Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capital city of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century B.C. to 1949.
In the late period of Shang dynasty, the ruler of Zhou came to Jiangnan region and established Wu state and the first stop was in Nanjing area. Later in 473 BCE, the State of Yue conquered Wu and constructed the fort of Yuecheng.
In 333 B.C., after eliminating the State of Yue, the State of Chu built Jinling Yi in the western part of present-day Nanjing. It was renamed Moling during the reign of Qin dynasty.
Since then, the city of Nanjing started its thousands years of constant destructions and renewals. Six great dynasties, namely Sun Wu (东吴), East Jin (东晋), Southern Dynasties (南朝) including Song (宋), Qi (齐), Liang (梁) and Chen (陈), made Nanjing their capital city and countless legendary stories took place in here.
It was the home of the admiral Zheng He (郑和, 1371-1433), who went to sail the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and it was visited by foreign dignitaries all over the world. Even after the removal of the capital to Beijing in Ming (明) dynasty, Nanjing was still considered as a rich center of both political and economic power to generations of rulers. Under the Qing dynasty, Nanjing enjoyed such prosperity that it had attracted several emperors who spent most of their lives in Beijing so deeply that they could never resist to take a short visit to this city on their tours of the southern provinces.
Yet destructions come along with prosperity. Nanjing was invaded by British troops during the close of the First Opium War, which was ended by the Treaty of Nanking in 1842. Mass scale of disturbances occurred during this period in Nanjing, until the Xinhai Revolution led to the founding of the Republic of China (中华民国) in January 1912, with Dr. Sun Yat-sen as the first provisional president and Nanjing was selected as its new capital. In 1927, Kuomintang again established Nanjing as the capital of the Republic of China and the following decade is known as the Nanjing decade.
In 1937, the Empire of Japan started a full-scale invasion of China. Their troops occupied Nanjing in December and carried out the systematic and brutal Nanjing Massacre. The total death toll was between 300,000 and 350,000. The city itself was also severely damaged. The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders (侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆) was built in 1985 to commemorate this event.
On the 21st of April, 1949, People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River and captured Nanjing, forcing Kuomintang to retreat. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in October, 1949, Nanjing was initially a province-level municipality, but it was soon merged into Jiangsu province and again became the provincial capital and retains that status to this day.