Place · China
The history of Beijing
Assembled from 5 dug tiles · 56 sourced records · 206 BC–2023 · last reviewed 26 September 2026
Beijing's ground holds a Jin dynasty capital burned in 1215, a Ming temple built to store scripture beside the imperial canal, an air force hospital raised from open ground in 1950, and a radio university founded in 1978 to teach a country radio lessons it could not otherwise reach.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Beijing — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Beijing
An air force built its hospital where nothing stood beforeFive hundred meters from where you stand, the People's Republic built a hospital from nothing in 1950. Haidian
1213–2012 Emperors, priests and a Mongol prince, filed under a subdistrict
A patch of ground renamed into a subdistrict in 1989 sits on eight centuries of buried Beijing. Xicheng District
938–2014 A canal-side treasury that became a ruler's birthday stop
A quarter mile from where you stand, a Ming order to store scripture turned a canal bank into a stage for imperial celebration. Haidian
1159–2023 This is the first instance of cross-platform interchange in the Beijing Subway
A three-line transfer station under your feet moves a quarter million riders on its busiest day. Fengtai
206 BC–2023 A radio signal replaced the schoolroom
Nine hundred branches and a district that once had no electricity, thirty paces from where you are standing. Open University of China
1867–2014
Beijing in layers
Western Han dynasty, discovered 1974
Prince Liu Jian and his wife were buried at Dabaotai over 2,000 years ago, and their tombs were unearthed in 1974. Wikipedia, Dabaotai Western Han Dynasty Mausoleum
The immediate area was recorded as the village of Shiliuzhuang in Nanyuan, Fengtai, part of Beijing's local administrative geography. FamilySearch
938–1153
From 938 to 1153 the area was part of Liao Nanjing, the southern capital of the Liao dynasty, before the Jin conquered it. Wikidata
Jin dynasty (1115-1234), with a later Qing imperial stone road found alongside it
Archaeologists excavating in Fengtai district found a gate and stone road from Zhongdu, the Jin dynasty's capital, built after 1153. China Daily, Digging up the fascinating past
founded 1119
Tianning Temple was founded in 1119 and its pagoda is now protected as a Major Historical and Cultural Site at the national level. Wikidata
1153–1215
From 1153 to 1215 this area lay within Zhongdu, the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty's capital city, before it fell. Wikidata
1159
Purple Bamboo Park, less than a kilometer northeast, is built around three connected lakes whose origins as landscaped water go back to 1159. Wikidata
1182
Jochi, the military leader and eldest son of Genghis Khan, was born in Beijing in 1182 and died in 1228. Wikidata
1213
Wanyan Yongji, an emperor of the Jin dynasty, died in Beijing in 1213, one of the earliest named deaths this ground's record reaches. Wikidata / Wikipedia
1319
Guan Daosheng, a celebrated painter and poet of the Yuan period, died in Beijing in 1319. Wikidata / Wikipedia
1328
John of Montecorvino, a Franciscan sent by the Pope as the first Catholic missionary to China, died in Beijing in 1328. Wikidata
1328
John of Montecorvino, a Franciscan sent by the Pope to the Mongol court, died in Beijing in 1328 after decades establishing the earliest Catholic mission in China. Wikidata / Wikipedia
1332
Rinchinbal Khan, who became emperor of the Yuan dynasty as a child, died in Beijing in 1332 after a reign of only two months. Wikidata / Wikipedia
1457–1510
Ming dynasty general Yu Qian died in Beijing in 1457, and the powerful eunuch Liu Jin died here in 1510, two of the figures whose deaths Wikidata records at this city. Wikidata
1602
Li Zhi, the Chinese philosopher whose iconoclastic writings challenged Confucian orthodoxy, died in Beijing in 1602. Wikidata
1576
About 1.4 km away stands the Pagoda of Cishou Temple, built in 1576 and now protected as a Major Historical and Cultural Site at the national level. Wikidata
1577
Wanshou Temple, over a kilometer north, was built in 1577 under the Ming Wanli Emperor to store Sino-Buddhist scriptures, and now also houses the Beijing Art Museum. Wikipedia
1661
Zheng Zhilong, the merchant, pirate and admiral who once commanded a private fleet along the China coast, died in Beijing in 1661. Wikidata
1610–1944
Matteo Ricci, the Italian Jesuit missionary who died in Beijing in 1610, is buried at Zhalan Cemetery along with Johann Adam Schall von Bell, Ferdinand Verbiest and other court astronomers who served the Ming and Qing emperors. Wikidata
1610-1774
About 3 km away, Zhalan Cemetery holds the graves of Jesuit missionaries to the Qing court, among them Matteo Ricci, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, Ferdinand Verbiest, and the court painter Giuseppe Castiglione. Wikidata
1688
Ferdinand Verbiest, the Flemish Jesuit who advised the Qing imperial court on astronomy, died in Beijing in 1688. Wikidata
1766
Giuseppe Castiglione, the Italian Jesuit monk and court painter, died in Beijing in 1766 after decades painting for the Qing emperors. Wikidata
1722
Zhu Yigui, who led an uprising against Qing rule in Taiwan, was brought to Beijing and died there in 1722. Wikidata
1766
Empress Nara, born in Beijing in 1718, fell out of favor with the Qianlong Emperor and died in Beijing in 1766. Wikidata
Questions about Beijing
What is Beijing known for historically?
Beijing's recorded ground spans a Jin dynasty capital, Zhongdu, which stood from 1153 until Mongol forces burned it in 1215; a Ming temple, Wanshou, built in 1577 to store Buddhist scriptures beside the imperial canal; and a Western Han tomb sealed since before AD 24 and unearthed in 1974 beneath a modern subway interchange.
What happened at Beijing in 1989?
In June 1989, troops opened fire on protesters at a barricade in Haidian, known as the Gongzhufen crackdown, with gunfire also recorded at the same roadblock on 3-4 June.
What happened in Haidian district?
Haidian held Wanshou Temple, built in 1577 to store scriptures and later used as a staging post for Qing birthday processions; canal-fed lakes dating to 1159 that became Purple Bamboo Park; an air force hospital built from open ground in 1950, operational by 1951 and renamed Air Force General Hospital by 1954; a 1989 crackdown; and a 2002 internet cafe fire that killed 25 people.
What is the Open University of China and where did it begin?
The Open University of China was founded by executive order of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, broadcasting college lessons by radio and television to farmers, workers and soldiers across the country. It stands in Fengtai district, Beijing.
What lies beneath Songjiazhuang station in Fengtai?
Beneath Songjiazhuang station, a triple-line interchange opened in 2012 serving lines 5, 10 and the Yizhuang line, lie Western Han tombs sealed since before AD 24 and unearthed in 1974, along with a Jin dynasty gate from Zhongdu, the twelfth-century capital.
What is Xicheng District's connection to the Mongol empire?
Xicheng District's ground once lay inside Zhongdu, the Jin dynasty capital burned by Mongol forces in 1215. The Mongol prince Jochi, eldest son of Genghis Khan, is recorded as born nearby in 1182. The area was not formally named again until 1989, as Taipingqiao Subdistrict.