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On August 2, 1368, Ming troops seized Dadu and renamed it Beiping (Northern Peace). Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), however,
made Nanjing his first capital.
Beginning in 1406, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty spent 15 years constructing walls 12 meters high and 10 meters thick at their base around the city of Beiping. The construction of palace buildings and gardens began in 1417 and was completed in 1420.
The following year, Emperor Yongle formally transferred the capital from Nanjing to Beiping and, for the first time, named the city Beijing (Northern Capital).
The Forbidden City was constructed during that time, followed by the Temple of Heaven (1420), and numerous other construction projects. Tian'anmen, which has become a state symbol of the P.R.China and is featured on its emblem, was built in 1651.
Extensive reconstruction work was carried out in Beijing during the first years of the Ming Dynasty. The northern city walls were shifted 2.5 kilometers to the south. Evidence of great advances in city planning is the district known as the Inner (Tartar) City. The Outer or Chinese City to the south was built during the reign of Emperor Jiajing (1522-1566), adding to the rectangular city a slightly wider "base" in the south.
When the Manchus founded the Qing Dynasty in 1644, they began to build suburban gardens, the most famous of which was Yuanmingyuan Park.
Construction over the course of an entire century, the imposing columned palaces and open-air pavilions blended with the serenity of well-planned gardens to create a masterpiece of garden architecture unrivaled in the history of China.
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