The
Chinese phrase
Four Great Ancient Capitals of China traditionally refers to
Beijing (the current capital),
Nanjing,
Luoyang, and
Chang'an (
Xi'an). Due to additional evidence discovered since the 1930s, other historical capitals have been included in the list. The later phrase
Seven Ancient Capitals of China includes
Kaifeng (added in the 1920s as the fifth ancient capital),
Hangzhou (the sixth, added in the 1930s), and
Anyang (a proposal by numerous archaeologists in 1988, after which it finally became the seventh ancient capital). In 2004, the China Ancient Capital Society officially added
Zhengzhou as an eighth due to archaeological finds from the early
Shang dynasty there.