Nanjing
(1997 pop. 2.7 million). The capital of Jiangsu Province in central eastern China, metropolitan Nanjing (Nanking) had a population in 1997 of 5.3 million and the city proper 2.7 million. The city's name, which translates as "southern capital," denotes the important role that it has played in Chinese history. Located on the southern bank of the Chang (Yangtze) River, Nanjing was the capital of the kingdom of Wu (220–280) and several other small local dynasties between the third and sixth centuries, before becoming the capital of the Ming dynasty between 1368 and 1421. The third Ming emperor, Yung Lo (reigned 1403–1424), moved the capital to Beijing, the "northern capital," in the early 1420s.
Nanjing continued to play an important role in the economy and administration of the lower Chang River region during the later Ming and Qing dynasties due to its proximity to both the major river of central China and the Grand Canal that linked the southern region of the empire to the administrative north. During the Taiping rebellion of the mid-nineteenth century, Nanjing rose to prominence as the rebels' capital between 1853 and 1864.
Following the October 1911 revolution, the new president, Sun Yat-sen, proclaimed the birth of the new Republic of China in Nanjing. The city again became the nation's capital under Chiang Kai-shek's Guomindang between 1927 and 1937. It was captured by the Japanese army in December 1937, which ushered in one of the worst atrocities of the Pacific War, the "Rape of Nanjing." The victorious Japanese armies embarked on an orgy of raping and killing the local civilian population. By the time order was restored six weeks later, between 100,000 and 250,000 Chinese had been killed.
Since the Communist victory in 1949, the city's industrial base has developed to include not only its traditional textile manufacturing, but also iron and steel mills, porcelain manufacturing, and light machinery. The city continues to be an important regional administrative center and transportation hub.
Further Reading
Fogel, Joshua A., ed. (2000) The Nanjing Massacre in History and Historiography. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Hobart, Alice Tisdale, and Florence Wheelock Ayscough. (1929) Within the Walls of Nanking. New York: Macmillan.
Mote, F. W. (1977) "The Transformation of Nanking, 1350–1400." In The City in Late Imperial China, edited by G. William Skinner. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 101–154.
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