Nanjing (Chinese: 南京; Romanizations: Nánjīng (Pinyin), Nan-ching (Wade-Giles), Nanking (Postal map spelling); The city's name from the Tang Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty was Jinling (金陵).), abbreviated in Chinese as Ning ( ), is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province, and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. Nanjing (literally: 'Southern capital') served as the capital of China during several historical periods and is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Nanjing was the capital of the Republic of China before the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure, enjoying jurisdictional and economic autonomy only slightly less than that of a province.