Legends of the Building of Old Peking examines a series of popular legends surrounding the building and rebuilding of the city that served as the capital of a succession of dynasties, including the Nazha or Nezha City legend of the Yuan (1279-1368) "Great Capital" and the Ming (1368-1644) "Northern Capital, " and the Mongol legend of "siting by bowshot to locate the capital city" and its Chinese adaptations. Hok-lam Chan is affiliate professor of Chinese history at the University of Washington and was formerly professor and chairman of the Department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.