Huáijí

Huaiji occupied a county landscape between the hills of Guangdong and Guangxi, but its Ming and Qing administration belonged to Guangxi and Wuzhou prefecture. The county seat brought together a magistracy, school and garrison. In 1397 a guard battalion was established and an earthen wall built around the town. The defences were faced with brick and stone in 1468, while further repairs followed floods and periods of conflict. Maintaining the walls drew upon both military labour and contributions from households.

Outside the town, irrigation joined official initiatives with the work of village families. The Yongzheng provincial gazetteer lists numerous weirs and ponds serving Huaiji's fields. It records that the Chen and Kong families built Gandong weir, and that a magistrate promoted Tongjia weir during the Jiajing reign; after a breach near the end of Wanli, another magistrate rebuilt it. Education likewise required repeated rebuilding. In 1801 magistrate Jiang Huan repaired the Confucian temple, moved the Minglun Hall forward and added an academy behind it. Huaiji's institutions thus grew through a succession of practical works on defences, water and schooling.