Jiankang

Map of Jiankang as the capital of the Southern Dynasties

Jiankang (Chinese: 建康; pinyin: Jiànkāng) was the capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 AD), the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 AD) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552 and 557–589 AD). Its walls are extant ruins in the modern municipal region of Nanjing.

History

A qilin from the Yongning Tomb of Emperor Wen of Chen (ca. 566). Qixia District

Before the Eastern Jin the city was known as Jianye (建業 Jiànyè), and the capital of the kingdom of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.

Renamed Jiankang in 313 AD, it served as the capital of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, following the retreat from the north due to Xiongnu raids. It rivaled Luoyang in terms of population and commerce and at its height in the sixth century was home to around 1 million people. During the rebellion of Hou Jing, Jiankang was captured in 549 AD after a year-long siege that devastated the city, with most of the population killed or starved to death. During the Sui dynasty national reunification it was almost completely destroyed, and was renamed Jiangzhou (蔣州) and then Danyang Jun (丹陽 郡). At the time of the Tang dynasty it again became prosperous and the name became Jinling (金陵). By the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period it was called Jiangning (江寧); in the Southern Song dynasty the name of Jiankang was revived. Eventually it was renamed Nanjing (南京) during the Ming dynasty.

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" as a mnemonic to mark the various regimes which had centred their power on the site:

• Eastern Wu (222–280 AD)
• Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 AD)
• Liu Song dynasty (420–479 AD)
• Qi Dynasty (479–502 AD)
• Liang dynasty (502–557 AD)
• Chen dynasty (557–589 AD)

In the 6th century AD, Jiankang became the largest city in the world with a population of probably more than 1 million people. This was compared to contemporaneous Rome (less than 100,000 after a peak of nearly 1 million), Constantinople (500,000 at the beginning of the reign of Justinian I), Luoyang (over 500,000), and the devastated Chang'an.