Nanjing was the ancient capital of six dynasties. Why did ancient emperors like to build their capitals in Nanjing?

Nanjing was the ancient capital of six dynasties. Why did ancient emperors like to build their capitals in Nanjing? Let's discuss this issue below, hoping that this content can help friends in need.

Nanjing is a blessed land with excellent Feng Shui, and is known as the dragon circling the tiger. This thing is rather mysterious, and modern people don’t have much idea about it. But in ancient times, Feng Shui was very important. We often heard that in order to slander others, a certain sycophant would say that someone else's tomb chose a land with an imperial atmosphere. The emperor would usually be very angry with the sycophant. Tao, this shows how much attention was paid to Feng Shui in ancient times. It is said that Qin Shihuang felt that he could not withstand the imperial aura in Nanjing after he knew about it, so he built the Qinhuai River to remove the imperial aura from Nanjing. This resulted in the short life of Nanjing during the period when Nanjing was established as the capital.

Since China’s economic center of gravity moved southward, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions have always been very economically developed areas, including today. The products here are relatively rich. If this standard were applied today, it would probably not matter, and everything produced would be shipped to Beijing. But at that time, road transportation was very slow. The capital area usually consumes a lot of food crops, fabrics, etc.

Nanjing is located in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and its location is excellent. On the one hand, supplies of various materials from other places can be continuously transported to Nanjing through canals and the Yangtze River. It must be understood that there were no trains in ancient times. Relying on bullock carts to protect things was both unsafe and very expensive. Waterways were undoubtedly the most important method of transportation. In addition, the Yangtze River, as a dangerous shoal, can block the attacks of northern peoples. In particular, warriors in the northern region are not suitable for water battles. The Red Cliff Showdown is an effective example.

Three of China's four ancient capitals are in the north, and Nanjing is the only ancient city in the south. This shows that Nanjing is the most suitable big city to move the capital to in the south. Let's take a look at the period when the capital was moved to Nanjing. Song, Qi, Liang and Chen were the Northern and Southern Dynasties among the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The northern region of Wu State also had the Cao Wei regime. However, when the Ming Dynasty established its capital, the northern region was still under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. It can be seen that Nanjing, as the imperial capital, was generally in a period of separation between the north and the south. And I think this is why the lifespan of Nanjing was so short when the capital was established. In ancient China, unification wars were generally from north to south, and the southern region could not defeat the northern region. Therefore, Nanjing, as the capital of the separatist parties in the southern region, is usually destroyed after a period of stalemate.