As one of China’s four ancient capitals, Nanjing is reputed as the Ancient Capital of the Six Dynasties or the Ten Regimes. It has served as the capital of multiple dynasties for approximately 450 years, but it has been recognized as a city for 2,500 years. 

Human activity in the area can be traced back half a million years. At that time, Homo erectus nankinensis (Nanjing Man), one of the primitive human species, was active in the area currently known as Hulu (“gourd”) Cave in Tangshan which is now the eastern portion of suburban Nanjing. Approximately 10,000 years ago, human ancestors in the Neolithic settled in the Shenxian (“immortal”) Cave in Lishui, and their footprints have been found throughout Nanjing. Five thousand to six thousand years ago, on the level-2 platform of Beiyinyangying (meaning “north yinyang camp”) northwest of Gulougang (“a mound with a drum tower”), in the center of what is now the city, ancient humans built the first group of primitive villages in the area. They made extensive use of stone tools, as the archeological records show. More than 3,000 years ago, approximately 200 settlements of people in the Bronze Age, deriving from what is archaeologically referred to as the Hushu Culture, were distributed along rivers in and near what would become Nanjing, from the Jinchuan and Qinhuai river basins to the platforms by Xuanwu Lake and the tributaries of the Yangtze River. 

In the first year of Monarch Ling of the Zhou dynasty (571 BC), Tang Yi (yi means “city”) was established for the first time as an administrative region in the Nanjing area by the Chu state in the current Luhe District as well as Tang Yi Dafu (dafu means “senior official”), the governing position of Tang Yi, was instituted. In the fourth year of Monarch Jing of the Zhou dynasty (541 BC), Laizhu Yi was established by the Wu state by Gucheng Lake in what is now Gaochun District, of which the strong structural defense gave the name “Gucheng” (“strongly defended city”) to the area. In the third year of Monarch Yuan of the Zhou dynasty (474 BC or possibly 473 BC), the Wu state was annihilated by the Yue state, which built a city that is commonly referred to as Yuecheng (“city of Yue”), Fanlicheng (“city of Fanli”) or Yuetai in the following year at Changganli by the estuary of the Qinhuai River, declaring the commencement of the history of the main city area of Nanjing. In the 36th year of Monarch Xian of the Zhou dynasty (333 BC), the Yue state was roundly defeated by Lord Wei, of the Chu state, who completely captured the original sphere of domination of the former Wu state and built a city at Shitoushan Mountain (“stone hill”, referring to what is now Qingliangshan Mountain). The city was instituted as Jinling Yi to “serve as the capital of the area east of the Yangtze River”, by which the main city area of Nanjing was declared for the first time as the capital of an administrative region. The first county-level administrative unit in the Nanjing area was established during the Qin dynasty. In the 37th year of Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor of the Qin dynasty and of all Chinese dynasties) (210 BC), Jinling Yi was destroyed during the fifth inspection trip of Qin Shi Huang. The regional capital was then relocated to the current Moling Sub-district of Jiangning District, and the administrative region was renamed Moling County. As economic development progressed during the Qin and Han dynasties, more counties were established in the area now known as Nanjing. 

It was in the 16th year of Jian’an of the Eastern Han dynasty (211) that Lord Sun Quan of the Wu regime relocated the capital of the regime from Jingkou (the current Zhenjiang) to Moling. The following year, Moling County was renamed Jianye County, with the message of “establishing an empire”, and Shitoucheng (“stone town”), a military stronghold, was built on the former site of Jinling Yi of the Chu state in Shitoushan Mountain. In the first year of Huanglong (229), King Sun Quan of the Wu kingdom relocated its capital from Wuchang (present-day Ezhou, in Hubei Province) to Jianye, declaring Nanjing as the historical capital of a regime for the first time. Since then, the image of Nanjing as a capital of China where “the imperial rule can be established in the area regarding the terrain represented by Zhongshan and Shitoushan mountains” has been part of the nation’s historical legacy. Subsequently, Nanjing (known as Jiankang then) had continued to serve as the capital of five other dynasties, namely the Eastern Jin dynasty, the Southern Song dynasty, the Southern Qi dynasty, the Southern Liang dynasty, and the Southern Chen dynasty. The six dynasties are historically referred to as the Six Dynasties, and Nanjing had been their capital for more than 320 years. The Six Dynasties period interconnects the former two Han dynasties and the later Tang dynasty, so that it has had a vital role in the longevity of the Chinese civilization. 

