Kaifeng (Chinese: 开封; pinyin: Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is most known for having been the Chinese capital during the Northern Song dynasty.

Quick Facts 开封市, Country ...

Kaifeng 开封市
Prefecture-level city
Clockwise: Dragon Pavilion, Iron Pagoda, Lu Zhishen Daxiangguo Temple, Songdu Royal Street, Kaifeng Mayor's Mansion
Location of Kaifeng City jurisdiction in Henan
Kaifeng Location in China
Coordinates: 34°47′42″N 114°20′42″E / 34.79500; 114.34500][[Category:Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas]]"},"html":"Coordinates: </templatestyles>\"}' data-mw='{\"name\":\"templatestyles\",\"attrs\":{\"src\":\"Module:Coordinates/styles.css\"},\"body\":{\"extsrc\":\"\"}}'/>34°47′42″N 114°20′42″E / 34.79500°N 114.34500°E / 34.79500; 114.34500"}">
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Henan
Municipal seat	Longting District
Area [1]
• Prefecture-level city	6,247 km2 (2,412 sq mi)
• Urban	1,848.5 km2 (713.7 sq mi)
• Metro	1,848.5 km2 (713.7 sq mi)
Elevation	75 m (245 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[2]
• Prefecture-level city	4,824,016
• Density	770/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
• Urban	1,735,581
• Urban density	940/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
• Metro	1,735,581
• Metro density	940/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
GDP[3][4]
• Prefecture-level city	CN¥ 175.5 billion US$ 26.4 billion
• Per capita	CN¥ 38,619 US$ 5,814
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Area code	371
ISO 3166 code	CN-HA-02
Major Nationalities	Han, Hui
County-level divisions	5
License plate prefixes	豫B
Website	kaifeng.gov.cn

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Quick Facts Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese ...

Kaifeng
"Kaifeng" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	开封
Traditional Chinese	開封
Literal meaning	"Opening the Border"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Kāifēng Bopomofo ㄎㄞ¯ㄈㄥ¯ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Kaifeng Wade–Giles K'ai1-feng1 IPA [kʰaɪ.fə́ŋ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hōi-fūng Jyutping Hoi1-fung1 IPA [hɔj˥.fʊŋ˥] Southern Min Tâi-lô Khui-pang

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As of the 2020 census, 4,824,016 people lived in Kaifeng's Prefecture, of whom 1,735,581 lived in the metropolitan area consisting of Xiangfu, Longting, Shunhe Hui, Gulou and Yuwantai Districts. Located along the Yellow River's southern bank, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the west, Xinxiang to the northwest, Shangqiu to the east, Zhoukou to the southeast, Xuchang to the southwest, and Heze of Shandong to the northeast.

Kaifeng is a major city for scientific research, appearing among the world's top 200 cities by scientific output as tracked by the Nature Index.^[5] The city is home to a campus of Henan University, one of the national key universities in the Double First Class University Plan.

The postal romanization for the city is "Kaifeng". Its official one-character abbreviation in Chinese is 汴 (Biàn). Historically it has also been known as:

• Dàliáng (Chinese: 大梁)
• Biànliáng (汴梁)
• Biànzhōu (汴州)
• Nánjīng (南京), from its status as the Jurchen Jin's southern capital and not to be confused with modern-day Nanjing
• Dōngjīng (東京)
• Biànjīng (汴京)

The area was named "Kaifeng" after the Qin's conquest of China in the second century BC. The name literally means "opening the border" and figuratively "hidden" and "vengeance".^[6] Its name was originally Qifeng (Chinese: 啓封), but the syllable qi (Baxter-Sagart: /*kʰˤijʔ/) was changed to the essentially synonymous kai (/*Nə-[k]ʰˤəj/, /*[k]ʰˤəj/) to avoid the naming taboo of Liu Qi (Emperor Jing of Han).

The prefecture-level city of Kaifeng administers five districts and four counties:

• Gulou District
• Longting District
• Yuwangtai District
• Xiangfu District
• Shunhe Hui District
• Weishi County
• Qi County
• Tongxu County
• Lankao County

More information Map ...

Map
Longting Shunhe Gulou Yuwangtai Xiangfu Qi County Tongxu County Weishi County Lankao County

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Model diorama of Kaifang in the Northern Song dynasty

Kaifeng is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China. As with Beijing, there have been many reconstructions during its history.^[7]

In 364 BC during the Warring States period, the State of Wei founded a city called Daliang (大梁) as its capital in this area. During this period, the first of many canals in the area was constructed linking a local river to the Yellow River. When the State of Qin conquered the State of Wei, Kaifeng was destroyed and abandoned except for a mid-sized market town, which remained in place.^[8][9]

During the Han dynasty, the city underwent some reconstruction. Kaifeng became the capital of Liu Wu (son of Han emperor Wen) when he was enfeoffed as Prince of Liang. Liu Wu restored and constructed many buildings and old city walls. Kaifeng became a center of music, art, a refuge for artists, and of splendid gardens despite the trivial political importance of the city at this period.^[10]

Early in the 7th century, Kaifeng was transformed into a major commercial hub when it was connected to the Grand Canal as well as through the construction of a canal running to western Shandong.^[11]

In 781 during the Tang dynasty, a new city was reconstructed and named Bian (汴). Bian was the capital of the Later Liang, Later Jin (936–946), Later Han (947–950), and Later Zhou (951–960) of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song dynasty made Bian its capital when it overthrew the Later Zhou (Chenqiao incident) in 960. Shortly afterwards, the city underwent further expansion.

