Cities of great contributions to mankind - Edited.

Originally posted by Ikki You forget Paris my friend!!

Edited by Hellios - 08-Oct-2006 at 17:44

Originally posted by BigL   Beijing 2nd milennium bc ? What about Kaifeng capital of Song dynasty.Thats important

 

Sorry, I meant 2nd millennium A.D. 

While Kaifeng was important, its importance, like Beijing, mostly stem from the 2nd millennium A.D.  It's period of glory, mostly during the Song Dynasty, was relatively shortlasting when compared to Chang'an (world class city from 2nd century B.C. to 10th century A.D.) and Luoyang (world class city from 8th century B.C. to 10th century A.D.)  Kaifeng became a world class city circa 10th century A.D. as a replacement of the declining Chang'an and Luoyang; however, it was gradually demoted to provincial status by 20th century A.D., and right now is no better than Xian (a.k.a Chang'an), also a provincial capital today.

To take an analogy, if Chang'an were Rome and Luoyang were Constantinople, then Beijing would be Moscow and Kaifeng would be Milan.

In terms of historical significance, I would argue that Nanjing has made more contributions than Kaifeng.  It was always a world class city before the 17th century, and is still arguably a major city.  It's significance in the 2nd millennium A.D. equals that of Beijing, and it has always been a significant city ever since 3nd century A.D.

I would rank the cities' significance as follows:

Chang'an >= Luoyang > Nanjing >= Beijing > Kaifeng


Edited by poirot - 11-Oct-2006 at 14:14

Edited by Hellios - 11-Oct-2006 at 17:25

Good new list.

What kind of classification is this?
Athens,Rome,Paris and Florence together?
so we have all antiquity centers of western civilization,renaissance and one of the most important cities of 19th-20th (paris)
So ALL the western civilization together.-without looking upon to other cultures,the answer is really easy here.
    

Edited by Brainstorm - 12-Oct-2006 at 07:17

You could change the thread in which culture contributed more to mankind,and why.
Although i wouldnt take part in this discussion.

Edited by Brainstorm - 12-Oct-2006 at 07:29

i really cant say...all those cities existed in different time periods

i think they've been placed in a pretty abscure order...

ie: Alexandria, Cairo, Babylon, Baghdad, Tus, Ur

Alexandria is associated with the late ancient period for Egypt whereas Cairo was created in the Middle Ages. Babylon is younger than Ur etc