The evolution of the name "Xi'an"

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Xi'an was called "Feng Hao". "Feng Hao" was the combined name of Feng Jing and Hao Jing, which were built by King Wen and King Wu of Zhou respectively. In 202 BC, after Liu Bang established the Western Han Dynasty, Xi'an was made the capital and was named "Chang'an" with the meaning of "long-term stability and prosperity". In 9 AD, Grand Marshal Wang Mang declared himself emperor and changed the capital from Chang'an to "Chang'an An". In 582 AD, Emperor Wen of Sui issued an order to build a new capital, Daxing City, in the current Xi'an city site to the southeast of the Han Chang'an City. After the Tang Dynasty established its capital in Chang'an, it renamed the Sui Daxing City as Chang'an City and carried out renovations and expansions. [48]

In the early Yuan Dynasty, the name "Jingzhao Prefecture" was used. In 1279 AD (the 16th year of Taizhou), Jingzhao Prefecture was renamed Anxi West Circuit. In the first year of Huaqing (1312 AD), Anxi West Circuit was renamed Fengyuan Circuit. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang renamed Fengyuan Circuit as "Xi'an". Since then, the name "Xi'an" has been used continuously. [48] In 1913 AD (the 2nd year of the Republic of China), the Beiyang Government issued the "Order for Unifying the Current Central Directly Administered Special Administrative Offices and Local Administrative Offices' Organizational Structure", stipulating "abolish prefectures and establish circuits", and called Chang'an County.