Editing Nanjing (section)

=== Southern capital of the Ming dynasty ===
{{Wide image|南都繁會圖 01.jpg|1500px|''The Bustling and Hustling of Nanjing''-handscroll ([[:zh:南都繁会图]]), by [[Qiu Ying]]|dir=rtl}}
[[File:Nanjing-Mochouhu.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Mochou Lake]], established as a [[Chinese garden|garden]] by the [[Hongwu Emperor]]]]
[[File:Nanjing Ming Xiaoling 2017.11.11 08-10-27.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Ming Xiaoling]], mausoleum of the [[Hongwu Emperor]], founder of the [[Ming dynasty]]]]
After Zhu Yuanzhang (known from his [[era name|era]] as the [[Hongwu Emperor]]) [[Ming conquest of the Yuan|overthrew the Yuan]] and established the [[Ming dynasty]], he renamed the city {{nowrap|'''Yingtian''' ({{lang-zh|labels=no|t=應天}})}}, rebuilt it, and made it the dynastic capital in 1368, overseeing the surrounding areas under a special administration. The Hongwu Emperor constructed a {{cvt|48|km|mi|sp=us}} long [[City Wall of Nanjing|city wall around Yingtian]], as well as a new [[Ming Palace]] complex, and government halls.<ref name="ebrey cambridge 191">Ebrey (1999), 191.</ref> It took 200,000 laborers 21&nbsp;years to finish the wall, which was intended to defend the city and its surrounding region from coastal pirates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fei |first=Si-yen |title=Negotiating Urban Space: Urbanization and Late Ming Nanjing |publisher=Harvard University Asia Center |year=2009 |location=Cambridge, M.A. |pages=80}}</ref> The present-day [[City Wall of Nanjing]] was mainly built during that time and today it remains in good condition and has been well preserved.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chinese Walled Cities 221 BC-AD 1644 |url=https://archive.org/details/chinesewalledcit00turn |url-access=limited |author=Turnbull, Stephen R. |author2=Steve Noon |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84603-381-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/chinesewalledcit00turn/page/n61 61]}}</ref> It is among the longest surviving [[city wall]]s in China.<ref>{{cite book |title=Insight Guides: China 5/E |author=Ansight Guides |publisher=Apa Publications |year=1997 |isbn=0-395-66287-7 |page=268}}</ref> The [[Jianwen Emperor]] ruled from Yingtian from 1398 to 1402. It is believed that Nanjing was the largest city in the world from 1358 to 1425 with a population of 487,000 in 1400.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |title=Largest Cities Through History |publisher=Geography.about.com |date=November 14, 2013 |access-date=December 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714185311/http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Having usurped power from his nephew and uncertain of the loyalty of the region's officials, the [[Yongle Emperor]] relocated the capital in 1421 to Beijing, where he had long served as the regional governor as the Prince of [[Yan (state)|Yan]]. Because the new status of Yingtian was included in the Hongwu Emperor's "[[Huang-Ming Zuxun|ancestral injunctions]]" for his dynasty, however, the Yongle Emperor [[filial piety|was obliged]] to preserve its special status, at least in name.  The "northern capital" came to be known as Beijing and the 'southern capital' as {{nowrap|Nanjing ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=南京}}).}} Both controlled territories "directly administered" by the emperor and his staff, [[Beizhili]] in the north and [[Nanzhili]] in the south.

