three in the north, three in the south, two in
3 Persona] name Aisin Gioro Nurhaci (Chinese: Aixin Jiaoluo ~)j'k14!:~t Nuerhaqi ~ijJl1tJl\' or Nuerhachi ~r*ll1t~), posthumous name at first Wu Huangdi )j'U;H'jI, afterwards Gao Huangdi l:'t~*, temple name Taizu :t:m. Reigned as Emperor of the Later Jin (Hou fin ftt~) with the reign year name (nianhao ijogt'1) Tianming:k1frr from 1616 to 1626.
4 Taizu ShUu :t:fll'fH:F [Veritable Documents of Taizu], in Qing ShUu iNp~~;ft [Veritable Documents of the Qing], 1988 [hereafter TAIZUSL],j. 3, p. 7a.
5 QSG, j. I, bellji I, Taizu bellji I, p. 6.
6 Mal1zhou Shilu h~;'I'lhl~!1< [Veritable Documents of the Manchus], in Qing Shilu 1988,j. 4, p.47a.
7 TAIZUSL, j. 5, p. 2a.
8 Qilldillg Shellgjillg Tongzhi ~XIEJllt:fjU!ll;t [Gazetteer of Shengjing compiled by Imperial Order], 2000 (hereafter SJTZ),j. 18, p. 8a.
9 Translated into Italian in Di Cosmo] 982, pp. 146-160.
10 SJTZ, j. 18, p. 6a.
II Di Cosmo 1982, p. 147.
12 SJTZ, j. 18, p. 6a.
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