# Nanjing
## English
### Alternative forms

* Nanking (dated or historical)
* Nankin, Nanquin, Nan-ching, Nanching (obsolete)

### Etymology

The atonal Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 南京 (Nánjīng), composed of 南 (“south, southern”) and 京 (jīng, “capital”), distinguishing it from Beijing to the north, and first applied informally during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who preferred to rule from Beijing but was obliged to treat Nanjing as a secondary capital by the dynastic injunctions of his father the Hongwu Emperor. The name continued a practice of several preceding dynasties—especially those of nomadic conquerers from the north such as the Jin and Liao—of maintaining a number of separate capitals designated by their cardinal directions.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nænˈd͡ʒɪŋ/, /nɑnˈd͡ʒɪŋ/

### Proper noun

Nanjing
* A major city, the provincial capital of Jiangsu, China, on the lower Yangtze; a former capital of China.
** [1625, Samuel Purchas, Pvrchas His Pilgrimes‎, volume III, London, →OCLC, page 340:That Riuer of Nanquin which I called (Yamſu or) Ianſu, the ſonne of the Sea, goeth Northward to Nanquin, and then returning ſomewhat Southward, runneth into the Sea with great force; fortie myles from which it paſſeth by Nanquin. And that from hence to Pequin there might bee paſſage by Riuers, the Kings of China haue deriued a large Channell from this to another Riuer, called the Yellow Riuer, ſuch being the colour of that troubled water. This is the other famous Riuer of that Kingdome, in greatneſſe and note, which ariſesth without the Kingdome to the Weſt, out of the Hill Cunlun, conjectured to bee the ſame whence Ganges ariſeth, or one neere to it.]
** 2014 December 13, “China's Xi: Nanjing massacre undeniable”, in Deutsche Welle‎, archived from the original on 25 April 2016, Asia‎:For the first time on Saturday, China held a national day of remembrance on the 77th anniversary of Japanese atrocities committed in the city of Nanjing in the run-up to World War II. President Xi Jinping led the commemorations in front of a crowd of some 10,000 people, among whom were survivors or relatives of victims of the "Rape of Nanking," a six-week reign of terror during which the Imperial Japanese Army carried out mass killings and rapes.
** 2016 March 28, “Taiwanese semiconductor company announces large investment in China”, in EFE‎, archived from the original on 08 September 2022‎:Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) chairman Morris Chang will sign a contract with the government of the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing to carry out the largest Taiwanese investment in China, Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported today.
** For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Nanjing.
* (historical, informal) Synonym of Jiangnan, Nanzhili, Liangjiang, etc. as imperial Chinese provinces or viceroyalties administered from Nanjing.
* (historical) Various other Chinese cities during periods when they acted as a southern capital of a kingdom or imperial dynasty.

#### Synonyms

* (capital of Jiangsu): Jiangning (historical)

#### Coordinate terms

* Beijing

#### Derived terms

* Nanjinger
* Nanjingese

#### Translations
### Further reading

* “Nanjing”, in Collins English Dictionary.
* “Nanjing, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “Nanjing”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* “Nanjing”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
* “Nanjing” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.