<P> In the Yuan dynasty, Beijing was known as Dadu, and the Imperial City formed the centre of the city . In 1368, the Ming armies conquered Dadu, and changed its name to "Beiping" (the two characters meaning "north" and "peace" or "pacified"), with the capital moved to Nanjing . Because the Imperial City was untouched by battle, most of the Imperial City survived the war; however, in 1369, the Hongwu Emperor ordered that the Imperial City be demolished . </P> <P> In 1370, the Hongwu Emperor's fourth son Zhu Di was created Prince of Yan, with seat in Beiping . In 1379 he built a princely palace within the Yuan Imperial City . </P> <P> In 1399, Zhu Di launched a coup d'état and ascended to the throne to become Yongle Emperor in 1402 . In 1403, the name of Beiping was changed to Beijing (literally "the Northern Capital"), and in 1406 a plan was drafted to move the capital to Beijing . </P> <P> In 1406, construction of the Forbidden City began, copying the layout of the existing palaces in Nanjing . The new imperial palace was placed to the east of the Yuan palace, in order to place the Yuan palace in the "White Tiger" or "Kill" position in feng shui . Also for feng shui reasons, earth dug up from construction of the moat were used to construct Jingshan Hill to the north of the imperial palace . </P>

Who initiated construction of the imperial city in beijing