Nanjing also served as the capital of four other regimes over more than 1,000 years since the Six Dynasties period: the Southern Tang dynasty in the Five Dynasties period and Ten Kingdoms, the Ming dynasty, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Republic of China. After the Sui dynasty annihilated the Southern Chen dynasty and unified China, policies were adopted to suppress the status of Nanjing, given its reputation as the former capital of the Six Dynasties. While the city of Jiankang was destroyed, a new regional capital was instituted in Shitoucheng and was called Jiang Zhou (zhou means “province”), which was renamed Danyang Jun (Jun means “prefecture”) during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty. In the third year of Wude of the Tang dynasty (620), Danyang Jun was abolished and Yang Zhou was established. In the eighth year of Wude (625), the capital of Yang Zhou was relocated to Jiangdu (present-day Yangzhou, in Jiangsu Province). Since then, Yangzhou has been the proper name of the area in which Jiangdu was situated. In the second year of Zhide (757), Jiangning Jun was established in Jiangning Xian (xian means “county”) of Run Zhou, which was renamed Sheng Zhou in the following year. Thus, during the more than 300 years from the Sui dynasty to the Tang dynasty the administrative levels of the Nanjing area were no higher than zhou or jun and were in most cases xian. In the second year of the Wuyi (920) of the period comprising the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms, the regime of Yang Wu promoted Sheng Zhou to Jinling Fu (fu also means “prefecture”), declaring the first establishment of such a district in the Nanjing area. During the first month of the third year of Tianzuo (937), Jinling Fu was renamed Jiangning Fu. In the 10th month of that year, Xu Zhigao (also known as Li Bian), a powerful minister in the regime of Yang Wu, usurped the throne. With Jiangning Fu as the new capital, the dynasty he established became what is now referred to as the Southern Tang. In the Northern Song dynasty, Sheng Zhou was established in the Nanjing area, which was reestablished as Jiangning Fu. It had been renamed Jiankang Fu during the Southern Song dynasty and was instituted as the secondary capital under the capital of Lin’an (present day Hangzhou, in Zhejiang Province) by Emperor Gao of the Southern Song in the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138). In the second year of Tianli of the Yuan dynasty (1329), Jiankang Lu (lu also means “prefecture”) was renamed Jiqing Lu. During the 16th year of Zhizheng in the Yuan dynasty (1356), Jiqing Lu was conquered by Zhu Yuanzhang and was renamed Yingtian Fu. In the 28th year of Zhizheng of the Yuan dynasty (1368, the second year of the Western Wu regime), Zhu Yuanzhang was crowned as Emperor of the Great Ming dynasty in Yingtian Fu. Because the Ming dynasty had adopted the system of a southern capital and a northern capital, Yingtian Fu was instituted as Nanjing (“southern capital”), representing the first time that the name Nanjing was used in reference to the area. This was also the point at which Nanjing became the capital of a unified China. During the 19th year of Yongle (1421), Zhu Di, also known as Emperor Cheng of the Ming dynasty, relocated the principal capital to Beijing, leaving Nanjing as the secondary capital. In the Qing dynasty, Yingtian Fu was reestablished as Jiangning Fu. During the third year of Xianfeng of the Qing dynasty (1853, the third year of Guihao of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom), Jiangning Fu was conquered by the Taiping army and made the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, whereupon it was given the name Tianjing. Subsequently, in the third year of Tongzhi (1864), Tianjing was conquered by the military of the Qing dynasty and then reestablished as Jiangning Fu. 

