Huai'an

The climate in Huai'an is mild, generally warm and temperate. Winters are much drier than in summer. Its Köppen climate classification is Cwa: humid subtropical climate with dry winters.

Huai'an lies southeast of the cradle of early Chinese civilization on the Wei and Yellow Rivers. Modern Chinese archaeology has found remains from Neolithic civilizations in the area as far back as the 4th millennium BC. The most famous of these is the Qinglianggang culture (青莲岗文化). Traditional Chinese historiography considered the area part of the Dongyi or "Eastern Barbarians", but Chinese myth sometimes extended the flood control efforts of Yu the Great to the Huai.

Under the Zhou, the area became an important agricultural center contested by the petty kingdoms of the Spring and Autumn Period. In 486 BC, the hegemon Fuchai of Wu completed the Han or Hangou Canal (t 邗溝, s 邗沟, Hángōu), connecting his center of power at Suzhou near the Yangtze Delta with the Huai River at Huai'an to ease his supply lines in conflicts against Qi. Increasing in commercial and strategic importance, the town also became a waypoint on the Qian and Shan Roads. During the Warring States Period, the area was held in turn by Wu, Yue, and Chu before being conquered by Shi Huangdi of Qin.

Huai'an Prefecture's central offices in imperial times

Wentong Pagoda

Under the Qin, the area of present-day Huai'an was administered as the counties or districts of Huaiyin (with its seat at present-day Matou in Huaiyin), Xuyi, and Dongyang (with its seat at present-day Maba in Xuyi). Its people joined the rebels who overthrew the Qin, prominently including Han Xin.

Under the Han, the counties of Huaipu (with its seat in western Lianshui), Sheyang (with its seat in southeastern Huai'an), and Fulin (with its seat now under the waters of Hongze Lake) were added.

In Jian'an 5 (c. 200), near the beginning of the Three Kingdoms Period, the Guangling commander Chen Deng—then subordinate to Lü Bu—constructed the first 30-li section of the Gaojia Dike (高家堰, Gāojiāyàn) to minimize damage from flooding along the Huai.[6] He also expanded the Hangou Canal westward and combined the small Fuling lakes into a single Pofu Pond to assist with irrigation.

Under the Sui, the Hangou Canal was expanded north and south to establish the Grand Canal, increasing traffic and trade through the city. Emperor Yang was also responsible for changing Pofu's name to the present-day Hongze Lake out of his delight at rainfall there, encountered after an inspection tour through drought-afflicted areas.[7]

During the Song, Kaifeng's governor Du Chong (杜充, Dù Chōng, d. 1141) breached the levees holding back the Yellow River in 1128 as part of the ongoing wars with the Jurchen Jin further north. A series of massive floods, manmade and natural, then caused it to capture the Si River and begin flowing into the lower reaches of the Huai. The massive amounts of silt greatly expanded the farmland to the east of Huai'an but also greatly expanded Hongze Lake[8] and caused repeated and disastrous floods despite centuries of attempts at river management by Pan Jixun and similar viceroys,[6] often based within modern Huai'an.

The Ming Dynasty Ancestral Tomb (明祖陵, Míngzǔlíng) is located in Xuyi. Now part of Huai'an, the area around it was administered as the separate Sizhou Prefecture during the Yuan, when it was the home of the family of the future Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Although his family moved to Fengyang in present-day Anhui before his birth, he erected a large mausoleum in honor of his grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather after his establishment of the Ming. The site's was entirely submerged—along with the entire city of Sizhou—in 1680. It did not reappear above water until the early 1960s.[9]

The original Qing Yan Garden was first built during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing.

The area was occupied by the Japanese army during World War II and administered as part of Wang Jingwei's puppet regime.

During the closing phases of the Chinese Civil War, it fell to the Communist army in December 1948. On 21 April 1949, the area was reorganized as Huaiyin District and divided into the 10 counties of Guanyun, Huaiyin, Huaibao (western Huai'an and Baoyin with its seat at Chahe), Lianshui, Pisui (southern Pixian and northern Suining with its seat at Tushan), Shuyang, Siyang, Suining, Suqian, and Xin'an (parts of Shuyang and Suqian with its seat at Xin'an).

On 12 May 1950, Huaibao County was divided between Huaiyin County, Huai'an County in Yancheng District, and Baoyin County in Yangzhou District. On December 18th of the same year, the urban area of Huaiyin was separately organized as Qingjiang City, which became the seat for the district. Huaiyin District joined Jiangsu upon its reestablishment in January 1953. Xin'an County was renamed Xinyi and the seat of Pisui County was moved to Yunhe. Later the same year, Pisui, Suining, and Xinyi Counties were placed under the administration of Xuzhou District. Qingjiang was separately elevated to a prefecture-level city despite still being subordinate to Huaiyin District. Shortly thereafter, the district added Huai'an County from Yancheng, Sihong County from Suxian, and Xuyi County from Chuxian District in Anhui. In 1956, Hongze County was established from parts of Huaiyin, Sihong, and Xuyi Counties, with its seat at Gaoliangjian. In 1957, parts of Guanyun and Lianshui Counties were organized as the Xian'an Administrative Office, which shortly became the separate Guannan County. In 1958, Qingjiang absorbed the surrounding more rural Huaiyin County but was renamed Huaiyin City.

In 1964, Huaiyin County was again separated but kept its seat in the urban area, which again became Qingjiang. In 1966, Xuyi County was transferred to Luhe District.

In 1970, Huaiyin District became the Huaiyin Region. The next year, Xuyi was transferred back from the Luhe Region. Luhe also yielded Jinhu County. In 1975, Huaiyin County's administration moved from Qingjiang to Wangyin.

In 1983, the Huaiyin Region became the directly-administered Huaiyin City, with its urban core losing the separate name Qingjiang and being instead divided into Qinghe and Qingpu Districts. Most of the Huaiyin Region's counties—Guannan, Huai'an, Huaiyin, Hongze, Jinhu, Lianshui, Shuyang, Sihong, Siyang, Suqian, Xuyi—were placed under the city's administration while the last—Guanyun County—was placed under Lianyungang. In December 1987, Huai'an and Suqian Counties were promoted to county-level cities.

In 1996, the county-level city of Suqian was promoted to prefecture-level, taking Sihong, Siyang, and Shuyang Counties along with it. Guannan County was separately placed under the administration of Lianyungang.

On 21 December 2000, the prefecture-level city of Huaiyin was renamed Huai'an. The Huaiyin County and the county-level Huai'an City became Huaiyin and Huai'an Districts and the various districts' and counties' borders slightly adjusted in different ways. In October 2016, Qinghe and Qingpu reunited to form the city's current Qingjiangpu District.

• "Hongze Lake Scenic Zone", Official site, Huai'an: Huai'an Municipal Government, 5 February 2018.
• "Hongze Lake", Official site, Suqian: Sihong Hongze Lake Wetland Scenic Area, 3 September 2020.
• "Hongze Lake Embankment", Official site, Suqian: Sihong Hongze Lake Wetland Scenic Area, 7 September 2020.
• Danielson, Eric N. (December 2008), "The Ming Ancestor Tomb", China Heritage Quarterly, Canberra: Australian National University.
• Nieuhof, Johan (1665), L'Ambassade de la Compagnie Orientale des Provinces Unies vers l'Empereur de la Chine... (in French), Amsterdam: Jacob de Meurs.