Studying the change and distribution of urban markets over various periods and revealingthe inherent laws in the development process, from the point of view of historical geography,is of certain significance to allocating rationally the present networks and sites of commerce andto strengthening urban commercial functions, thus promoting the overall develOPment of city.Beijing City, the capital of China, developing on the base of Dadu City ’of the YuanDynasty, was the national capital during three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming and Qing, andalso the catital of whole China in the early period of the Republic of China. Depending on itscapital status and advanced transportation conditions, Beijing City had ever developed into thebiggest consumptive city and commercial centre in old China. Accordingly, through a sequentdevelopment and evolution of the markets, the basic framework of urban market distribution atpresent in Beijing City was established.The Central place theory is a macroscopic locational theory focusing on markets. Thispaper atternpts to apply this theory in the study of historical geography. It analyses the originand evolution of the central place structure of the markets space distribution in Beijing City,and argues that the central place structure of the market in Beijing City appeared in an em-bryonic form in as early as the age of the Yuan Dynasty, and then was established and streng-thened in the periods of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Finally, it further became the centralplace structure systems with double centres in the period of the Republic of China. Meanwhi-le, the paper also investigates geographically the elements influencing the market central placelocation over various periods, such as the cilfy pattern, political and historical tradition, tran-sportation, population and income allocation etc.The development of markets and the forrnation of the central place structure in BeijingCity, indicates vitally that the central place theory reflects the objective geocconomical law.The theory, therefore, can become on one of thd main theoretical foundations in the future plan-ning the distribution of urban commercial and service on rprises in Beijing City.