Editing Shangdu (section)

== History ==

Shangdu, originally named ''Kaiping'' (開平), was established between 1252 and 1256 by Liu Bingzhong, a trusted advisor to Kublai Khan and a former Buddhist monk.<ref>Christopher P. Atwood, ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire'', Facts on File, 2004, p. 605.</ref> Liu implemented a "profoundly Chinese scheme for the city's architecture," blending Confucian city planning with Mongolian steppe traditions.<ref>Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, ''Chinese Imperial City Planning'', University of Hawaii Press, 1999, p. 153.</ref> In 1264, Kublai Khan renamed the city Shangdu and established it as the summer capital of the Yuan dynasty.

Located in the grasslands north of the Great Wall—about 350 km north of Beijing and 28 km northwest of present-day Duolun—Shangdu was designed with a triple structure: an outer city, an inner city, and a central imperial palace. The palace enclosure measured roughly 550 meters per side, occupying about 40% of the later Forbidden City in Beijing.<ref>Tomoko Masuya, \"Seasonal capitals with permanent buildings in the Mongol empire,\" in David Durand-Guédy (ed.), ''Turko-Mongol Rulers, Cities and City Life'', Brill, 2013, p. 239.</ref>

Shangdu served both as a summer retreat and as a political and ceremonial center, where Kublai Khan hosted foreign envoys and conducted court affairs. It embodied the synthesis of Mongol governance and Chinese administration, and it symbolized the cosmopolitan character of the Yuan dynasty.<ref>John Man, ''Kublai Khan: From Xanadu to Superpower'', Bantam Books, 2006, pp. 104–119.</ref>

At its height, Shangdu had a population of over 100,000 and included gardens, hunting grounds, temples, and administrative quarters. Descriptions from Marco Polo and archaeological findings indicate the palace featured marble halls, gilded decoration, and elaborate wood and lacquer work.

In 1369, during the fall of the Yuan dynasty, Shangdu was sacked by Ming forces and largely destroyed. The court fled north and the city was abandoned. The site’s original name, Kaiping, was briefly restored, but the settlement never recovered.<ref>Atwood, 2004, p. 605.</ref>

In 1872, British diplomat Steven Bushell visited the ruins and noted surviving remnants of temples, marble blocks, and decorative tiles.<ref>S.W. Bushell, \"Notes on the old Mongol capital of Shangtu,\" ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'', Vol. 8 (1876), pp. 387–405.</ref> However, by the late 20th century, many of these materials had been scavenged by local residents of Dolon Nor for building use. Since 2002, the Chinese government has undertaken efforts to preserve and study the site, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1389 UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Site of Xanadu]</ref>