Jiankang

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Jiankang (建康城 in pinyin: Jiànkāng chéng) was the capital city of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317--420 CE) and Southern Dynasties. Its walls are extant ruins in the modern municipal region of Nanjing.

History

Before the Eastern Jin the city was known as Jianye (建業 Jiànyè). As Jiankang, it served as the capital of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties. It rivaled Luoyang in population and commerce at its height in the sixth century, with a population of around one million. In the Sui Dynasty national reunification it was destroyed. During the Tang Dynasty it was rebuilt and given the name Jinling (金陵). By the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period it was called Jiangning (江寧); in the following Song Dynasty the name of Jiankang was revived. Eventually it was renamed Nanjing (南京) in the Ming Dynasty.

The Tang historian Xu Song (许嵩, Xǔ Sōng), in his work Jiankang Shilu (建康实录, 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)
• Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 - 420)
• Liu-Song Dynasty (420 - 479)
• Qi Dynasty (479 - 502)
• Liang Dynasty (502 -557)
• Chen Dynasty (557 -589)

References

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