Nanjing

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Nanjing or Nanking [southern capital], city (1994 est. pop. 2,224,200), capital of Jiangsu prov., E central China, in a bend of the Chang (Yangtze) River. It has served at times in the past as capital of China. The second largest city in the region (after Shanghai), Nanjing is at the intersection of three major railroad lines. Industry, which once centered around "nankeen" cloth (unbleached cotton goods), was vigorously developed under the Communist government. The city now has an integrated iron-steel complex, an oil refinery, food-processing establishments, and hundreds of plants making chemicals, textiles, cement, fertilizers, machinery, weapons, electronic equipment, optical instruments, photographic equipment, and trucks. Nanjing has long been celebrated as a literary and political center. It was the capital of China from the 3d to 6th cent. AD and again from 1368 to 1421. The Treaty of Nanjing, signed in 1842 at the end of the Opium War, opened China to foreign trade. During the Taiping Rebellion insurgents held the city from 1853 to 1864. It was captured by the revolutionists in 1911, and in 1912 it became the capital of China's first president, Sun Yat-sen . When in 1927 the city fell to the Communists, the foreign residents fled to the protection of British and American warships on the Chang River. The Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek retook the city, and it became (1928) the regular Nationalist capital. In 1932, when the Japanese were threatening to attack the city, the government was temporarily removed to Luoyang, and on Nov. 21, 1937, just before Nanjing fell to the Japanese, it was moved to Chongqing. The Japanese entry into the city, accompanied by widespread killing and brutality, became known as the "rape of Nanking." The Japanese established (1938) their puppet regime in Nanjing. Chinese forces reoccupied the city Sept. 5, 1945, and the capitulation of the Japanese armies in China was signed there on Sept. 9. Nanjing again fell to the Communists in Apr., 1949, and from 1950 until 1952, when it became the provincial capital, Nanjing was administered as part of an autonomous region. The city has many institutions of higher learning, notably Nanjing Univ. and Nanjing Institute of Technology. The Nanjing Military Academy is there. The city is also noted for its library, and its astronomical observatory and botanical gardens are among China's largest. The original city wall (70 ft/21 m high), most of which still stands, dates from the Ming dynasty and encircles most of the modern city. The tomb of the first Ming emperor is approached by an avenue lined with colossal images of men and animals. Also of interest are the tomb of Sun Yat-sen, a memorial to China's war dead (a steel pagoda), and the Taiping museum. A 4-mi (6.4 km), two-level railway and road bridge was completed across the Chang in 1968.

Bibliography: See I. Chang, The Rape of Nanking (1997).

Nanjing, Jiangsu/China Chien‐yeh, Chien‐kang, Ching‐chou, Jin‐ling‐fu, Tian‐jing, Ying‐t'ien‐fu, Chiang‐ning, Nanking ‘Southern Capital’ from nán and jīng ‘capital city’. Having been the capital of various kingdoms, it became the capital of a united China in 1368 as Ying‐t'ien‐fu ‘Responding to Heaven’. When the capital was moved to Peking (now Beijing) in 1421 the city became no more than a regional capital and was renamed Nanjing. During the Manchu dynasty (1644–1911), the city was known as Chiang‐ning. Other names have been Jin‐ling‐fu ‘Golden Hill’ from jīn ‘golden’ and lĭng ‘hill’, and Tian‐jing ‘Heavenly Capital’ from tiān ‘heaven’ and jīng when it was the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace in 1853–64, having been captured by the rebellious Taipings in 1853. It was also the capital of China in 1928–37, of Japan's Chinese puppet government in 1940–5, and of the Nationalist government in 1946–9. In October 1949, when the People's Republic of China came into existence, the national capital once more became Beijing. The present name is simply the Pinyin form of Nanking.

Nanjing Nanking ˈnänˈjiŋ a city in eastern China, on the Yangtze River, capital of Jiangsu province. It was the capital of various ruling dynasties and of China from 1368 until replaced by Beijing in 1421. Nanjing became the provisional capital of the new Republic of China in 1912, falling to Communist control in 1927 and being retaken by Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek in 1928. Seized and held by Japanese forces from 1937 to 1945, Nanjing experienced such atrocities that this period was called 'the rape of Nanjing.' In 1949 Beijing became the capital of the new People's Republic of China, and Nanjing was developed as a center for heavy industry, becoming a provincial capital in 1952.

Nanjing (Nanking) City on the River Yangtze, e China; capital of Jiangsu province. Founded in the 8th century bc, it served as the capital of China at various times. The Treaty of Nanking (1842) ended the Opium War and opened five Chinese ports to foreign trade. It was the seat of Sun Yat-sen's provisional presidency in 1912. In 1937, during the Sino-Japanese War, the city was captured by the Japanese, who massacred more than 100,000 of the population. Notable landmarks include the city-wall and the tombs of the Ming emperors. Industries: iron and steel, oil refining, chemicals. Pop. (2002 est.) 1,799,900.

Nanjing a city in eastern China, on the Yangtze River, formerly Nanking, which was the capital of various ruling dynasties and of China from 1368 until replaced by Beijing in 1421.

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