Pèixiàn

Peixian belongs to the northern Jiangsu country around Xuzhou, where plains, lakes and river routes supported agricultural settlements and markets. The district also held strong historical associations with the rise of the Han dynasty, giving local places a significance within Chinese political memory. Later households relied on grain cultivation, crafts and exchanges linking villages with larger towns.

River control and canal transport shaped the county's later history. In 1565 the Yellow River breached its banks at Zhaojiakou in Pei County, silting up more than a hundred li of the Grand Canal and severely disrupting grain transport. A new canal helped relieve silting farther north, although the old route to the south remained exposed to the river.