Kaifeng

The postal romanization for the city is "Kaifeng". Its official one-character abbreviation in Chinese is 汴 (Biàn). Historically it has also been known as:

• Dàliáng (Chinese: 大梁)
• Biànliáng (汴梁)
• Biànzhōu (汴州)
• Nánjīng (南京), from its status as the Jurchen Jin's southern capital and not to be confused with modern-day Nanjing
• Dōngjīng (東京)
• Biànjīng (汴京)

The area was named "Kaifeng" after the Qin's conquest of China in the second century BC. The name literally means "opening the border" and figuratively "hidden" and "vengeance".[4] Its name was originally Qifeng (Chinese: 啓封), but the syllable qi (Baxter-Sagart: /*kʰˤijʔ/) was changed to the essentially synonymous kai (/*Nə-[k]ʰˤəj/, /*[k]ʰˤəj/) to avoid the naming taboo of Liu Qi (Emperor Jing of Han).

The prefecture-level city of Kaifeng administers five districts and four counties:

• Gulou District
• Longting District
• Yuwangtai District
• Xiangfu District
• Shunhe Hui District
• Weishi County
• Qi County
• Tongxu County
• Lankao County

Map
Longting Shunhe Gulou Yuwangtai Xiangfu Qi County Tongxu County Weishi County Lankao County

The famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival is believed by some to portray life in Kaifeng on Qingming Festival. Several versions exist – the above is an 18th-century recreation – of an original attributed to the 12th-century artist Zhang Zeduan.

The city of Kaifeng (Dongjing, Bianliang) in Northern Song dynasty

Model of Kaifang in the Northern Song dynasty

Map of Kaifeng (K'ai-feng)

Outer city of Bianjing (Kaifeng), Yuan dynasty map from Shilin Guangji by Chen Yuanjing

Kaifeng is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China. As with Beijing, there have been many reconstructions during its history.

In 364 BC during the Warring States period, the State of Wei founded a city called Daliang (大梁) as its capital in this area. During this period, the first of many canals in the area was constructed linking a local river to the Yellow River. When the State of Qin conquered the State of Wei, Kaifeng was destroyed and abandoned except for a mid-sized market town, which remained in place.

During the Han dynasty, the city underwent some reconstruction. Kaifeng became the capital of Liu Wu (son of Han emperor Wen) when he was enfeoffed as Prince of Liang. Liu Wu restored and constructed many buildings and old city walls. Kaifeng became a center of music, art, a refuge for artists, and of splendid gardens despite the trivial political importance of the city at this period.[5]

Early in the 7th century, Kaifeng was transformed into a major commercial hub when it was connected to the Grand Canal as well as through the construction of a canal running to western Shandong.

In 781 during the Tang dynasty, a new city was reconstructed and named Bian (汴). Bian was the capital of the Later Liang, Later Jin (936–946), Later Han (947–950), and Later Zhou (951–960) of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song dynasty made Bian its capital when it overthrew the Later Zhou (Chenqiao incident) in 960. Shortly afterwards, the city underwent further expansion.

During the Song, when it was known as Dongjing or Bianjing, Kaifeng, then the largest and most prosperous city in China, was the capital, with a population of over 400,000 living both inside and outside the city wall. Typhus was an acute problem in the city. The historian Jacques Gernet provides a lively picture of life in this period in his Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276, which often draws on Dongjing Meng Hua Lu, a nostalgic memoir of the city of Kaifeng.[6]

In 1049, the Youguosi Pagoda (佑國寺塔) – or Iron Pagoda as it is called today – was constructed measuring 54.7 m (179 ft) in height. It has survived the vicissitudes of war and floods to become the oldest landmark in this ancient city. Another Song-dynasty pagoda, Po Tower, dating from 974, has been partially destroyed.

Games in the Jinming Pool, an early 12th-century painting depicting Kaifeng, by Zhang Zeduan.

Another well-known sight was the astronomical clock tower of the engineer, scientist, and statesman Su Song (1020–1101 AD). It was crowned with a rotating armillary sphere that was hydraulically-powered (i.e. by water wheel and a water clock), yet it incorporated an escapement mechanism two hundred years before they were found in the clockworks of Europe and featured the first known endless power-transmitting chain drive.

