The Meaning of Beijing's Name
The name "Beijing" (北京 Běijīng) literally means "Northern Capital", from two Chinese characters: "Běi" (北), meaning north, and "jīng" (京), meaning capital.
Yanjing: The Ancient Northern Capital
One of the earliest names by which the city was known is "Yanjing" (燕京), meaning "capital of Yan," after the ancient state of Yan, which made present-day Beijing's location its capital during the Western Zhou dynasty, before the Qin dynasty unified China in 221 BCE.
Khanbaliq and Dadu: Capital of the Mongols
When the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty in 1271, he made Beijing the capital of his empire, naming it "Dadu" (大都), meaning "Great Capital," while the Mongols knew it as "Khanbaliq," meaning "City of the Khan."
Beiping: "Northern Peace"
After the fall of the Yuan dynasty, the Chinese reclaimed the city in 1368 and founded the Ming dynasty, renaming it "Beiping" (北平), meaning "Northern Peace." In 1928, when the Kuomintang government moved its capital to Nanjing, Beijing was once again renamed "Beiping."
Beijing: The Name That Finally Endured
In 1403, after Prince Zhu Di (later known as the Yongle Emperor) seized the throne, he renamed the city "Beijing" (北京). The name "Beijing" persisted through the Qing dynasty, and was permanently readopted on October 1, 1949, when Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China and made Beijing its capital.