Nanjing was more than simply the capital of Jiangsu Province and Jiangning Fu during the last years of the Qing dynasty. It was also where the offices of various key administrative officials and military officers, such as the Viceroy of Jiangnan Province and Jiangxi Province, the provincial governor, the Minister of Textiles in Jiangning and the local garrison commander were based. On December 29th, 1911 (the third year of Xuantong), the representatives of the 17 provinces that engaged in the uprising gathered in Nanjing, where they elected Sun Yat-sen as the provisional president of the newly established regime, which was officially named the Republic of China. On January 1st, 1912, the provisional government of the Republic of China was established in Nanjing, and Sun Yat-sen was inaugurated as its acting president. On January 3rd, 1912, Jiangning County and Shangyuan County were abolished, wherewith Nanjing Fu was established. On April 18th, 1927, the Nationalist Government was established, which instituted Nanjing as the capital and transformed the main urban area of the former Jiangning County into the city of Nanjing. On April 24th of that year, Nanjing City Hall was established, and Nanjing became a municipality with a modern administrative structure. Moreover, on June 1st, Nanjing City Hall was reinstituted as the Nanjing Municipal Government, one of China’s first municipal-level administrative regions. On June 6th, Nanjing was designated as a special municipality under the direct jurisdiction of the Nationalist Government. In February 1929, the capital of Jiangsu Province was moved from Nanjing to Zhenjiang County. Then, on April 16th the Nanjing special municipality was reinstituted as the special municipality of the capital. However, in 1930 it was reinstituted as the Municipality of Nanjing (directly under the central government), which was in turn directly under the Executive Yuan. 

Nanjing was liberated on April 23rd, 1949, as “a million heroes crossed the Yangtze River”. Subsequently, the Nanjing Military Control Commission was established on April 28th and the Nanjing Municipal People’s Government was established on May 10th. Soon after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Nanjing became a municipality directly under the Central People’s Government. In September 1952, Nanjing combined with the Sunan and Subei provincial regions to form Jiangsu Province. Because the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government was officially established on New Year’s Day in 1953, Nanjing was reinstituted as a provincially administered municipality and the capital of Jiangsu Province. In 1989, the State Council approved the designation of Nanjing in the State Plan, and Nanjing was accorded the economic government authority equivalent to what it would have at the provincial level. In 1993, the Central People’s Government revoked the specific designation of cities in the State Plan. In February of the following year, the Central People’s Government specified that Nanjing should serve as a sub-provincial city. In June 2016, the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration Development Plan, as approved by the State Council, positioned Nanjing as a “megacity” with respect to its size. Moreover, Nanjing is the only megacity among the 26 members of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. 

A variety of administrative regions were established in the current administrative region of Nanjing: yi, county, zhou, jun, fu, lu, jing, capital, special municipality, municipality directly under the central government, provincial capital, municipality specifically designated in the State Plan, and sub-provincial-level municipality. The fact that Nanjing has had so many names isn’t simply rare in China but anywhere in the world. In addition to more than 30 government-established names—including Jinling, Moling, Jiangcheng, Hushu, Jianye (“ 建业 ” in Chinese), Shitoucheng, Yangzhou, Danyang (“ 丹阳 ” in Chinese), Danyang (“ 丹杨 ” in Chinese), Jiangning, Jianye (“ 建邺 ” in Chinese), Jiankang, Jincheng, Jiangzhou (or Jiang Zhou), Shengzhou (or Sheng Zhou), Guihua, Baixia, Shangyuan, Xidu (“western capital”), Liudu (“retained old capital”), Peidu (“secondary capital”), Jiqing, Yingtian, Nanjing, Jingshi (“ 京师 ” in Chinese), Nandu (“southern capital”), Tianjing, Tiandu, Tiancheng, special municipality of the capital and Jingshi (“京 市 ” in Chinese)—there are more than 40 folk and customary names, including Yecheng, Yuecheng, Hujulongpan (“place as if guarded by a tiger and a Chinese dragon”), Huangyi, Shenjing, Shangguo, Shangjing, Jiangnanjialidi (“a wonderful place south of the Yangtze River”), Jingyi, Baimen, Huangdu, Wujing, Dili, Jiangnandiyizhou (“the best zhou south of the Yangtze River”), Jiangcheng, Nanguo, Xingdu, Nanzhong, Nanbu, Xindu, Xinjing, Qinhuai and Zhongshan. The transition of the administrative regions in the Nanjing area and their names reflects the many peaks and valleys in its history.