Tokyo City

Tokyo City

Tokyo City is located in Wensheng District, Liaoyang City, north of Zhonghua Street, and now sits on the site of Xincheng Village. It was the capital city built over 300 years ago when Nurhaci, the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty, established Liaoyang as his capital. Constructed in the seventh year of the Tianming era of the Later Jin (1622), the city was built on a high terrace by the water, featuring a structure of brick, stone, and rammed earth. The city had a “diamond” shape, with a perimeter of 3,510 meters, stretching 890 meters from east to west and 886 meters from north to south. It had eight gates on all four sides, namely Neizhi (Inner Governance), Fujin (Close to the People), Huaiyuan (Embrace the Distant), Wa rang (Repel the Outer), Desheng (Virtuous Prosperity), Tianyou (Heaven’s Blessing), Fusheng (Prosperity), and Dizai (Earth’s Bearing)—with two gates on each side, positioned opposite each other from north to south. The original octagonal Hall of Eight Views, where Nurhaci held political discussions, was built on an earthen mound in the northwest part of the city, and its ruins can still be found today.

In the tenth year of the Tianming era (1625), Nurhaci moved the capital to Shenyang, and a military commander was left in charge of Tokyo City, with troops stationed there for defense. By the 20th year of the Kangxi era (1681), the garrison was relocated to Jinzhou, and the city gradually fell into ruin. Although Tokyo City served as the capital for only four years, within that short time, Nurhaci carried out a series of political, economic, military, and religious reforms. These changes brought about a qualitative transformation in the society of the Jurchen people under his leadership, and Tokyo City holds significant importance in the architectural history of the Qing Dynasty.

With the passage of history and the decline of the Qing Dynasty, Tokyo City was neglected and fell into disrepair several times. After the liberation in 1949, four stone plaques from the city’s four gates were unearthed in Xincheng: Tianyoumen (Heaven’s Blessing Gate), Neizhimen (Inner Governance Gate), Deshengmen (Virtuous Prosperity Gate), and Fujinmen (Close to the People Gate). Each plaque is inscribed with the characters “Tianming Renxu Year of the Great Jin.” Experts in Qing history have confirmed that the gate inscriptions of Shengjing City (Shenyang) were modeled after those of Liaoyang’s Tokyo City. Stone tablets, gate plaques, and palace relics excavated from the city are now housed in the Liaoyang Museum.

The once magnificent architecture that soared gloriously no longer exists. Of the eight gates, only the surviving southern main gate (Tianyoumen) remains standing after renovation (in 1997), telling stories of its former prosperity and resplendence.

The Hedong New City Management Committee and the Wensheng District Government have listed the reconstruction of Tokyo City as an investment attraction project. The project focuses on the protection and restoration of the ruins within Tokyo City, aiming to build a large-scale heritage park themed around the display of pre-Qing (Later Jin) culture. This park will integrate sightseeing, leisure vacations, shopping, dining, entertainment, cultural creativity, and film production, enhancing its influence and expanding the tourism market.