Jiankang

Renamed Jiankang in 313 CE, it served as the capital of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, following the retreat from the north due to Xiongnu raids.

[1] It rivaled Luoyang in population and commercial activity, and at its height, in the sixth century, it was home to around one million people.

[2] In 549 CE, during the rebellion of Hou Jing, Jiankang was captured after a year-long siege that devastated the city: most of the population were killed or starved to death.

During the national reunification under the Sui dynasty it was almost completely destroyed, and was renamed Jiangzhou (蔣州) and then Danyang Commandery (丹陽郡).

The Tang historian Xu Song (許嵩, Xǔ Sōng), in his work Jiankang Shilu (建康實錄, Jiànkāng Shílù), coined the term "Six Dynasties" for the various regimes that had centred their power on the site: In the 6th century, Jiankang may well have been the largest city in the world, with a population of probably more than one million people.