Jiādìng

Jiading became a centre of literary and artistic work in Ming Jiangnan. Zhu He, his son Zhu Ying and grandson Zhu Zhizheng formed the celebrated Three Zhus of its bamboo-carving tradition. Their work crossed the boundaries between carving, painting and calligraphy. An album associated with Zhu Zhizheng also preserves works by Jiading's circle of scholar-artists, including Cheng Jiasui, Li Liufang and Lou Jian.

The county's learned culture extended to recording its own past. Du Mu compiled the Illustrated Records of Lianchuan; a surviving letter shows him asking the collector Zhu Cunli to lend a draft Jiading chronicle for consultation. Such scholarly exchange existed alongside episodes of violence. Residents fought coastal raiders during the Jiajing reign, and at the beginning of Qing rule Hou Tongzeng and Huang Chunyao led resistance before Qing troops subjected Jiading to repeated massacres.