Kaifeng reached its peak importance in the 11th century as a commercial and industrial center at the intersection of four major canals. During this time, the city was surrounded by three rings of city walls and probably had a population of between 600,000 and 700,000. It is believed that Kaifeng was the largest city in the world from 1013 to 1127.[7]

This period ended in 1127 when the city fell to Jurchen invaders during the Jingkang Incident. It subsequently came under the rule of the Jurchen Jin dynasty, which had conquered most of North China during the Jin–Song Wars.[8] While it remained an important administrative center, only the area inside the inner city wall of the early Song remained settled and the two outer rings were abandoned.

As the imperial capital of the Song, Kaifeng was conveniently situated along the Grand Canal for logistics supply but militarily vulnerable due to its position on the floodplains of the Yellow River.

Kaifeng served as the Jurchen "southern capital" from 1157 (other sources say 1161) and was reconstructed during this time.[9] The Jurchen kept their main capital further north until 1214 when they were forced to move the imperial court southwards to Kaifeng in order to flee from the onslaught of the Mongols. In 1232 they succumbed to the combined Mongol and Song forces in the Mongol siege of Kaifeng. The Mongols captured the city and in 1279 conquered all of China. During the Yuan dynasty Bianliang became the capital of Henan Jiangbei Province, which was established in 1277.

East Market Street, Kaifeng, 1910. The synagogue of the Kaifeng Jews lay beyond the row of stores on the right

In the Mongol siege of Kaifeng, the Mongols and Han Chinese (who defected to the Mongols) slaughtered the male members of the Jin Jurchen Wanyan Imperial family and took the royal women including the Jin concubines and princesses to Mongolia as war booty. Mongols looted the city when it fell, but atypical to most sieges in the time period, they permitted trade. The richest residents of the city sold their luxury belongings to Mongol soldiers for critically needed food supplies. Male members of the Jurchen Jin Wanyan royal family residing in the city were captured and executed.[10] All Jin imperial concubines, including the empress dowager, were captured and taken north.[11]

In 1260, Marco Polo arrived at Kaifeng, and wrote about it in his diaries.

The city was briefly captured around the mid-14th century by the Red Turban rebels who made it their capital for ten years. They were crushed by the newly established Ming forces. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty in 1368, Kaifeng was made the capital of Henan province.[5]

In 1642, Kaifeng was flooded by the Ming army with water from the Yellow River to prevent the peasant rebel Li Zicheng from taking over. After this disaster, the city was abandoned again. (262nd most destructive act of warfare in Chinese history)

In 1662, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty, Kaifeng was rebuilt. Another reconstruction in 1843 followed flooding in 1841, shaping Kaifeng as it stands today.

From the 8th to 9th century and up to the 19th century, Kaifeng is known for having the oldest extant Jewish community in China, the Kaifeng Jews.[12][13] As of 2016, there are 20 Jews still left in the city.[13]

On 6 June 1938, the city was occupied by the invading Japanese Imperial Army. Kaifeng remained the capital of Henan province until 1954, when it was moved to Zhengzhou. In 1969, the former President of the People's Republic of China, Liu Shaoqi, died from medical neglect while under house arrest in Kaifeng.

Kaifeng has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) that borders on a humid continental climate, with four distinct seasons. Winters are cool and mostly dry while summers are hot and humid; spring is warm and sees some, but not much rainfall, while autumn weather is crisp and drier. Precipitation mainly occurs from June to September.

Kaifeng is the headquarters of the 20th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of three group armies that comprise the Jinan Military Region responsible for the defense of the Yellow River Plain.

Kaifeng Air Base is a military airfield in the southern suburb of Kaifeng City. It does not provide civilian aviation service.

Kaifeng is twinned with:[23]

• Historical capitals of China
• 1642 Yellow River flood

• Cotterell, Arthur. (2007). The Imperial Capitals of China: An Inside View of the Celestial Empire. London: Pimlico. pp. 304 pages. ISBN 978-1-84595-009-5.
• The Origin of the Kaifeng Jews, in S. Shaked, ed., Irano-Judaica, Jerusalem, 1982, pp. 101–11

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kaifeng.

Look up Kaifeng, K'ai-feng, Caifung, or Caifum in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kaifeng.

• Government website of Kaifeng (in Simplified Chinese)
• Kaifeng City Portal (in Simplified Chinese)
• Notes on the Jewish colony at Kaifeng from the Papers of Charles Daniel Tenney