Ji

However, because he remained in the royal court to assist the king, he did not personally move to his fief.

Instead, his son Ji Ke was sent to establish the new state.

Archaeology has provided vivid confirmation of this story.

In Liulihe, southwest of modern Beijing, archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a large Western Zhou city, widely identified as the early capital of Yan.

When the northern Xianrong tribes invaded, the state was saved only after the powerful ruler Duke Huan of Qi led allied forces to drive them back.

Later, as the Xianrong weakened or migrated away, Yan began expanding north again.

By the Warring States period, the state moved its capital to Ji, located in the southwestern part of modern Beijing.

From this base, Yan gradually extended its influence beyond the Yanshan Mountains and into regions as far as the Liao River and even parts of the Korean Peninsula.