The Confucius Temple on the Qinhuai River

City guide · 南京 · 古称金陵

Nanjing

Splendour of the Six Dynasties and the founding of the Ming: Zhong Mountain, the Qinhuai and the Jiangnan Examination Hall

Photo: 东京村子 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Nanjing is one of China's four great ancient capitals. At the foot of Zhong Mountain lies the Ming Xiaoling, tomb of the Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang; on the Qinhuai River in the south of the city are the Confucius Temple and the Jiangnan Examination Hall, China's largest imperial examination site. The old city under its plane trees carries both the elegance of the Six Dynasties and heavy modern memories.

History

How the city came to be

In the Three Kingdoms period Eastern Wu made its capital here (229–280), followed by the Eastern Jin and the Southern dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen — together the 'Six Dynasties'. In 1356 Zhu Yuanzhang took the city and in 1368 founded the Ming dynasty, when the name 'Nanjing' was officially adopted. Work on the Ming Xiaoling began in 1381. After the Yongle Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, Nanjing remained the secondary capital. Next to the Confucius Temple, first built here in 1034, the Jiangnan Examination Hall of the Ming and Qing dynasties had more than 20,000 exam cells; Tang Bohu, Zheng Banqiao and Wu Jingzi all sat exams here. In modern times Nanjing was capital of the Republic of China, and in 1937–1938 it suffered the Nanjing Massacre.

229Eastern Wu made its capital here
317–589The Eastern Jin and the Southern dynasties made their capitals here in turn — the Six Dynasties
1034The Confucius Temple (Fuzimiao) was first built
1368Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming dynasty and named the city Nanjing
1381Work began on the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum
1937Nanjing Massacre

Stories

Stories of the city

History · Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, Nanjing

From cowherd to founding emperor

Zhu Yuanzhang was born in 1328 into a poor peasant family in Zhongli, Haozhou; in the famines and epidemics of the late Yuan his parents died one after another, and he became a novice monk at a temple, then went out begging for alms, witnessing the people's suffering. He later joined the rebel armies, took Nanjing in 1356 and founded the Ming dynasty in 1368. In 1381 he began building his tomb on Zhongshan; after his death in 1398 he was buried here with Empress Ma — the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.

People