NANKING ("the southern capital"), the name by which Kiang-ning, the chief city in the province of Kiangsu, China, has been known for several centuries. Pop. about The city is nearly equidistant between Canton and Peking, on the south bank of the Yangtze Kiang 235 m. from the sea. It dates only from the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368), although it is built on the site of a city which for more than two thousand years figured under various names in the history of the empire. The more ancient city was originally known as Kin-ling; under the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 25) its name was converted into Tan-yang; by the T'ang emperors (A.D. 618-907) it was styled Kiang-nan and Sheng Chow; by the first sovereign of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) it was created the "southern capital" (Nan-king), and was given the distinctive name of Ying Cien ; and with the accession to power of the Manchu rulers it was officially known as Kiang-ning, though still popularly called Nan-king. It was the seat of the imperial court only during the reigns of the first two emperors of the Ming dynasty, and was deserted for Shun-t'ien (Peking) by Yung-lo, the third sovereign of that line, who in 1403 captured the town and usurped the crown of his nephew, the reigning emperor.
The T'aip'ing rebels, who carried the town by assault in 1853, swept away all the national monuments and most of the public buildings it contained, and destroyed the greater part of the magnificent wall which surrounded it. The wall, of which only small portions remain, was about 7o ft. in height, measured 3o ft. in thickness at the base, and was probably 20 miles in circum ference and pierced by thirteen gates. Encircling the north, east and south sides of the city proper was a second wall which en closed about double the space of the inner enclosure. In the north east corner of the town stood the imperial palace reared by Hung-wu, the imperial founder of the modern city. After suffer ing mutilation at the overthrow of the Ming dynasty, this build ing was burnt to the ground on the recapture of the city from the T'aip'ing rebels in 1864. The most conspicuous public build
ing at Nanking was the famous porcelain tower, which was de signed by the emperor Yung-lo (1403-1428) on a previously sacred site to commemorate the virtues of his mother. The building was begun in 1413. In shape the pagoda was an octagon, and was about 26o ft. in height. The outer walls were cased with bricks of the finest white porcelain, and each of the nine stories into which the building was divided was marked by overhanging eaves composed of green glazed tiles of the same material. Hung on chains which stretched from this apex to the eaves of the roof were five large pearls of good augury for the city's safety from flood, fire, storm and civil disturbance.
Nanking was formerly one of the chief literary centres of the empire. It was taken by the British in 1842 and made a treaty port by the French treaty of 1858, but was not formally opened. Its proximity to Chinkiang, where trade had established itself while Nanking was still in the hands of the rebels, made its opening of little advantage. In 1899 it was voluntarily thrown open to for eign trade by the Chinese government, and in 1909 it was con nected by railway with Shanghai. Satin, crępe, nankeen, cloth, paper, pottery and artificial flowers were among its chief manu factures. There is a depth of from 17 to 45 ft. at the quays and all vessels can reach Nanking if they are able to pass the flats at the mouth of the Yangtze. The town imports cotton goods and yarn, metals, bean and kerosene oil and sugar. The exports include silk goods, skins, beans and frozen meats and dairy produce.
The Nationalist Government (Kuo Min Tang) decided to remove the capital from Peking as a further dissociation from the old regime, and, in view of the special position of Nanking, this city was chosen as the republican capital. In 1928 and 1929, Nanking was the scene of frequent disorder, connected with the alleged malpractices of the Nationalist authorities but its posi tion as the headquarters of the republican authorities offers too many advantages for it lightly to be given up.