Shenyang, formerly known by its Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. It is the province's most populous city with a population of 9,070,093 as of the 2020 census, also making it the largest city in Manchuria by urban population, and the second-largest by metropolitan population (behind Harbin). The Shenyang metropolitan area is one of the major megalopolises in China, with a population of over 23 million. The city's administrative region includes the ten metropolitan districts, the county-level city of Xinmin, and the counties of Kangping and Faku.
Shenyang has been controlled by numerous different states and peoples during its history. In the 14th century, the city came under the control of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), for whom it served as an important military stronghold. The 1621 Battle of Shen-Liao resulted in Shenyang briefly serving as the capital of the Jurchen Later Jin dynasty, the direct predecessor of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). The 1905 Battle of Mukden took place south of Shenyang as part of the Russo-Japanese War. The subsequent Japanese victory allowed its annexation of the region west of the old city and the increase of Japanese influence in Shenyang. In 1931, the Mukden incident led to the Japanese invasion and occupation of the rest of Manchuria, and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Shenyang remained a stronghold of the Kuomintang until its capture by the Communists in 1948 following the Liaoshen campaign.
Together with its surrounding cities, Shenyang is an important industrial center in China, and serves as the transportation and commercial hub of China's northeast—particularly involved in links with Japan, Russia, and Korea. A center of heavy industry in China since the 1930s, and the spearhead of the Chinese central government's Northeast Area Revitalization Plan, the city has been diversified its industry in the 21st century, including expanding into the service sector. Growing industries include software, automotive and electronics. Shenyang is also a major city for scientific research and education in Manchuria. As of 2025, it was listed among the top 100 cities by scientific output in the world, as tracked by the Nature Index. The city is home to several major universities, notably Northeastern University and Liaoning University, listed as prestigious universities in the Double First-Class Construction.
Name
Shenyang literally means "the yang side of the Shen River" and refers to the location of the Hun River (formerly called the Shen River, 瀋水; Shěn Shuǐ), on the southern side of the city. According to Chinese naming tradition, a river's north bank and a mountain's south slope are angled more towards direct sunlight and thus are considered the "sunny", or "yang", side.
History
Early history
Archaeological findings show that humans resided in present-day Shenyang as early as 8000 years ago. The remains of the Xinle culture, a late Neolithic period society over 6800–7200 years old, are located in a museum in the north part of Huanggu District. It is complemented by a recreated village on site.
The city now known as Shenyang was first established c. 300 BCE during the Warring States period by Yan general Qin Kai, who conquered the Liaodong region from Gojoseon. It was then named Hou City (侯城; Hóu Chéng). Around 350 years later, during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of Han, the city was sacked and burnt by the Donghu nomads and subsequently abandoned. The area of modern Shenyang was divided between two commanderies called Liaodong and Xuantu c. 107 CE. Liaodong was seized by Gongsun Du in 189 while Liaodong and Xuantu were briefly united under Cao Wei and the Jin dynasty (266–420). The region was in disarray during the fourth century until the Goguryeo occupied both commanderies in 404. Under Goguryeo, the city was called Gaemo. They established the cities of Xuantucheng and Gaimoucheng in the region. The Sui dynasty recaptured the area and established a new Liaodong Commandery in what is now modern Shenyang. In 645, the Tang dynasty invaded Goguryeo and captured Xuantucheng and Gaimoucheng. Soon after, Liaodong was administratively reorganized and enjoyed nearly 250 years of stability and development.
In 916, the Shenyang region was captured by the Liao dynasty and was known as Shen Prefecture (瀋州; Shěn Zhōu) until the end of Jin dynasty (who conquered the region in 1116). The area became known as the Shenyang Circuit (瀋陽路; Shěnyáng Lù) during the Yuan dynasty. After the fall of the Yuan, Shenyang came under the control of the Ming dynasty, and it was designated a guard town named Shenyang Central Guard (瀋陽中衛; Shěnyáng Zhōngwèi). During the Ming dynasty, Shenyang became one of the most important Chinese military strongholds beyond the Shanhai Pass.
