ABSTRACT
A number of different palaces and government build ings had existed in what is now Beijing long before the Forbidden City itself was established. Beijing originated more than 2,000 years ago as a frontier garrison on the edge of the North China Plain. Over the centuries, the map of northern China was frequently altered as various kingdoms grew more powerful or faded away, so that even such an initially remote settlement sometimes served as a royal capi tal, at other times as a market town or as a fortress, with consequent changes of name and layout. By the twelfth century, what is now Beijing was known as Zhongdu and was the capital of the Jin Dynasty, which controlled the northern half of China and devoted much of its wealth to expanding the city; the capital was overthrown in 1215 when the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, managed to break through the Great Wall and other defenses and burn Zhongdu to the ground.
