Editing Xi'an (section)

===Imperial era===
{{Multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 200
| image1            = History of Xi'an.jpg
| caption1          = A map of the [[Chinese city walls|city walls]] of settlements in Xi'an from the [[Zhou dynasty|Zhou]] to [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] [[list of Chinese dynasties|dynasties]]
| image2            = Xian guerreros terracota general.JPG
| caption2          = [[Terracotta Army]] inside the [[Qin Shi Huang]] Mausoleum, third century BC
| image3            = Map of Chang'an in Tang Dynasty.svg
| caption3          = Map of [[Chang'an]] under the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] (7th–10th{{nbsp}}cent.)
}}

Following the [[Warring States period]], China was unified under the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BC) for the first time, with the capital located at [[Xianyang]], just northwest of modern Xi'an.<ref name="diming">{{cite book |script-title=zh:中国古今地名大词典 |year=2005 |location=Shanghai |publisher=[[Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House]] |page=2134 |language=zh-hans}}</ref> The first emperor of China, [[Qin Shi Huang]] ordered the construction of the [[Terracotta Army]] and [[Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor|his mausoleum]] just to the east of Xi'an almost immediately after his ascension to the throne.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/emperor-qin/ |title=Emperor Qin's Terracotta Army |author=O. Louis Mazzatenta |magazine=National Geographic |date=2009-10-09|access-date=May 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528231305/http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/emperor-qin/|archive-date=May 28, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 202 BC, the founding emperor [[Emperor Gaozu of Han|Liu Bang]] of the [[Han dynasty]] established his capital in Chang'an County; his first palace, Changle Palace ({{lang|zh-hant|長樂宮}}, "Perpetual Happiness") was built across the river from the ruin of the Qin capital. This is traditionally regarded as the founding date of Chang'an. Two years later, Liu Bang built [[Weiyang Palace]] ({{lang|zh-hant|未央宮}}, "Never Ending Palace") north of modern Xi'an. Weiyang Palace was the largest palace ever built on Earth, covering {{convert|4.8|km2|acres|abbr=off|sp=us}}, which is 6.7 times the size of the current [[Forbidden City]] and 11 times the size of the Vatican City.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://history.cultural-china.com/en/52History6236.html |title=Weiyang Palace: the Largest Palace Ever Built on Earth|access-date=November 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213031/http://history.cultural-china.com/en/52History6236.html|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The original Xi'an city wall was started in 194 BC and took 4 years to finish. Upon completion, the wall measured {{convert|25.7|km|2|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|12|to(-)|16|m|2|abbr=on}} in thickness at the base, enclosing an area of {{convert|36|km²|2|abbr=on}}. In the year 190, amidst uprisings and rebellions just prior to the [[Three Kingdoms]] period, [[Dong Zhuo]], a powerful warlord from nearby Xiliang, moved the court from [[Luoyang]] to Chang'an in a bid to avoid a coalition of other powerful warlords against him.

In 582, shortly after the [[Sui dynasty]] was founded, the emperor of Sui ordered a new capital to be built southeast of the Han capital, called Daxing (大興, "Great prosperity"). It consisted of three sections: the Imperial City, the palace section, and the civilian section, with a total area of {{convert|84|km2|abbr=on}} within the city walls. At the time, it was the largest city in the world. The city was renamed Chang'an by the [[Tang dynasty]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huaxia.com/gd/csdh/xa/2006/00459499.html |script-title=zh:西安历史 |language=zh-cn |access-date=2011-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211123827/http://www.huaxia.com/gd/csdh/xa/2006/00459499.html|url-status=live|archive-date=2011-02-11}}</ref> In the mid-7th century, after returning from his pilgrimage to India, the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] monk [[Xuanzang]] established a translation school for [[Sanskrit]] scriptures.

Construction of the [[Giant Wild Goose Pagoda]] began in 652. This [[pagoda]] was {{convert|64|m|2|abbr=on}} in height, and was built to store the translations of Buddhist sutras obtained from India by [[Xuanzang]]. In 707, construction of the [[Small Wild Goose Pagoda]] began. This pagoda measured {{convert|45|m|2|abbr=on}} tall at the time of completion, and was built to store the translations of Buddhist sutras by [[Yijing (monk)|Yijing]]. The massive [[1556 Shaanxi earthquake]] eventually damaged the tower and reduced its height to {{convert|43.4|m|2|abbr=on}}.<ref name="kiang 12">Kiang, 12.</ref>

The [[Nestorian Stele]] is a [[Tang dynasty|Tang Chinese]] [[stele]] erected in 781 that documents 150 years of early [[Christianity in China]].<ref name=hill-108>Hill, Henry, ed (1988). Light from the East: A Symposium on the Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches. Toronto, Canada. pp. 108–109</ref> It is a 279&nbsp;cm tall [[limestone]] block with text in both [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Syriac language|Syriac]] describing the existence of Christian communities in several cities in northern China. It reveals that the initial [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christian]] church had met recognition by the Tang [[Emperor Taizong of Tang|Emperor Taizong]], due to efforts of the Christian missionary [[Alopen]] in 635.<ref name="lhc">{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Jenkins |year=2008 |title=The Lost History of Christianity: the Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia – and How It Died |location=New York |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=978-0-06-147280-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/losthistoryofchr00jenk/page/65 65] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/losthistoryofchr00jenk/page/65}}
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Chang'an was devastated at the end of the Tang dynasty in 904. Residents were forced to move to the new capital city in [[Luoyang]], and a small area in the city continued to be occupied thereafter.

In the era of the [[Song dynasty]], Xi'an was an important [[cultural center]] of scholarship and innovation on matters such as [[science]],<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |year=2002 |title=Xi'an: Geography & History |url=https://festival.si.edu/2002/the-silk-road/xian-geography-and-history/smithsonian |access-date=2024-02-04 |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |language=en-US}}</ref> as well as [[historiography]], religion,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Jing |first1=Feng |last2=Denyer |first2=Susan |date=October 2019 |title=Safeguarding cultural heritage along the Silk Roads |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000372195 |magazine=World Heritage: The Silk Roads |publisher=[[UNESCO]] |page=10 |issn=1020-4202}}</ref> and [[philosophy]] in China. The [[Song dynasty#Northern Song, 960–1127|Northern Song]] era saw its people, [[political culture]], and strategic location be directly utilized by the Song dynasty proper<ref name=":4" /> and its continued relevance to [[Muslims|Muslim]] travelers into China and [[Chinese Muslim]] residents.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Wood |first=Michael |title=The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream |publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-250-20257-4 |edition=First U.S. |location=New York |page=190 |author-link=Michael Wood (historian)}}</ref>

During the [[Ming dynasty]], a new wall was constructed in 1370 which remains intact to this day. The wall measures {{convert|11.9|km|abbr=on}} in [[circumference]], {{convert|12|m|2|abbr=on}} in height, and {{convert|15|to(-)|18|m|2|abbr=on}} in thickness at the base; a moat was also built outside the walls. The new wall and moat would protect a much smaller city of {{convert|12|km2|abbr=on}}.