430 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
westward and established his capital in Guanzhong, following the advice of
Liu Jing.^47 Xiang Yu was soon ruined, but the Han dynasty became the
country ruled by the Son of Heaven. Thereafter, the [Northern] Zhou
dynasty of the Yuwen clan^48 and the Sui dynasty of Yang Jian^49 established
their capitals in Guanzhong, successively, and the Tang followed their
examples, so its prosperity matched that of the Han. All of these things
indicate that the success of ruling the state depends on men, not on the
strength of the sites.
“1. In China there were many who became the Son of Heaven, and they
established their capitals in Guanzhong, which was situated in the west. In
the east, there was Jinling [Nanjing], which, successively, was the capital of
Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen. In the middle, there was Luoyang, which
successively served as the capital of Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou. The
Song also made Luoyang its capital, and its prosperity was no less than that
of Han and Tang. In the north was Yanjing [Beijing], which became the
capital of the Great Liao [Liao dynasty],^50 the Great Jin [Jin dynasty],^51 and
the Great Yuan [Yuan dynasty],^52 successively. Although China had the
largest territory under heaven, the places chosen for its capital cities were
only a few. Throughout the establishment of numerous dynasties, how could
there have been no one good at geomancy? The places chosen by the kings
for their capitals are fixed from the beginning; they cannot be found by the
skill of geomancy.
“1. In our country, since the days of the Three Han Kingdoms [Samhan],^53
the old capitals were Kyerim [Kyŏngju] in the east, Wansan [Chŏnju] in the
south, P’yŏngyang in the north, and Songgyŏng [Kaesŏng] in the middle.- An advisor of Liu Bang, the founder of the Han dynasty. After the Han was founded,
Liu Jing advised Emperor Gaozu to move the capital from Luoyang to Chang’an, which is
modern Xi’an. - The Yuwen were the descendants of the southern Shanyu of the Xiongu. A descendant
of the Yuwen tribe, Yuwen Tai established the Northern Zhou in the sixth century. - Yang Jian is the personal name of Emperor Wen (581–604), the founder of the Sui
dynasty. - Also known as the Khitan Empire (907–1125). It was destroyed by the Jurchen people
of the Jin dynasty. - Also known as the Jurchen dynasty (1115–1234).
- After conquering the Southern Song dynasty in 1271, Kublai Khan, leader of the
Mongolian Borgijin clan, officially proclaimed his realm the Great Yuan Empire (1279–1368). - Samhan refers to the three confederacies of chiefdoms on the southern Korean
Peninsula in the Proto–Three Han Kingdoms Period.