PERKINS, Dorothy. (1999). Encyclopedia of China.Chicago-London. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Pàg. 454-455.

SHENYANG. The capital city of Liaoning Province in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, with a population of about 6 million. Shenyang is located on the Hun River (Hunhe), a tributary of the Liao River (Liaohe). It is called Mukden in the Manchurian language. It was the capital of the Manchus, who defeated the Chinese Ming dynasty and founded the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Nurhachi (1559-1626), who unified the Manchus, began building his imperial palace at Mukden in 1625. In 1644 the Manchu capital was moved to Beijing, which remains the capital of China. The Manchu Imperial Palace (Gugong) still can be seen in the Chinese Old City in Shenyang. It resembles the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in Beijing but is smaller and thus is known as the Small Imperial Palace (Xiao Gugong). The walled complex is entered through several gates, with the main gate (Daqing Men) in the south, and is divided into east, central and west districts. In the east, the octagonal hall called Cazheng Dian has a yellow ceramic tile roof and bright red columns supporting the colorfully decorated ceiling, two of them wound with gold dragons, the symbol of imperial power. There are also five smaller, square pavilions. In the center is the Main Hall (Congzheng Dian), also with a yellow ceramic tile roof and red columns, two on the left and right with gold dragons. The sumptuous imperial throne sits in the center between these columns in front of a screen also decorated with gold dragons. The ceremony was held here to mark the founding of the Qing dynasty Manchu emperors held conferences and banquets in the three-story Phoenix Tower (Fenghuang Lou). Three Manchu Imperial Tombs are located north of the Old City The largest is Beiling, the North Tomb (also known as Zhaoling), the tomb of Huang Taiji (1592-1643), or Raizong, also known as Abahai, son of Nurhachi and founder of the Qing dynasty The East Tomb, also known as Fuling, is located eight miles northeast of Shenyang on the Hun River at the foot of Tianzhu Mountain. These are the burial grounds for Nurhachi and his mistress. Nurhachi's posthumous title is Taizu (T'ai-tsu). Shenyang's history dates back 2,000 years. During the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-AD. 220), many Han (ethnic Chinese) immigrated to the Shenyang region from Shandong and Hebei provinces. In the 10th century the Khitan, a nomadic tribe in northern China who established the Liao dynasty (947-1125), made Shenyang a major military base. They were followed by the Jin and then the Mongols, who established the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The city acquired the name Shenyang, meaning "to the north of the Shen River," in the 13th century In the 17th century the Manchus, called the Jurchen until 1635, were united by Nurhachi and captured Manchuria. They captured Shenyang in 1621 and made it their capital, giving it the name Mukden in 1625. From there they conquered all of China. When the Manchus founded the Qing dynasty they moved their main capital to Beijing, but they continued to use Shenyang as a second capital because of the lucrative trade in that region of ginseng, a root widely used in Chinese herbal medicine. During the 19th century Western powers vied in Liaoning Province for its vast natural resources. The Russians took control of the Liaodong Peninsula, made Shenyang their base in Manchuria and built the Northeast China Railroad between 1896 and 1903. Japan and Great Britain allied themselves against Russia, and Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, during which the Battle of Mukden was fought from February 19 to March 10, 1905. Russia was forced to give up its rights to southern Manchuria to Japan, which used Mukden (Shenyang) as the base for exploiting Manchuria's mineral resources and building many factories. After the Republic of China was founded in 1912, Mukden served as the center for several warlords, notably Zhang Zuolin, who ruled the northern provinces from 1916 until he was assassinated in 1928. In September 1931 a Japanese captain was murdered in an event now known as the Mukden Incident, causing the Japanese to attack Mukden and occupy all of Manchuria. They established their puppet state of Manchukuo (Manzhouguo in Chinese) in Manchuria and turned the region into an industrial base whose resources were sent to Japan. They invaded China Proper in 1937, causing China's War of Resistance against Japan (1937-45; World War II). On August 8, 1945 the U.S.S.R. declared war on Japan, captured Mukden shortly thereafter and began dismantling the factories. During China's civil war, Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang; KMT) troops occupied Mukden in spring 1946, but Communist troops took the city on October 30, 1948. From 1949 to 1954 the Communists made Mukden, called Shenyang once again, the capital of Dongbei, the northeastern region of China that formed one of the country's six large administrative regions at that time. Dongbei became somewhat autonomous under the powerful local leader Gao Gang (Kao Kang), but he was removed from power in 1954, and the region was divided into the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. Shenyang was made the capital of Liaoning. Most of Shenyang has been constructed within the last 50 years. It is one of China's largest and most important cities and a major culture, communications and education center, with 28 institutions of higher learning. The city has a famous government-supported acrobatic troupe. Acrobatics has been one of the most popular forms of entertainment in China for many centuries. Shenyang and the cities of Anshan, Benxi and Fushun comprise the most important industrial region of China, especially in machine manufacturing. Other important products include chemicals, textiles, electricity metals and processed foods.