China has a long history of 5,000 years, leaving the footprints of many ancient cities, and one of them, whose name has been maintained in a long history for more than 3,000 years, is Handan, Henan Province.
Once one of the "Five Great Cities" of the Han Dynasty, Handan not only carries a rich history and culture, but also is an outstanding representative of China's thousand-year-old city.
The earliest record of Handan can be traced back to the Book of Songs, Xiaoya, Caiwei, which mentions that "the orphan of the Zhao family is sent to Handan", and this Zhao orphan is the later Warring States monarch Zhao Jianzi. As an orphan, he was exiled to Handan and had a soft spot for the land. When he succeeded to the throne, he moved the capital from Jinyang to Handan, which established Handan's important position in the Han Dynasty.
Handan became the political, cultural, and economic center of the Warring States Period, and the drastic changes of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period were also staged here. Handan gave birth to many allusions, such as Mao Sui's self-recommendation, the Battle of Changping, and the return to Zhao, etc., and these stories have become allusions that later generations talk about. This also confirms the long history of Handan, and it is a witness to the Warring States period of China, leaving many masterpieces.
Although with the fall of the Zhao State, Handan lost its identity as the capital of the Zhao State, Handan's glorious period had just begun. After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he divided the country into 36 counties, and Handan became one of them.
Valued by Qin Shi Huang, Handan built Afang Palace and Afang Po, which became a military center at that time. After the fall of the Qin State, the Western Han Dynasty inherited the cultural heritage of Handan, bringing it to its heyday. Handan became one of the "five major cities" of the Western Han Dynasty, sharing fame with Luoyang, Chang'an, Linzi and Chengdu, and was the economic center of the Han Dynasty.
In the heyday of Handan, many literati and artists emerged here, such as Xunzi, Mao Chang, Gongsun Long, etc., who contributed to the cultural prosperity of Handan. Although Handan survived the trough of the turbulent period due to the change of dynasties in later dynasties, its millennium has made it still an economic powerhouse. By the Song Dynasty, Handan remained the economic center of the country and became the birthplace of China's first generation of paper money.
In subsequent dynasties, Handan has maintained its status as an important city. Especially in Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms period and the Gaoyang period of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Handan played an important role. Cao Cao built his capital in Handan and left behind many outstanding poetic works, and his two sons, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, were also famous literary scholars.
During the Northern Qi Dynasty, Handan once again ushered in glory. The Gao monarch made Handan the cultural center of the north at that time, integrating the cultures of the Han and Wei Cao dynasties to create a new literary style. Handan's literati such as Xiong Ansheng and Yan Zhitui left behind many outstanding works, including the classic "Yan's Family Motto" and so on.
Although the influence of Handan has gradually diminished in subsequent history, the rich historical and cultural heritage it has left behind has made Handan still a treasure of China's thousand-year-old city.
In this land, you can not only feel the culture of the Warring States period 3,000 years ago, but also appreciate the revolutionary atmosphere of modern New China. Handan is an ancient city that has witnessed the changes of Chinese civilization and is a living fossil of Chinese history.
It can be said that Handan is a witness of China for thousands of years, where you can not only feel the culture of the Warring States period 3,000 years ago, but also feel the revolutionary atmosphere of modern New China, which is a treasure in China's territory.
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