WI: Xi'an as capital city of China

Like the title said, what happens if Xi'an became the capital city of China, instead of Beijing or any usual capital cities in Chinese history?

Period-wise, it can be around 17th/18th or Modern-day.
 
Stop it from being completely devestated (and depopulated by forced resettlement to Luoyang) by Tang in 904, and it would have a reasonably strong claim for becoming a capital again somewhere down the road
 
Stop it from being completely devestated (and depopulated by forced resettlement to Luoyang) by Tang in 904, and it would have a reasonably strong claim for becoming a capital again somewhere down the road
It wasn't just that.On paper,Chang'an was a great capital due to the region being easily defended.Problem however was that as the region's surrounded by mountains,there's only a limited amount of arable land in the Guanzhong region.The Guanzhong region,despite being highly fertile initially,could not support the massive population of the capital by itself.This led to overfarming and over logging,which resulted in desertification. The fact that the capital's surrounded by mountains doesn't help trying to supply the capital from other regions.The Tang Emperors have tried to import grain from the South through the Grand Canal and the Yellow River,but the river cruises were generally dangerous and highly expensive.The inability to get sufficient grain supply was so bad that not even the Imperial Court could feed itself if there's a famine in Guanzhong.The court generally moves to Luoyang whenever there's a famine in Guanzhong.On one occasion when the court had to stay in Guanzhong when there's a famine,the Imperial Court was so desperate that when the grain shipment from the south finally arrived,the Emperor was so overcome with joy that he grabbed the Crown Prince and told him that "Son,the two of us don't have to die of starvation!".
 

raharris1973

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To the OP: Since the greatest Qing Emperors spent the most of their time concentrating on western conquests, perhaps Kangxi, Yongcheng or Qianlong decide a more western or central capital than Beijing, either Xi'an or Luoyang, is more appropriate. I know Xi'an was not on the Grand Canal, was it on any navigable rivers? Was Luoyang on the Grand Canal? I ask because that seemed to be the economic heartland of China at this time.

This decision could also be made in the 19th century if the Chinese decide to fight on from inland during the Opium War, the Arrow War or Boxer War instead of making terms. I don't think the dynasty would be very long for this world under such circumstances. Likewise, during the Ili Crisis when many in China wanted to go to war with Russia, "Chinese" Gordon advised them not to fight Russia, at least unless they were ready to move their capital away from Beijing and into the interior.
 
To the OP: Since the greatest Qing Emperors spent the most of their time concentrating on western conquests, perhaps Kangxi, Yongcheng or Qianlong decide a more western or central capital than Beijing, either Xi'an or Luoyang, is more appropriate. I know Xi'an was not on the Grand Canal, was it on any navigable rivers? Was Luoyang on the Grand Canal? I ask because that seemed to be the economic heartland of China at this time.

This decision could also be made in the 19th century if the Chinese decide to fight on from inland during the Opium War, the Arrow War or Boxer War instead of making terms. I don't think the dynasty would be very long for this world under such circumstances. Likewise, during the Ili Crisis when many in China wanted to go to war with Russia, "Chinese" Gordon advised them not to fight Russia, at least unless they were ready to move their capital away from Beijing and into the interior.
Read my post for more information.

Chinese emperors were often quite inflexible when it comes to moving capitals.Quite a number of emperors were in fact captured along with their capitals rather than fleeing in times of crisis. This had a lot to due with the fact that court officials and nobles possess a lot of property around the capital and if the capital is no longer capital,the price of their property would decrease drastically.
 
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