Shuyang County-Cedar Herald Index

Shuyang () is a county in northern Jiangsu province. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suqian. Shuyang sits on the Northern Jiangsu Plains and borders the cities of Xuzhou, Lianyungang, and Huai'an to the north, east, and south.

Shuyang is a pilot administrative division for "provinces governing county level units directly" in Jiangsu, along with Kunshan and Taixing.

Shuyang County

Etymology

The name of “Shuyang” was first officially used in 549 AD during Eastern Wei.

Shuyang County

The two Chinese characters in the county's name are “沭” and “阳”, together meaning “in the north of the Shu River”. As the government and commercial center, the county seat was chosen to be constructed in the north of Shuhe River in 549 AD in order to control the land around the river basin.

Shuyang County

History

Prior to its proclamation as the Zhou Dynasty in 1111 BC, the area around the north of Jiangsu was inhabited by the Dongyi, an ancient ethnic group that established numerous city-states. The area around Shuyang belonged to (), one of the Dongyi states.

In the late period of the Zhou Dynasty, that is Spring and Autumn period, the State of Lu began to expand its power to the south. Part of the region was officially proclaimed as the territory of the State of Lu in 582 BC after the fortress "Zhongcheng" (), was built on the northwest. This is also the first city in this place in accordance with ‘The Spring and Autumn Annals’, which was compiled by Confucius. In the Warring States period, the Chu conquered and controlled the land of this area.

After Qin's wars of unification, the Qin Dynasty was established by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Houqiu County () was founded for administrating the region and the governments of later dynasties generally followed this pattern.

In 549 AD, the imperial government of Eastern Wei abandoned the old castle and city wall and moved the local government into a new county seat near the north of Shu River. In the meantime, the county was changed to the present name, Shuyang County (). In the following 1400 years, the location of the county seat was kept constant.

As the main natural disaster in northern Jiangsu, rain storms and floods were the principle threat to the county in the old days. The castle and city wall of Shuyang was totally destroyed up to the middle of the 15th century. The government rebuilt the city wall until 1512 and was ruined by the floods subsequently. In 1594, the local government started to rebuild a substantial one with plenty of bricks and stones and it was finished in 1616.

In the early modern period, life in this region was recognised as peaceful and stable for most of the time.

The area was invaded by Imperial Japan in 1937. The ancient city wall and other pieces historic architecture were devastated at the beginning of the war.

Geography

Shuyang is in the North China Plain, located approximately from Nanjing, and from the center of Shanghai. The county stretches from east to west, and from north to south.

Shuyang is located in a low-lying plain, with most of its elevation reaching just to above sea level. Mount Han () is the highest point in Shuyang County, with an elevation of above sea level. It is located within the east of the county, in the town of .

Climate

Shuyang has a distinct four-season, monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers, and generally mild, dry winters (Köppen climate classification Cfa).

Winters are generally mild and dry. However, cold northwesterly winds from Mongolia and Siberia can cause temperatures to drop below freezing in the night, and there has been occasional snowfall in winters in recent years. Summers are hot and humid; southeasterly winds during the summer can push temperatures above . In midsummer, occasional downpours or thunderstorms can be expected.