Qingjiangpu District lies on the
Jianghuai Plain created from silt deposited by the
Huai River. The area was originally held by people considered to be
Dongyi ("Eastern
Barbarians") by the
early Chinese. In 486, during the
Zhou's
Spring and Autumn period, the
hegemon Fuchai of
Wu constructed the
Hangou Canal Hángōu) between
Hancheng Hánchéng) on the
Yangtze River in present-day
Yangzhou and
Mokou Mòkǒu) on the
Huai in order to improve his supply lines during his conflicts with
Qi. This early route relied on connecting a series of flood-prone lakes and streams and was gradually improved over time. During the
Sui, it became the central course of the
Grand Canal. The situation was greatly complicated by the
Yellow River's shift south of the
Shandong Peninsula during the
Song,
capturing the lower
Si and filling the Huai's lower courses and surrounding lakes with sediment. In 1415, the existing Li Canal
Lǐ yùnhé) was expanded with the Qingjiangpu, a connecting the Qinghe Docks
Qīnghé mǎtóu) across Shanyang County
Shānyáng xiàn) with Shanyang City
Shānyáng chéng) in present-day
Huai'an District. At the time of the establishment of the
People's Republic of China in 1949, Qingjiang was the most urbanized part of present-day
Huai'an. It was separated from
Huaiyin County and elevated to the status of a
county-level city in January 1951. It was merged back into Huaiyin County in August 1958 and then separated again in October 1964. As part of the elevation of Huaiyin Prefecture to a
prefecture-level city in March 1983, Qingjiang City was divided into the separate districts of
Qinghe and
Qingpu with their border set at the Li Canal. On 8 June 2016, the
State Council approved the merger of these two districts as Qingjiangpu and this was enacted on October 8 the same year. ==Geography==