Map of Chinese History
Every marker is a real historical scene: the oracle bones of Yinxu, the edict tablets of Xianyang, the opium-burning pits of Humen. Tap a marker for the story, tap the legend to filter by age.
☜ Tap a marker and its story appears here.
Antiquity, the Three Dynasties & Pre-Qin
Qin–Han, Sui–Tang
Song & Yuan
Ming & Qing
The map spans the same frame as the "Three Kingdoms" universe (longitude 96°–124°, latitude 18°–42°, Natural Earth 50m); sites further west, such as Dunhuang, fall outside it. Place coordinates use the approximate location of the present-day city.
Places on this map
Yinxu (Anyang)
The late-Shang capital. In 1899 the marks on so-called "dragon bones" were recognized as writing; the oracle-bone script turned the Shang from legend into documented history, and the intact tomb of Fu Hao was unearthed here.
Connected figures: Fu Hao · Cheng Tang
Fenghao (southwest of Xi’an)
King Wen built Feng and King Wu built Hao — the capital of the Western Zhou. Enfeoffment and the rites and music were promulgated to the world from here; "Zongzhou" is the origin point of every later story of "China."
Connected figures: King Wen of Zhou · King Wu of Zhou · Duke of Zhou · Jiang Ziya
Qufu
The capital of Lu, the fief of the Duke of Zhou’s son Boqin, where the rites and music were preserved most completely — and which, for that reason, produced Confucius. The contrasting experiment of the Grand Duke "following local custom and simplifying ritual" versus Boqin "changing custom and reforming ritual" played out between Qi and Lu.
Connected figures: Duke of Zhou
Xianyang
Here Shang Yang "moved the pole to build trust," and here Qin swallowed the six states. The palaces of the First Emperor and Li Si’s small-seal edict tablets all issued from here; Xiang Yu set it ablaze, and the fire burned for three months.
Connected figures: Shang Yang · Qin Shi Huang · Li Si · Xiang Yu
Chang’an
The imperial capital of both Han and Tang. From here Zhang Qian set out to "open up" the Western Regions, the starting point of the Silk Road; at its height, Tang Chang’an held a million people and was the largest city in the world.
Connected figures: Liu Bang · Emperor Wu of Han · Zhang Qian · Sima Qian · Emperor Taizong of Tang · Wu Zetian · Emperor Xuanzong of Tang · Xuanzang
Luoyang
The Duke of Zhou built the city of Luo, Emperor Guangwu fixed his eastern capital here, and Wu Zetian named it the "Divine Capital" — an ancient capital of thirteen dynasties. Sacked again and again by the An–Shi rebels and the wars of every era, it rebuilt itself each time.
Connected figures: Duke of Zhou · Liu Xiu · Wu Zetian · An Lushan
Kaifeng
Dongjing, the Northern Song capital — the metropolis of a million people painted in "Along the River During the Qingming Festival." In 1127 the Jin army broke the city and carried Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, with fourteen thousand others, north — the Humiliation of Jingkang.
Connected figures: Zhao Kuangyin · Wang Anshi · Emperor Huizong of Song
Lin’an (Hangzhou)
The temporary seat of the Southern Song. Yue Fei was murdered here at Fengbo Pavilion, and the iron statue of Qin Hui still kneels before his temple to this day; "the warm wind lulls the travelers drunk, and takes Hangzhou for the old capital Bianzhou."
Dadu (Beijing)
The Yuan capital built by Kublai Khan, the "Khanbaliq" of Marco Polo’s account; the Ming Yongle Emperor moved the capital here and raised the Forbidden City, so that "the Son of Heaven guards the gate of the realm."
Connected figures: Kublai Khan · Zhu Di · The Chongzhen Emperor · Li Zicheng · The Kangxi Emperor · The Qianlong Emperor · Empress Dowager Cixi · Puyi
Nanjing
Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming here, and Zheng He’s treasure ships were launched from the Longjiang shipyard; when the city fell in the Jingnan campaign, Fang Xiaoru died a martyr and the fate of the Jianwen Emperor became a mystery.
Connected figures: Zhu Yuanzhang · Zhu Di · Zheng He
Humen
In 1839 Lin Zexu destroyed more than twenty thousand chests of opium on this beach over twenty-three days — the largest anti-drug operation in history, and the spark of the Opium War.
Connected figures: Lin Zexu
Shanhaiguan
"The First Pass Under Heaven." In 1644 Wu Sangui opened the gate here and let the Qing army through; the Shun army was routed at the Battle of Yipianshi — the end of Li Zicheng’s forty-two days.
Connected figures: Li Zicheng · Qi Jiguang