The issue of moving the capital in the Western Han Dynasty

Dingtao in the Yang of Sishui River was only a temporary location for Liu Bang to ascend the throne. The capital of the Han Dynasty was originally in Yueyang. After the Chu-Han War, the vast area of ??Guandong was unified under the Han Dynasty. It would be inappropriate to still establish the capital in Yueyang. So in May of the fifth year of Emperor Gaodi (202 BC), Liu Bang established his capital in Luoyang. Its significance is not difficult to see and it follows the old system of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and occupies the "center" of the "world".

But not long after the capital was established, Lou Jing, a Qi man who went to Longxi to guard the border, asked to see Liu Bang when he passed by Luoyang. He pointed out to Liu Bang that the capital should be moved to Guanzhong. Lou Jing analyzed in detail the benefits of moving the capital to Guanzhong. Since most of the founding fathers who followed Liu Bang were from Guandong and did not want to go to Guanzhong, which was far away from home, they insisted on making Luoyang the capital. Among all the opposition, only Zhang Liang supported Lou Jing's view. He pointed out that the area near Luoyang was "only a few hundred miles away, the fields are thin, and it is surrounded by enemies on all sides. This is not a country that uses force." Guanzhong not only has a dangerous terrain and rich products, "Yaohan on the left, Longshu on the right, fertile fields thousands of miles away, with the advantages of Bashu in the south and the benefits of Huyuan in the north", it is also suitable for controlling the vast Guandong area: "Yin is on three sides. Defend and control the princes with only one side in the east. The princes are stable, the river Wei flows across the world, and the capital is in the west. If the princes change, they can go down the river, which is enough to admit defeat. Zhang Liang's analysis made Liu Bang make up his mind. He immediately worshiped Lou Jing as Lord of Fengchun and gave him the surname Liu. On the same day, he ordered the capital to be moved to Guanzhong.

Liu Bang drove from Luoyang to Guanzhong. At the beginning, he still "administered Yueyang Palace" in the old capital of Yueyang. At the same time, he ordered Shaofu Yangchengyan to build a new palace in Chang'an Township, east of Xianyang, the original capital of Qin. In February of the seventh year of the Supreme Emperor (200 BC), it began to take shape. The capital was moved from Yueyang to Chang'an. From then on, Chang'an became the political center of the country.

Later facts proved that the measures taken by the Western Han Dynasty to move the capital to Guanzhong were conducive to the rule of the landlord class. Therefore, Chang'an has not only always been the capital of the Western Han Dynasty, but also many dynasties have established their capitals here during the two thousand years of feudal society, making it the longest-standing capital among Chinese cities. This in itself shows that the Western Han Dynasty was correct in establishing Guanzhong as its capital.