Jìnghǎi

Jinghai was the county at the seat of Tongzhou near the Yangtze estuary, in the area of present-day Nantong. Tongzhou was established in 958 and governed Jinghai and Haimen. Early in the Ming dynasty Jinghai county was absorbed into the prefecture itself, so its later history is bound to the directly administered town and countryside rather than to a separate county government.

The city's defences changed repeatedly. Early Ming commanders enlarged it, adding three water gates and drawbridges outside the land gates. In 1598 Wang Zhicheng began rebuilding the walls in stone against maritime raiders; work finished the next year. Expansion gave the fortified town an elongated, gourd-like outline. In 1724 Tongzhou became an independent department and gained jurisdiction over Rugao and Taixing. Its surroundings also developed specialised market towns: Lusi distributed fish and salt, while Juegang handled salt, cotton, rice and cocoons. Jinghai combined a fortified administrative centre with an estuarine network of production and exchange.