Manchu period
In 1625, the Jurchen leader Nurhaci captured Shenyang from the Ming and decided to relocate his entire administrative infrastructure to the city, which was then called Simiyan hoton (Manchu: ᠰᡳᠮᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᡥᠣᡨᠣᠨ) in the Manchu language, Simiyan itself being the Manchu's homophonic translation of the Korean's rendering of the name Shenyang (심양). The official name was changed to Mukden (Manchu: ᠮᡠᡴ᠋ᡩᡝᠨ), or Shengjing (盛京; Shèng Jīng; 'rising capital') in 1634. The new name derives from the Manchu word, mukdembi (Manchu: ᠮᡠᡴ᠋ᡩᡝᠮᠪᡳ), meaning 'to rise' as reflected also by its Han Chinese name. Under Nurhaci's orders, the Imperial Palace was constructed in 1626, symbolizing the city's emerging status as the Jurchen political center. The palace featured more than 300 ostentatiously decorated rooms and 20 gardens as a symbol of power and grandeur.
After the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644 and the routing of the Shun army in the Battle of Shanhai Pass just a day later, the Manchus successfully entered the Shanhai Pass to establish the Qing dynasty in China proper. The capital was subsequently relocated from Shenyang to Beijing. However, Shenyang retained considerable importance as the secondary capital and spiritual home of the Qing dynasty through the centuries. Treasures of the royal house were kept at its palaces, and the tombs of the early Qing rulers were once among the most famous monuments in China. In 1657, Fengtian Prefecture (奉天府; Fèngtiān Fǔ; Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ ᡳᠮᡳᠶᠠᠩᡤᠠ ᡶᡠ, Möllendorff: abkai imiyangga fu, Abkai: abkai imiyangga fu or Manchu: ᡶᡠᠩ ᡨᡳᠶᠠᠨ, Möllendorff: fung tiyian, Abkai: fung tiyian) was established in the Shenyang area, and Fengtian was sometimes used synonymously with Shenyang/Mukden.
Russian and Japanese influence
After the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, Japan coerced the annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula with the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895, but had to give it up due to diplomatic pressure from the 1895 Triple Intervention. In the aftermath of the Japanese threat, Qing viceroy Li Hongzhang visited Moscow in 1896 and signed a secret treaty with Russian foreign minister Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky, allowing the Russian Empire to build a Russian-gauge railway through Manchuria, which opened the door towards further Russian expansionism in the form of another lease convention in 1898, effectively allowing Russia to annex Port Arthur in all but name. However, after the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, Russian forces used that anti-foreigner insurgency as a pretext to formally invade and occupy most of Manchuria, and Mukden became a Russian stronghold in the Far East with the building of what would become the South Manchurian Railway - from Harbin via Mukden to Dalny.
During the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Mukden became the site of the Battle of Mukden from February 19 to March 10, 1905. Involving more than 600,000 combat participants, it was the largest battle since the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, and also the largest modern-era battle ever fought in Asia before World War II. Following this Japanese victory, Mukden became one of the chief bases of Japanese presence and economic expansion into southern Manchuria. It also became the government seat of Fengtian province in 1910. Mukden became one of the main epicenters of the Manchurian plague (1910–1911), which ultimately resulted in approximately 60,000 deaths.
Warlord Era and Japanese occupation
In 1914, the city changed back to its old name Shenyang, but continued to be known as Mukden (sometimes spelled Moukden) in some English sources and in Japan through much of the first half of the 20th century. The postmark of the Chinese postal administration kept the spelling "MOUKDEN/奉天" for usage on international mails until the late 1920s. After that, a Chinese–Manchurian bilingual type "SHENYANG (MUKDEN)/瀋陽 (奉天)" datestamp was used until 1933.
In the early 20th century, Shenyang began expanding out of its old city walls. The Shenyang Railway Station on the South Manchurian Railway and the Shenyang North Railway Station on the Jingfeng Railway, both west of the old city, became the new commercial centers of Shenyang. In the 1920s, Mukden was the capital of the warlord Zhang Zuolin, who was later assassinated when his train was blown up on 4 June 1928 at a Japanese-guarded railway bridge. At the time, several factories were built by Zhang to manufacture ammunition in the northern and eastern suburbs. These factories laid the foundation for Shenyang's industrial development.
