The city of
Beijing has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,000 years. Prior to the unification of China by the
First Emperor in 221 BC, Beijing had been for centuries the capital of the ancient states of
Ji and
Yan. During the first millennia of imperial rule, Beijing was a provincial city in
northern China. Its stature grew in the 10th to the 13th centuries when the nomadic
Khitan and forest-dwelling
Jurchen peoples from beyond the
Great Wall expanded southward and made the city a capital of their dynasties, the
Liao and
Jin. When
Kublai Khan made
Dadu the capital of the
Mongol-led
Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), all of China was ruled from Beijing for the first time. From 1279 onward, with the exception of two interludes from 1368 to 1420 and 1928 to 1949, Beijing would remain as
China's capital, serving as the seat of power for the
Ming dynasty (1421–1644), the
Manchu-led
Qing dynasty (1644–1912), the early
Republic of China (1912–1928) and now the
People's Republic of China (1949–present).