1368: Founding a Dynasty in Nanking

Zhu Yuanzhang’s memorial on ascending the throne as the Hongwu Emperor: We are the ruler of the Middle Kingdom. When the dynastic fortune of the Song had reached an end, Heaven commanded the immortal [真人, referring to Khubilai Khan Khaghan] in the desert to enter the Middle Kingdom and become the lord of the empire.… Read

1638: Zhang Dai in Nanking

Duncan M. Campbell During the winter of 1638, the Eleventh Year of the reign of the Chongzhen emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhang Dai (張岱, 1597-?1684),[1] the prolific late-Ming historian and essayist, spent some months living in Nanking, then the Secondary Capital 留都 of a dynasty that was lurching towards oblivion.[2]… Read