Luoyang: Capital to Thirteen Dynasties
The City
Most cities measure their history in centuries. Luoyang measures it in dynasties.
1,500 Years as a Capital
The figures published by the municipal government are worth stating plainly, because they are unusual:
- More than 1,500 years as a capital
- More than 5,000 years of civilisation
- More than 4,000 years as a city
These are not marketing numbers. They are the standard official description of Luoyang's place in Chinese history, and they are the reason a workshop making a ceramic horse in Luoyang today is working in a tradition that has never really stopped.
The Thirteen Dynasties, In Order
Luoyang was the capital of thirteen dynasties:
Xia · Shang · Western Zhou · Eastern Zhou · Eastern Han · Cao Wei · Western Jin · Northern Wei · Sui · Tang · Later Liang · Later Tang · Later Jin
That list is the official count. If the Wu Zhou interregnum under Empress Wu Zetian is counted separately rather than folded into the Tang, the number becomes fourteen — but thirteen is the standard figure, and it is the one used here.
When Each Dynasty Began Here
The dynasties did not arrive in a tidy sequence with equal spans. What follows is when each one began its capital at Luoyang:
| Dynasty | Capital established at Luoyang |
|---|---|
| Shang | 1600 BCE — the capital at Xibo, lasting more than 200 years |
| Western Zhou | 1046 BCE — the royal city and the Chengzhou city were built |
| Eastern Zhou | 770 BCE — King Ping moved the capital east; 25 kings ruled from Luoyang for more than 500 years |
| Eastern Han | 25 CE |
| Cao Wei | 220 CE |
| Western Jin | 265 CE |
| Northern Wei | 494 CE |
| Sui | 605 CE — Emperor Yang of Sui built the Eastern Capital |
| Tang | 657 CE — established as the Eastern Capital; renamed the Divine Capital in 684 CE; Empress Wu Zetian made it her seat of government in 690 CE; Emperor Zhaozong moved the court here in 904 CE |
| Later Liang | 909 CE |
| Later Tang | 923 CE |
| Later Jin | 936 CE |
For the Xia dynasty, the official record lists no dates at all. It states only that the kings Tai Kang, Zhong Kang and Di Jie kept their capital at Zhenxun — the site identified with the Erlitou archaeological remains near Luoyang. Where a date cannot be verified, it is better left out than guessed at, and that principle applies here.
Four Dynasties, 330 Years
Four of the thirteen ruled from Luoyang back to back across a single long stretch: the Eastern Han, Cao Wei, Western Jin and Northern Wei, whose capitals together covered more than 330 years.
That continuity matters for anyone handling objects made in Luoyang. Techniques were not reinvented each time a dynasty changed. Bronzes, ceramics and stonework passed from one court to the next, carried by the workshops that stayed where they were while the emperors changed.
The First Buddhist Temple in China
In 68 CE — the eleventh year of the Yongping era of the Eastern Han — the White Horse Temple was founded at Luoyang. It is recognised as the first Buddhist temple officially established in China after Buddhism entered the country.
The temple's Qiyun Pagoda was rebuilt in 1175 CE, and remains the oldest surviving building in Luoyang.
This is not a footnote. Buddhism's arrival reshaped Chinese art — the sculptural traditions that later produced the cave temples at Longmen began with institutions like this one, and the imagery that travelled along the Silk Road moved through cities that had a temple to receive it.
What This Means Today
Luoyang's workshops are not reviving a lost craft. They are continuing one.
When a piece of Tang-style sancai, a cast bronze vessel or a carved inkstone leaves Luoyang today, it comes from a city whose recorded history runs back more than 4,000 years — and whose workshops have worked without a long break in between, down to the present day.
That is the context behind every object on this site. Our about page explains how we work with the city's workshops, and our craft and quality page explains how we judge craft quality.