During the Song, when it was known as Dongjing or Bianjing, Kaifeng, then the largest and most prosperous city in China, was the capital, with a population of over 400,000 living both inside and outside the city wall. Typhus was an acute problem in the city. The historian Jacques Gernet provides a lively picture of life in this period in his Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276, which often draws on Dongjing Meng Hua Lu, a nostalgic memoir of the city of Kaifeng.^[12]

In 1049, the Youguosi Pagoda (佑國寺塔) – or Iron Pagoda as it is called today – was constructed measuring 54.7 m (179 ft) in height. It has survived the vicissitudes of war and floods to become the oldest landmark in this ancient city. Another Song-dynasty pagoda, Po Tower [zh], dating from 974, has been partially destroyed.

Another well-known sight was the astronomical clock tower of the engineer, scientist, and statesman Su Song (1020–1101 AD). It was crowned with a rotating armillary sphere that was hydraulically powered (i.e. by water wheel and a water clock), yet it incorporated an escapement mechanism two hundred years before they were found in the clockworks of Europe and featured the first known endless power-transmitting chain drive.

Kaifeng reached its peak importance in the 11th century as a commercial and industrial center at the intersection of four major canals. During this time, the city was surrounded by three rings of city walls and probably had a population of between 600,000 and 700,000. It is believed that Kaifeng was the largest city in the world from 1013 to 1127.^[13]

This period ended in 1127 when the city fell to Jurchen invaders during the Jingkang Incident. It subsequently came under the rule of the Jurchen Jin dynasty, which had conquered most of North China during the Jin–Song Wars.^[14] While it remained an important administrative center, only the area inside the inner city wall of the early Song remained settled and the two outer rings were abandoned.

As the imperial capital of the Song, Kaifeng was conveniently situated along the Grand Canal for logistics supply but militarily vulnerable due to its position on the floodplains of the Yellow River.

Kaifeng served as the Jurchen "southern capital" from 1157 (other sources say 1161) and was reconstructed during this time.^[15] The Jurchen kept their main capital further north until 1214 when they were forced to move the imperial court southwards to Kaifeng in order to flee from the onslaught of the Mongols. In 1232 they succumbed to the combined Mongol and Song forces in the Mongol siege of Kaifeng. The Mongols captured the city and in 1279 conquered all of China. During the Yuan dynasty Bianliang became the capital of Henan Jiangbei Province, which was established in 1277.

In the Mongol siege of Kaifeng, the Mongols and Han Chinese (who defected to the Mongols) slaughtered the male members of the Jin Jurchen Wanyan Imperial family and took the royal women including the Jin concubines and princesses to Mongolia as war booty. Mongols looted the city when it fell, but atypical to most sieges in the time period, they permitted trade. The richest residents of the city sold their luxury belongings to Mongol soldiers for critically needed food supplies. Male members of the Jurchen Jin Wanyan royal family residing in the city were captured and executed.^[16] All Jin imperial concubines, including the empress dowager, were captured and taken north.^[17]

In 1260, Marco Polo arrived at Kaifeng, and wrote about it in his diaries.

The city was briefly captured around the mid-14th century by the Red Turban rebels who made it their capital for ten years. They were crushed by the newly established Ming forces. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty in 1368, Kaifeng was made the capital of Henan province.^[10]

In 1642, Kaifeng was flooded by the Ming army with water from the Yellow River to prevent the peasant rebel Li Zicheng from taking over. After this disaster, the city was abandoned again. In 1662, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing dynasty, Kaifeng was rebuilt. Another reconstruction in 1843 followed flooding in 1841, shaping Kaifeng as it stands today.

From the 8th to 9th century and up to the 19th century, Kaifeng is known for having the oldest extant Jewish community in China, the Kaifeng Jews.^[18][19] As of 2016, there are 20 Jews still left in the city.^[19]

On 6 June 1938, the city was occupied by the invading Japanese Imperial Army. Kaifeng remained the capital of Henan province until 1954, when it was moved to Zhengzhou. In 1969, the former President of the People's Republic of China, Liu Shaoqi, died from medical neglect while under house arrest in Kaifeng.

In 1948, the Battle of Kaifeng occurred between Chinese communist forces and Chinese Nationalist forces but ultimately lead to a PLA Victory and the collapse of the Nationalist forces which was part of the Shengcai Battle.

Kaifeng has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) that borders on a humid continental climate, with four distinct seasons. Winters are cool and mostly dry while summers are hot and humid; spring is warm and sees some, but not much rainfall, while autumn weather is crisp and drier. Precipitation mainly occurs from June to September.

Kaifeng is the headquarters of the 20th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of three group armies that compose the Jinan Military Region responsible for the defense of the Yellow River Plain.

Kaifeng Air Base is a military airfield in the southern suburb of Kaifeng City. It does not provide civilian aviation service.

Kaifeng is twinned with:^[29]

Kaifeng is also a major city for scientific research, appearing among the world's top 200 cities as tracked by the Nature Index.^[5] The city is home to a campus of Henan University, one of the national key universities in the Double First-Class Construction.

• Historical capitals of China
• 1642 Yellow River flood