linguistic:translation
Destruction and revival

The phoenix birds once frolicked on Phoenix Terrace, The birds are gone, the Terrace empty, and the river flows on. Flourishing flowers of Wu Palace are buried beneath dark trails; Caps and gowns of Jin times all lie in ancient mounds. The Three-peaked Mountain lies half visible under the blue sky, The two-forked stream is separated by the White-Egret Isle in the middle. Clouds always block the sun, Chang'an cannot be seen and I grieve.

— About the former opulent capital Jinling (present-day Nanjing) in the poem Climbing Phoenix Terrace at Jinling by Li Bai of the Tang dynasty

The period of division ended when the Sui dynasty reunified China and almost destroyed the entire city, turning it into a small town. The city was razed after the Sui took it over. It was renamed Shengzhou (昇州) in the Tang dynasty and resuscitated during the late Tang.

It was chosen as the capital and called Jinling (金陵) during the Southern Tang (937–976), which succeeded the state of Yang Wu. It was renamed Jiangning (江寧, "Pacified Area of the Yangtze ") in the Northern Song and renamed Jiankang in the Southern Song. Jiankang's textile industry burgeoned and thrived during the Song despite the constant threat of foreign invasions from the north by the Jurchen -led Jin dynasty. The court of Da Chu, a short-lived puppet state established by the Jurchens, and the court of Song were once in the city.

The Southern Song were eventually destroyed by the Mongols; during their rule as the Yuan dynasty, the city's status as a hub of the textile industry was further consolidated. According to Odoric of Pordenone, Chilenfu (Nanjing) had 360 stone bridges, which were finer than anywhere else in the world. It was well populated and had a large craft industry.