At around 10:20 pm on 18 September 1931, a small quantity of dynamite was detonated close to a railway line near Mukden owned by the Japanese South Manchuria Railway Company by Kwantung Army Lt. Kawamoto Suemori. The Imperial Japanese Army, accusing Chinese dissidents of the act, then used the false flag explosion as pretext to launch a full attack on Mukden, and captured the city the following morning (September 19). After the Mukden Incident, the Japanese further invaded and occupied the rest of Manchuria, and created the puppet state of Manchukuo with the deposed emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi as the figurehead. During the Manchukuo era (1932–1945), the city was again called Fengtian (and Mukden in English), and was developed by the Japanese into a center of heavy industry. Japan was able to exploit resources in Manchuria using the extensive network of railroads. For example, vast expanses of Manchurian forest were chopped down. The development of Shenyang was also unbalanced in this period; municipal facilities were mostly located in Japanese residential areas, while Chinese residential areas had poor living conditions.
Post-World War II
Under Marshal of the Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky, the Far East Command of the Red Army occupied Manchuria in early August 1945 following the surrender of Japan. On 16 August 1945, Manchurian Emperor Puyi was captured in Shenyang Airport by the Soviets while he was in an airplane fleeing to Japan. On 20 August, Soviet troops captured Shenyang. British and US reports indicate that the Soviet troops that occupied Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia region looted and terrorized the people of Shenyang, and were not discouraged by Soviet occupation authorities from "three days of rape and pillage".
The Soviets were replaced by the Republic of China Army, who were flown in on U.S. transport planes. During the Chinese Civil War, Shenyang remained a Kuomintang stronghold supplied by Claire Lee Chennault's Civil Air Transport from 1946 to 1948, although the Chinese Communist Party controlled the surrounding countryside. By February 1948 the city was suffering from drastic shortages, and by the summer 140,000 refugees per month were fleeing. It was captured by the People's Liberation Army on October 30, 1948, following a series of offensives led by Lin Biao known as the Liaoshen Campaign.
Over the past 200 years or so, Shenyang managed to grow and increase its industrial might during consecutive wars with Russia and Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Second World War, and China's Civil War (Shenyang became the main battleground between the Communists and Nationalists).
21st century
Directed by state efforts to reduce pollution and close unprofitable industry, the city has undergone deindustrialization and, till the early 2000s, suffered mass unemployment issues with the shutdown of large plants, a situation that became widely known as Xiagang (下岗: step down from the post). Most notably, a large 1930s smelter in the central city was closed in 2000. The redevelopment of former polluted industrial land has resulted in gentrification.
Old City
The old city of Shenyang resided almost entirely within the modern day Shenhe District, and used to have two city walls.
Situated roughly within the area bounded by the four "Shuncheng" (顺城; 'along the city') roads/streets in Shenhe District, the (now-demolished) square-shaped inner city wall marked the bounds of ancient Shenyang. The earliest wall was built in 926 during early Liao dynasty to settle Northern Song civilians the Khitans abducted from raids to use as slave labourers, and was then made of rammed earth because the city was merely a small settlement at the time (historically the administrative center of the Liaodong region was at Liaoyang). However, in 1368, Hongwu Emperor of the newly founded Ming dynasty ordered a new regional military command—the Liaodong Regional Military Commission (遼東都指揮使司)—to be established, and Shenyang was made a prominent regional "guard town" (衛所). In 1388, Min Zhong (閔忠), the newly appointed city commissioner of the Shenyang Central Guard, wrote to Hongwu Emperor immediately upon his tenure requesting permission to upgrade the city wall, and the old wall was made taller and thoroughly reinforced with overlaid bricks. According to History of Ming, the reconstructed Ming-era wall was 2.5 zhàng (8 metres or 26 feet) tall, more than 1 zhàng (3.2 metres or 10.5 feet) wide at the top, and 9 li and 30 bu (about 5.2 kilometres or 3.2 miles) long. It has two layers of moats dug outside, each being 3 zhàng (9.6 metres or 31.5 feet) wide and 8 chi (2.56 metres or 8 feet 4.8 inches) deep, fed with water from the Little Shen River (the present day South Canal). There were four city gates, each at the center of one side, connected by two main roads that intersected at Central Temple of the city's center in a "+" fashion.