“南京棉”和“南京布”是涉及明清社会经济史和近代对外贸易史时经常会遇及的名词。这种以“南京”命名的棉花和棉布到底出产在哪里?却是一个一直没有搞得很清楚的小小的谜。中国棉业史研究的前辈严中平先生早在他的名著《中国棉纺织史稿》中就提出过。这篇短文的目的就是想通过一些小小的考证,能够基本上搞清楚这个问题。南京棉,或者南京布,都是外来的中文译名,英文称之为Nanking Cotton或Nanking Cotton Cloth,把后者也写作Nankeen或者Nankin。它们最早是由明清时期在我国经商的西方商人称呼出来的。美国人马士(H.B.Morse)在 “Nanjing Cotton” and “Nanjing cloth” are terms that often come across in the history of the Ming and Qing socio-economic history and modern foreign trade. Where did this cotton and cotton named after “Nanjing” come from? It is a small mystery that has never been made clear. Mr. Yan Zhongping, the predecessor of the research on the history of cotton industry in China, has put forward his famous book “History of Chinese Cotton Textile”. The purpose of this essay is to try to figure out the problem basically through some small textual research. Nanjing cotton, or Nanjing cloth, are alien Chinese translation, English called Nanking Cotton or Nanking Cotton Cloth, the latter is also written as Nankeen or Nankin. They were originally named by Western businessmen who conducted business in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. American H. Maorse at