paragraph_text: Kublai readied the move of the Mongol capital from Karakorum in Mongolia to Khanbaliq in 1264, constructing a new city near the former Jurchen capital Zhongdu, now modern Beijing, in 1266. In 1271, Kublai formally claimed the Mandate of Heaven and declared that 1272 was the first year of the Great Yuan (Chinese: 大元) in the style of a traditional Chinese dynasty. The name of the dynasty originated from the I Ching and describes the "origin of the universe" or a "primal force". Kublai proclaimed Khanbaliq the "Great Capital" or Daidu (Dadu, Chinese: 大都 in Chinese) of the dynasty. The era name was changed to Zhiyuan to herald a new era of Chinese history. The adoption of a dynastic name legitimized Mongol rule by integrating the government into the narrative of traditional Chinese political succession. Khublai evoked his public image as a sage emperor by following the rituals of Confucian propriety and ancestor veneration, while simultaneously retaining his roots as a leader from the steppes.

paragraph_text: Date 1205 -- 1279 Location China, Mongolia Result Decisive Mongol Empire / Yuan dynasty victory Establishment of Yuan dynasty Destruction of the Western Xia, Jin dynasty (1115 -- 1234), Dali Kingdom, and Southern Song dynasty Territorial changes All of China added to the Yuan dynasty

paragraph_text: Despite the continuing prominence of Nanjing (then known as Jiankang), the settlement of Qiantang, the former name of Hangzhou, remained one of the three major metropolitan centers in the south to provide major tax revenue to the imperial centers in the north China. The other two centers in the south were Jiankang and Chengdu. In 589, Qiangtang was raised in status and renamed Hangzhou.

paragraph_text: Ming government officials fought against each other, against fiscal collapse, and against a series of peasant rebellions. They were unable to capitalise on the Manchu succession dispute and installation of a minor as emperor. In April 1644, the capital at Beijing was sacked by a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official, who established a short-lived Shun dynasty. The last Ming ruler, the Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when the city fell, marking the official end of the dynasty.

paragraph_text: Along the River During the Qingming Festival, also known by its Chinese name as the Qingming Shanghe Tu, is a painting by the Song dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145). It captures the daily life of people and the landscape of the capital, Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng) during the Northern Song. The theme is often said to celebrate the festive spirit and worldly commotion at the Qingming Festival, rather than the holiday's ceremonial aspects, such as tomb sweeping and prayers. Successive scenes reveal the lifestyle of all levels of the society from rich to poor as well as different economic activities in rural areas and the city, and offer glimpses of period clothing and architecture. The painting is considered to be the most renowned work among all Chinese paintings.

paragraph_text: The city of Nanjing was razed after the Sui dynasty took over it. It renamed Shengzhou (昇州) in Tang dynasty and resuscitated during the late Tang. It was chosen as the capital and called Jinling (金陵) during the Southern Tang (937–976), a state that succeeded Wu state. It renamed Jiangning (江寧) in Northern Song dynasty and renamed Jiankang in Southern Song dynasty. Jiankang's textile industry burgeoned and thrived during the Song dynasty despite the constant threat of foreign invasions from the north by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty. The court of Da Chu, a short-lived puppet state established by the Jurchens, and the court of Song were once in the city. Song was eventually exterminated by the Mongol empire under the name Yuan and in Yuan dynasty the city's status as a hub of the textile industry was further consolidated.

paragraph_text: Meng Xuanzhe (孟玄喆) (937–991), courtesy name Zunsheng (遵聖), formally the Duke of Teng (滕國公), was a crown prince of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Shu under his father Meng Chang, the last emperor of the state. After Later Shu was destroyed by Song Dynasty, Meng Xuanzhe served as a general and official for Song.

paragraph_text: Kang Ding (康丁) or Geng Ding (庚丁) was a king of the Shang dynasty of China from c. 1170 BC to c. 1147 BC. His given name is Xiao (嚣). He got his throne in the year of Jiawu (甲午) and his capital was at Yin (殷).

paragraph_text: After strengthening his government in northern China, Kublai pursued an expansionist policy in line with the tradition of Mongol and Chinese imperialism. He renewed a massive drive against the Song dynasty to the south. Kublai besieged Xiangyang between 1268 and 1273, the last obstacle in his way to capture the rich Yangzi River basin. An unsuccessful naval expedition was undertaken against Japan in 1274. Kublai captured the Song capital of Hangzhou in 1276, the wealthiest city of China. Song loyalists escaped from the capital and enthroned a young child as Emperor Bing of Song. The Mongols defeated the loyalists at the battle of Yamen in 1279. The last Song emperor drowned, bringing an end to the Song dynasty. The conquest of the Song reunited northern and southern China for the first time in three hundred years.

