This paper examines the historical status and flexible order of Dadu (M. Khanbaliq, modern-day Beijing) under the dual capital system of the Mongol empire. Under Qubilai Qa’an (r. 1260~1294), the Mongol custom of seasonal migration influenced the creation of their summer and winter capitals, namely, Dadu and Shangdu (or, Xanadu in modern-day Zhenglanqi, China). In this dual capital system, the two cities did not function in the same way, in terms of either status or role.
The completion of Dadu and Shangdu finalized the re-orientation of the political, economic and cultural center of the empire from Qara Qorum to the dual capitals. Whereas the Mongols valued the summer camp of Shangdu as a precious place for summer quriltai to remember and reenact Mongol traditions, the winter settlement of Dadu mattered more to people from Sinitic ultures.
Contrary to the perception emphasizing Khanbaliq’s centrality as “the capital of an emperor,” the winter capital of Khanbaliq received the largest supply of goods for the summer capital. Dadu functioned as a venue for the annual grant 歲例賜與 of gold, silver, paper money and silk to Mongol princes and high officials during the winter. Some monarchs, like Ayurbarwada Qa’an (r. 1311–1320), were even crowned there. The seasonal migration to Shangdu created a mirroring culture that alternated between its mountain patrols of winter and Dadu’s warehouses of summer.
The city model of the Zhouli 周禮, or The Rites of Zhou does not fully reflect the historicity and culture of Dadu. Spatially, the center of the capital was the zhongxin tai 中心臺 and gulou 鼓樓, and the imperial palace did not lie at the center of the city’s castle. Great Qans hardly ever stayed in the imperial palace. The absence of the great Qan (or, Qa’an) in the imperial palace and Dadu stemmed from nomadic customs such as seasonal migration and hunting, as well as the shamanistic and political consciousness of the Qa’an, who regarded Dadu as a site of potential rebellion and therefore distrust. In order to dispel such a rebellion, Qa’an first selected new castle inhabitants who possessed wealth and had held government posts, and who controlled his subjects by mobilizing administrative organizations, military organizations and laws.
The great Qan’s absence made Dadu a new place where liushou 留守, or, officials who stayed behind, Buddhists, Daoists and merchants operated. Every autumn, the inhabitants of Dadu welcomed their great Qan on his return. The conformity and cheers of the subjects toward him was an economic expectation as well as an expression of political and ritual activities. While the absence and return of the great Qan was a newly added cycle to the lives of Dadu’s people, the compliance and cheer of subjects assured the power of the mobile monarch outside Dadu Castle. Confucian scholars discovered “the politics of wuwei” 無爲 (the Daoist principle of non-action) in the absence of a great Qan. His power could truly shine through his absence. In brief, Dadu functioned as a mirror of Shangdu, the “godly capital,” and as a node connecting Shangdu to other cities. Dadu also symbolized a utopia for the “court of people and horses” embracing a sublime royal garden and pavilions of wells.