[[File:Nanjing WuchaoGate1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Ming Palace]], the "Forbidden City of Nanjing", was home to the first two Ming emperors]]
The [[Hongxi Emperor]] wanted to restore Nanjing as the sole imperial capital and undertook preparations to do so.<ref name=dr7-13940>{{cite book |last=Dreyer |first=Edward L. |title=Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433 |year=2007 |publisher=Pearson Longman |location=New York |isbn=9780321084439 |author-link=Edward L. Dreyer |pages=139–140}}</ref> On February 24, 1425, he appointed Admiral [[Zheng He]] as the defender of Nanjing and ordered him to continue his command over the [[Ming treasure fleet]] for the city's defense.<ref name=dr7-13940/> Zheng He governed the city with three eunuchs for internal matters and two military noblemen for external matters, awaiting the Hongxi Emperor's return along with the military establishment from the north.<ref name=dr7-13940/> The emperor died on May 29, 1425, before this could have taken place.<ref name="dr7-13940"/><ref name=ch98-282-3>{{cite book |last=Chan |first=Hok-lam |title=The Cambridge History of China, Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1 |year=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521243322 |chapter=The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-hsi, and Hsüan-te reigns, 1399–1435 |pages=282–283}}.</ref>

The succeeding [[Xuande Emperor]] preferred to remain in Beijing, leaving it the primary and ''de facto'' capital<ref name=ch98-282-3/> and Nanjing as permanent secondary or reserve capital.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dreyer |first=Edward L. |title=Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433 |year=2007 |publisher=Pearson Longman |location=New York |isbn=9780321084439 |author-link=Edward L. Dreyer |pages=140–141}}.</ref> Owing to the continuing importance of the [[Huang-Ming Zuxun|ancestral injunctions]], however, Nanjing was designated in official documents as the actual capital and Beijing as a temporary capital from 1425 to 1441.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dreyer |first=Edward L. |title=Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405–1433 |year=2007 |publisher=Pearson Longman |location=New York |isbn=9780321084439 |author-link=Edward L. Dreyer |pages=168}}</ref> In 1441, the [[Yingzong Emperor of Ming|Yingzong Emperor]] ordered the "provisional" ({{lang|zh|行在}}) prefix removed from Beijing's government seals and further ordered that the southern imperial administration would henceforth be required to prefix "Nanjing" to their own seals to distinguish them.

Besides the city wall, other Ming-era structures in the city included the famous [[Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum]] and [[Porcelain Tower of Nanjing|Porcelain Tower]], although the latter was destroyed by the [[Taiping Rebellion|Taipings]] in the 19th century either to prevent a hostile faction from using it to observe and shell the city<ref>Jonathan D. Spence. ''God's Chinese Son'', New York 1996</ref> or from superstitious fear of its [[fengshui|geomantic properties]].<ref>Williams, S. Wells. ''[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/yale.39002013393773 The Middle Kingdom: a Survey of the Geography, Government, Literature, Social Life, Arts, & History of the Chinese Empire & its Inhabitants]'', Vol. 1. Scribner (New York), 1904.</ref>

A monument to the huge human cost of some of the gigantic construction projects of the early Ming dynasty is the [[Yangshan Quarry]] (located some {{cvt|15-20|km|0|sp=us}} east of the walled city and Ming Xiaoling mausoleum), where a gigantic [[stele]], cut on the orders of the Yongle Emperor, lies abandoned.{{sfn|Yang|Lu|2001|pp=616–617}}

As the center of the empire, early-Ming Nanjing had worldwide connections. It was home of the admiral [[Zheng He]], who went to [[Treasure voyages|sail the Pacific and Indian Oceans]], and it was visited by foreign dignitaries, such as a king from Borneo ({{lang-zh|labels=no |c=渤泥 |p=Bóní}}), who died during his visit to China in 1408. The [[Tomb of the King of Boni]], with a spirit way and a [[bixi (tortoise)|tortoise stele]], was discovered in [[Yuhuatai District]] (south of the walled city) in 1958, and has been restored.<ref>Johannes L. Kurz, [http://nsc.iseas.edu.sg/documents/working_papers/ncswps004.pdf "Boni in Chinese Sources: Translations of Relevant Texts from the Song to the Qing Dynasties"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110022455/http://nsc.iseas.edu.sg/documents/working_papers/ncswps004.pdf |date=November 10, 2013 }}, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre Working Paper No 4 (July 2011).</ref>

{{anchor|Southern Ming|Capital of the Southern Ming dynasty}}