Programme: Museum Exploration Tour for Hong Kong
and Macau Youth
Partner Institution: Nanjing University
Period: June 4—11, 2023
"The Six Dynasties flourished, and Jinling was like a dream.(六朝繁華，金陵如夢。)”
We want to thank Nanjing University for their hospitality and guidance. We visited the Nanjing University History Museum and had lunch in the Nanjing University canteen. Although our visit was brief, we were able to see part of the campus, which differed from ours and gave me a better understanding of universities on the Mainland.
As a student majoring in Chinese History, most of my knowledge of Nanjing comes from historical records. Sun Quan founded the Eastern Wu at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. When he moved the capital to Jianye, Nanjing became one of the most important historical stages and was also known as Jinling and Jiangning. Although the Six Dynasties were long ago, collections in the Shitoucheng Ruins Park and the Six Dynasties Museum still allow us to glimpse a corner of history today.
Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty with Yingtian as its capital and built the city of Nanjing the following year. The city walls, the Imperial Palace, and the Ming Mausoleum were built during this dynasty. We can still stand on the walls and look out over Xuanwu Lake to see the names of the artisans who made the bricks, but we can only find the remains of the once magnificent stone pillars in the Ming Imperial Palace Ruins Park.
We visited the Imperial Examination Museum and the area around the Qinhuai River, gaining a better understanding of the development of the imperial examination system and the Jiangnan Tribute Institute during the Ming and Qing dynasties. We also visited the Presidential Palace and an exhibition on the life of Dr. Sun Yat-sen to gain an intuitive understanding of Dr. Sun's experiences before and after the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing. We visited the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum to pay tribute to Dr. Sun.
Of course, we also appreciated modern Nanjing's development, including the commercial areas of Xinjiekou and Laomendong. The Nanjing Sidewalk Snack Booth was well worth trying. We are very grateful to the Office of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau Affairs of Nanjing University and our leading teacher, Mr. Tang, for making our stay in Nanjing and Yangzhou a fulfilling and enjoyable week.
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