Tianjing (Guardians)

Tianjing, historically known as Luoyang, is the imperial capital of China and a major metropolitan area with significant political, cultural, and religious importance. First founded as Luoyang as far back as 2070 B.C., the city was rechristened as Tianjing, or "Heavenly Capital", upon the establishment of the Kai Dynasty in 501 B.C. by Sun Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China. It has fulfilled the role of the imperial and religious center of China, with few exceptions, ever since.

Classical Era
The city, as Luoyang, was the capital of the Zhou Dynasty of Chinese kings, who presided over the growth and subsequent withering of their own authority from its protected settlements. Towards the end of the the Dynasty the Zhànguó shídài, the Warring States Period, broke out between the Ji family's stronger vassals. The Zhou Dynasty was unable to do anything to stop the violence and was overthrown towards the end of the conflict, when Sun Wu and his army took the city and forced the Ji family into exile. Renamed to Tianjing, the city was greatly expanded to function as an imperial center, with a large growth of administrative buildings and temples. The population of the city also expanded, with an increase of military officials and civil servants.

The city was also a major center of the arts, just as it had been under the Zhou Dynasty. Lavish temples to Chinese gods were constructed while schools were built for Confucian and other philosophical thought. Science also progressed from the very same schools, adding to the development of Chinese society during the Kai Dynasty. Shortly after its establishment as China's capital it was the largest and most prosperous city in the country and one of the largest in the world.

Towards the end of the Kai Dynasty, the military became increasingly restless, resulting in an increased amount of crime and insubordination by its members. The Emperors were evidently unable or unwilling to address the issue, and Sun Bin, the final emperor of the Kai Dynasty, was assassinated by his general Pang Juan in his palace. The capital was soon seized by the military loyal to him while other factions in the rest of the country rised up in revolt. By 301 B.C. the Ying family had managed to defeat the rural factions and the military, establishing the Xin Dynasty in its place. While at first reluctant to leave the relative safety of their domains, the Ying family did eventually move to the capital, expanding the barracks and fortifications for their loyal soldiers.

Towards the end of the Xin Dynasty, the city was the site of Confucian persecution decreed by Emperor Ying Ziying in 213 B.C. Confucian temples were closed, prominent scholars arrested or killed, and many writings and works confuscated and hoarded by the Emperor and his close vassals. In the Dazexiang Rebellion that followed shortly after, the city did not fall until the very end. Chen Sheng, the new emperor of the Qiang Dynasty, seized the city in 197 B.C. and made it his capital. Noteably, he exported much of the military presence in the capital, maintaining a sizeable Imperial Guard yet deployed much of his military to garrisons spread around the country, so as to decrease the military's influence in the city and also for closer proximity to threats and targets of expansion.