paragraph_text: Empress Wang (王皇后, given name unknown) (942–963) was a Chinese Empress consort of the Song Dynasty, married to Emperor Taizu of Song.

paragraph_text: Shiraz, with a population of around 1.4 million (2011 census), is the sixth major city of Iran. It is the capital of Fars Province, and was also a former capital of Iran. The area was greatly influenced by the Babylonian civilization, and after the emergence of the ancient Persians, soon came to be known as Persis. Persians were present in the region since the 9th century BC, and became rulers of a large empire under the reign of the Achaemenid Dynasty in the 6th century BC. The ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae, two of the four capitals of the Achaemenid Empire, are located around the modern-day city of Shiraz.

paragraph_text: The Song dynasty (Chinese: 宋朝; pinyin: Sòng cháo; 960 -- 1279) was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279. It was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of Later Zhou, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporary Liao and Western Xia dynasties in the north and was conquered by the Mongol - led Yuan dynasty. The Song government was the first in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass.

paragraph_text: The Song Dynasty was formed in 960, ending the Five Dynasties period in the north, and though that is the date traditionally used to denote the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, many kingdoms in the south maintained their independence for nearly two decades after the rise of the Song Dynasty. However, due to its size and location, Jingnan was the first of the kingdoms to succumb to the Song Dynasty, surrendering when armies from the north invaded in 963, ending the kingdom.

paragraph_text: Being one of the four ancient capitals of China, Nanjing has always been a cultural centre attracting intellectuals from all over the country. In the Tang and Song dynasties, Nanjing was a place where poets gathered and composed poems reminiscent of its luxurious past; during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the city was the official imperial examination centre (Jiangnan Examination Hall) for the Jiangnan region, again acting as a hub where different thoughts and opinions converged and thrived.

paragraph_text: Heian - kyō (平安京, literally ``tranquility and peace capital '') was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180.

paragraph_text: Chang'an ([ʈʂʰǎŋ.án] (listen); simplified Chinese: 长安; traditional Chinese: 長安) was an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese since it was a capital that was repeatedly used by new Chinese rulers. During the short-lived Xin dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" (Chinese: 常安; pinyin: Cháng'ān); the old name was later restored. By the time of the Ming dynasty, a new walled city named Xi'an, meaning "Western Peace", was built at the Sui and Tang dynasty city's site, which has remained its name to the present day.

paragraph_text: Di Yi (Chinese: 帝乙) was a king of the Shang dynasty of China from 1101BC to 1076 BC. His capital was at Yin.

paragraph_text: The Former Qin (351-394) was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in eastern Asia, mainly China. Founded by an officer in Shi Le's dynasty, it completed the unification of North China in 376. Its capital was Xi'an up to the death of the ruler Fu Jiān in 385. Despite its name, the Former Qin was much later and less powerful than the Qin Dynasty which had ruled all of China during the 3rd century BC. The adjective "former" is used to distinguish it from the "Later Qin" state (384-417).

paragraph_text: In 1392, the general Yi Seong-gye overthrew the Goryeo dynasty after he staged a coup and defeated General Choe Yeong. Yi Seong-gye named his new dynasty Joseon and moved the capital from Kaesong to Hanseong (formerly Hanyang; modern-day Seoul) and built the Gyeongbokgung palace. In 1394, he adopted Confucianism as the country's official ideology, resulting in much loss of power and wealth by the Buddhists. The prevailing philosophy of the Joseon dynasty was Neo-Confucianism, which was epitomized by the seonbi class, scholars who passed up positions of wealth and power to lead lives of study and integrity.

paragraph_text: Nanjing ( listen; Chinese: 南京, "Southern Capital") is the city situated in the heartland of lower Yangtze River region in China, which has long been a major centre of culture, education, research, politics, economy, transport networks and tourism. It is the capital city of Jiangsu province of People's Republic of China and the second largest city in East China, with a total population of 8,216,100, and legally the capital of Republic of China which lost the mainland during the civil war. The city whose name means "Southern Capital" has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capitals of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century AD to 1949. Prior to the advent of pinyin romanization, Nanjing's city name was spelled as Nanking or Nankin. Nanjing has a number of other names, and some historical names are now used as names of districts of the city, and among them there is the name Jiangning (江寧), whose former character Jiang (江, River) is the former part of the name Jiangsu and latter character Ning (寧, simplified form 宁, Peace) is the short name of Nanjing. When being the capital of a state, for instance, ROC, Jing (京) is adopted as the abbreviation of Nanjing. Although as a city located in southern part of China becoming Chinese national capital as early as in Jin dynasty, the name Nanjing was designated to the city in Ming dynasty, about a thousand years later. Nanjing is particularly known as Jinling (金陵, literally meaning Gold Mountain) and the old name has been used since the Warring States Period in Zhou Dynasty.

Question: What was the former name of Song dynasty's capital?
Answer: Qiantang