Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was the capital city of the

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

(229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the

Southern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

(420–552), including the

Chen dynasty The Chen dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Chen (南陳 / 南朝陳) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and the fourth and last of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasties, ...

(557–589 CE). Its walls are extant as ruins in the modern municipal region of

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

. Jiankang was an important city of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

. Its name was changed to Nanjing during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

History

Before the Eastern Jin the city was known as Jianye, and it was the capital of the kingdom of Wu during the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period. It was renamed Jiankang during the Jin dynasty, in order to observe the

naming taboo A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...

for Emperor Min of Jin. Renamed Jiankang in 313 CE, it served as the capital of the Eastern Jin, following the retreat from the north due to

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

raids. Jiankang remained the capital of the Southern Dynasties: Liu Song (420–479), Southern Qi (479–502), Liang (502–557) and Chen (557–589). It rivaled

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

in population and commercial activity, and at its height, in the sixth century, it was home to around one million people. In 549 CE, during the rebellion of

Hou Jing Hou Jing (; died 26 May 552), courtesy name Wanjing (萬景), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was a general of Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, and Liang, and briefly, after controlling the Liang imperial regime for severa ...

, Jiankang was captured after a year-long siege that devastated the city: most of the population were killed or starved to death. During the reunification under the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

it was almost completely destroyed, and was renamed Jiangzhou () and then Danyang Commandery (). Under the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, the city regained its prosperity and the name became Jinling (). Jinling was the capital of the

Southern Tang Southern Tang ( zh, c=南唐, p=Nán Táng) was a Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic state of China that existed during Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Located in southern China, the Southern Tang proclaimed itself to be the successor ...

from 937 to 975. By the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period it was called Jiangning (); during the Southern

the name of Jiankang was revived. When Zhu Yuanzhang, the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

, founded the

in 1368, he made Jiankang the capital of China, renaming it

, "Southern Capital".

Six Dynasties

The Tang historian Xu Song (許嵩, Xǔ Sōng), in his work ''Jiankang Shilu'' (建康實錄, Jiànkāng Shílù), coined the term "

Six Dynasties Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD, between the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and the beginning of the Sui ...

" for the various regimes that had centred their power on the site: *

(222–280 CE) * Eastern Jin (317–420 CE) *

Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties peri ...

(420–479 CE) *

Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succee ...

(479–502 CE) * Liang (502–557 CE) * Chen (557–589 CE) In the 6th century, Jiankang may well have been the largest city in the world, with a population of probably more than one million people. At that time, Rome had a population of less than 100,000,

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

had about 500,000, and

had more than 500,000.Shufen Liu, "Jiankang and the Commercial Empire of the Southern Dynasties", in Pearce, Spiro, Ebrey eds. ''Culture and Power'', 2001:35.

References

Jin dynasty (266–420) Northern and Southern dynasties History of Nanjing Ancient Chinese capitals {{China-hist-stub