On the Jiangsu coast, economic and development activities
appeared early because of its rich resources; sea salt industry was
one of the earliest activities of the large-scale coastal development.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, sea salt industry became a
major mode of land use here. In the 15e19th centuries, all Jiangsu
coastal saltworks (collectively called the Lianghuai Saltworks in
historical period) represented one of the most important saltworks
in the entire empire. This large enterprise included two groups, i.e.,
Huaibei and Huainan Saltworks. There was a geographic boundary
between them: their areas for salt production were divided by the
Huanghe River. They included about 30 branches, which were
subjected to management adjustments. There were 25 saltworks
along the coastline in the Ming Dynasty and 23 saltworks in the
Qing Dynasty (Fig. 2). There were 15,599 basic production units
known as Tingchangs (they were ranked as the lowest within the
hierarchy of the salt production group) in the later Ming Dynasty.
This number became 21,342 in the Jiaqing period (AD1796e1820)
of the Qing Dynasty.