Hetu Ala ( zh, 赫圖阿拉城;

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

:) was the first capital of the

Later Jin (1616–1636) The Later Jin, officially known as Jin or the Great Jin, was a Jurchen-led royal dynasty of China and a khanate ruled by the House of Aisin-Gioro in Manchuria, as the precursor to the Qing dynasty. Established in 1616 by the Jianzhou Ju ...

state, the predecessor of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

of China. It was the capital from 1616 to 1622. It was renamed to Xingjing ( zh, 興京) in 1634. The site of Hetu Ala is located in Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County,

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, along the Suzi River, a tributary of the Hun River.

History

Hetu Ala was the place of residence of Giocangga, a Jurchen chieftain and the grandfather of

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing, was the founding khan of the Jurchen people, Jurchen-led Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin dynasty. As the leader of the House of Aisin-Gi ...

. In 1603, Nurhaci ordered the construction of a city at Hetu Ala and used it as his base of power. In 1616, Nurhaci proclaimed himself khan in the Octagonal Hall at Hetu Ala, founding the state of Later Jin. In 1621, the "Eastern Capital" was constructed near the city of Liaoyang as the new Jin capital. In 1624, the tombs of Nurhaci's family and ancestors were moved to the Eastern Capital. However, Giocangga and Taksi, Nurhaci's father, were brought back to Hetu Ala in 1658. In 1634, the city's name was changed to Xingjing.

Layout

Hetu Ala was located on the southern bank of the Suzi River. The city had two walls. The inner wall was built of wood and stone and had a perimeter of 5 ''li'' (). The outer wall had a perimeter of 10 ''li'' () and had nine gates. The Yong Mausoleum for Giocangga and Taksi was located to the west of the city, near the present Yongling town (永陵镇).

References

{{Qing dynasty topics, state=collapsed Qing dynasty Ancient Chinese capitals Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Liaoning AAAA-rated tourist attractions