Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2013

National Capital of the Early Jin Dynasty: A Peculiar Political Form in the Transformation from the Tribe System to the Imperial System

(Abstract)

Liu Pujiang

After the Jurchens overthrew the Khitan rule, they retained the former name of the “Upper Capital of Liao” for a long time. However, “Huiningfu,” the Upper Capital of the Jin Dynasty, was referred to as “Yuzhai,” and did not receive the capital title until two decades later, after the Jin Dynasty was founded. During the early period of Jin, “Yuzhai” was only a nominal capital, and performed rather weak political functions. Due partly to a lack of centralized imperial authority and unified political system and partly to the nomadic nabo customs, the Jurchen-style “Yuzhai” had not played as important a role as the Han-style capital. The capital issue in the early Jin dynasty reflects a peculiar political form of Jurchen regime in its transformation from the tribe system to the imperial system. It would be easier to understand the history if we take a different look at northern ethnic regimes.