A Research Of Kaifeng City In Ming And Qing Dynasties

Kaifeng is one of the eight ancient capitals of China.Since the Warring States period,until the Northern Song Dynasty,the development of Kaifeng city on the whole tended to rise and it had peaked in the Northern Song Dynasty,and there had been a lasting prosperity up to 160 years.Since Jin and Yuan dynasties,due to continuing wars,rapid changes of dynasties,the Yellow River floods and other factors,the advantages and the status of the city lost gradually,and eventually it had lost the status of capital.In Ming Dynasty,Kaifeng city was dilapidated after many times of wars in Song,Jin and Yuan dynasties.However,due to the mentality that Yimen?another saying for Kaifeng?was a city for kings since the old,and coupled with a convenient land transportation,Kaifeng city got the emperor's attention,and became the north capital in early Ming Dynasty.The central and local governments have adopted a series of recovery measures to make the city of Kaifeng quickly restored and developed after the war.Since then,though Kaifeng failed to become the capital of the Ming Dynasty,it still was one of the major cities in the country.The feudatory Zhou was made a vassal king by the emperor in Kaifeng,and since then the feudatory existed during the the entire phase of Ming Dynasty and exerted a far-reaching impact on the development of the city of Kaifeng.In the late Ming Dynasty,as the worsen sufferings from the river floods,the class contradictions and peasant uprisings,the city of Kaifeng suffered a devastating blow and was reduced to city of ruins.Qing Kaifeng city was restored and developed in ruins and tended to prosper again.The flood in the 21^st year in Daoguang period was another disaster for Kaifeng City.Although there had been recoveries since then,however,its decline trend was irreversible.The city status of Kaifeng in the country fell sharply,and had not been able to embark on transformation of the modern road.Overall,the development of Kaifeng city in Ming and Qing Dynasties slowed down gradually,and lagged behind increasingly.Economically,Kaifeng in Ming Dynasty was prosperous,and there had been a peak following the development of in Northern Song Dynasty.It still played an important role in the country,forming a unique consumer city.The feudatory Zhou had played an important role in promoting the economy of Kaifeng.In Qing Dynasty Kaifeng's economy had recovered,especially the rise of Zhuxianzhen became a bright spot in the Qing Dynasty Kaifeng economic development.There appeared merchant groups and providers to help in Kaifeng.Especially the commercial activities of Shan and shaan traders made a great contribution to the economic development of Kaifeng.While on a whole,the Qing Dynasty Kaifeng economy was in a decline and became more backward in the country,and manifested a marginalizing trend.In the area of Culture and education,in Ming and Qing dynasties the culture of Kaifeng had gained certain degree of development and still was in a leading position in the province and had certain influence in the whole country.In late Qing Dynasty,the rudiments of the new education appeared in Kaifeng area,which was a process of Kaifeng city in its modern transition.Because Kaifeng had a deep impact of Song learning and was inland city which was relatively closed,compared with the southeast area,this transformation is very slow.Overall,education and culture in Kaifeng was declining with the continuous decline of its economy.In religion,Kaifeng people had various beliefs,forming a belief system of worshiping gods,sages,famous officials and water god.There has been a large number of Buddhist temples,Taoist temples,shrines and other buildings within the city,there had also been foreign religions,such as Islam,Judaism,etc.,which occupied an important position,forming a multi-religious coexistence.This was a major feature in the development of the Ming and Qing Kaifeng city and also was closed linked to the development background of Kaifeng city.Overall,Kaifeng city in the Ming and Qing dynasties was in a long time of recovering development following the peak in North Song Dynasty.In Henan Province,Kaifeng still was in the leading position,but because of factors such as frequent floods and wars in Ming and Qing dynasties,the advantages continued lost and its provincial capital status had been shaken,and there appeared disputes on moving the city several times.Kaifeng city is still one of the major cities in the country in the Ming Dynasty,since the Qing Dynasty,its position declined further.Especially in modern times,Kaifeng was relatively closed,unable to quickly embark on the path of development of modern and became a marginalized regions,led a different development paths form the ancient capital cities in the southeast.