Changing ＂Northern Jiangsu＂： A Conceptual past lives

　　The Yangtze River rolls eastward into the sea, running through Jiangsu and dividing it into north and south. Northern Jiangsu, one of the most complicated regional concepts in China, has multiple meanings such as politics, economy, society and culture. It was born soon, but it has far-reaching influence. Around the division of northern Jiangsu, there is no agreement, and there has been endless debate so far; The impression of northern Jiangsu is rigid and often linked to poverty.

　　An evolution history of northern Jiangsu, a rise and fall song of Huai ‘an. Standing at a brand-new historical starting point focusing on building a "green highland, a new hub city" and building a modern central city in the northern part of the Yangtze River Delta in an all-round way, we need to look back on the past lives in northern Jiangsu and re-recognize this life in northern Jiangsu.

Photo by He Jinghua

　　A recent geographical term

　　The word "northern Jiangsu" is not far away. On March 12, 1903, the words "Northern Jiangsu steamship" appeared on a steamship timetable, which was the name of a steamship of the German Chanchenhang steamship company — — It can be seen that the concept of northern Jiangsu has already appeared at that time.

　　On March 16th, 1912, in Shenbao, northern Jiangsu appeared as a specific area in the article "The Famine Situation in China Announced by President Tahoe": "Every time the Yangtze River Basin and several rivers in northern Jiangsu were flooded, it was worth the hardships and rains for months, so that the dikes along the river were completely washed away, the fields became Zeguo, and the sowing valleys were all submerged." At this time, northern Jiangsu and Yangtze River Basin are two terms describing geographical features.

　　What really brings "Northern Jiangsu" into public view is administrative division. At the end of 1942, the party committees and military regions of Huaihai and Yanfu merged to form the Subei District Committee, Subei Military Region and Subei Administrative Office. Huang Kecheng served as the party secretary, commander and political commissar of Subei Military Region. In 1949, after the liberation of Jiangsu, with the Yangtze River as the boundary, there were two administrative offices in southern Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu and Nanjing municipality directly under the central government, which consisted of three regions. By 1953, the "Jiangsu Province" of new China was established, and these three parts were put together again.

　　"Lu Fangqian is hereby appointed as a member of the Land Reform Committee of the People’s Administration Office of Northern Jiangsu." In the memorial hall of the former site of the Jiangsu-Anhui Border Government, a notice of appointment signed by Premier Zhou Enlai in 1951 directly shows that "Northern Jiangsu" once existed as an administrative unit. Yu Jianshan, the information section chief of the memorial hall, said that the two administrative offices in southern Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu are the only administrative divisions named after "southern Jiangsu" and "northern Jiangsu" in China’s history, and they are also the source and basic cognition of modern people on the concepts of "southern Jiangsu" and "northern Jiangsu".

　　A complicated historical cause

　　Northern Jiangsu has existed since ancient times. Why was it separated from southern Jiangsu in the 20th century?

　　In fact, the intuitive definition of northern Jiangsu — — The area north of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu has been widely questioned. During the Republic of China, most observers believed that there were obvious differences between the northern and central areas of northern Jiangsu, that is, between the northern and southern areas of the old Huaihe River in Jiangsu. For example, Wang Peitang and Li Changfu wrote in 1930s that the two areas north of the Yangtze River are completely different, one is called Subei, and the other is Huaibei. The former is close to Jiangnan economically and culturally, while the latter is close to Anhui and Shandong. Wang Peitang pointed out that the Huaihe River is the boundary river between rice producing areas and wheat producing areas. People in the north of the Yangtze River and south of the Huaihe River, like the residents in the south of the Yangtze River, mainly live on rice.

　　Geographical definition is vague, and language is equally elusive. Generally speaking, the dialects spoken by people in northern and southern Jiangsu belong to completely different language families and are difficult to understand each other. However, a survey of Jiangsu dialect in 1960 included Nanjing, Jiangning, Jurong, Lishui and Zhenjiang in the south of the Yangtze River and Yangzhou, Yancheng, Funing and Gaoyou in the north of Jiangsu Province in the same dialect area.

　　The diversity of cultural life highlights the fuzziness of southern Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu. For example, although Jingjiang is located in the north of the Yangtze River, many Jiangnan customs prevailed there. During the Republic of China, women cut their hair short, wore cheongsam and celebrated the Spring Festival according to Jiangnan customs.

　　How can a northern Jiangsu province with vague boundaries and contradictory definitions be deeply rooted in people’s consciousness? Han Qilan, a scholar, made a profound analysis in the book Su Beiren in Shanghai, 1850-1980, arguing that northern Jiangsu is not an objective place, but represents a belief in the geographical, cultural, linguistic and economic homogeneity of a specific region. The author thinks that there is another standard to define northern Jiangsu, that is, the poor are northern Jiangsu. "A place called northern Jiangsu only appeared when northern Jiangsu became poorer than southern Jiangsu."

　　This statement undoubtedly explains why northern Jiangsu was born very late. Because, in ancient times, it has always been a prosperous and rich place. Take Huai ‘an as an example. It used to be the seat of the governor’s office of grain transportation in the Qing Dynasty. On the Grand Canal, there were sails and merchants. It was once one of the most prosperous cities in China, but it only declined in the middle of the 19th century. In fact, the decline of northern Jiangsu is not a man-made disaster for two main reasons: inland river transportation was replaced by sea transportation, and some towns in northern Jiangsu lost their importance as transportation and commercial centers; The Yellow River was diverted in 1853, and later the Huaihe River flowed into Hongze Lake, and there was no outflow channel, which led to frequent floods and famine in northern Jiangsu since the mid-1910 s.

　　Han Qilan further explained the birth path of the word "Northern Jiangsu": "The economic gap led to a large number of farmers moving south, where a lower class was formed. They speak a dialect with a northern accent, which is contrary to Wu dialect. In the eyes of Jiangnan residents, they are all a type of northerners. ‘ Subei ’ It is very likely to be a label to describe the immigrant population in Jiangnan and Shanghai, not to describe the region, so it is not surprising to define northern Jiangsu with a series of often contradictory standards. "

　　An outdated regional division

　　Looking back at history, it is not difficult to see that northern Jiangsu is not an objective geographical concept, but a subjective belief formed by the economic gap in people’s minds. Belief, not immutable, can be produced out of thin air with the decline of northern Jiangsu, and will surely disappear in the long river of history with the rise of economy.

　　In fact, with the improvement of traffic location and the superposition of national strategies, this regional division in northern Jiangsu has become increasingly out of date.

　　He Wei, a professor at Huai ‘an Development Research Institute of Huaiyin Normal University, believes that the direct factor of Huai ‘an’s decline in modern times is the traffic disadvantage. However, in recent years, with the overlapping implementation of national strategies such as the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, the Grand Canal Cultural Belt and the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt, Huai ‘an has been clearly defined as a national comprehensive transportation hub, and the Huaihe River Eco-economic Belt has led the city and air cargo hub, and it has been included in the "Golden Triangle" of logistics in northern Jiangsu, which indicates that Huai ‘an’s location conditions and strategic advantages are being recovered, and then

　　"The poverty in northern Jiangsu is a prejudice." Shi Xiusong, executive director of the Northern Jiangsu Development Research Institute of Huaiyin Institute of Technology, said that Jiangsu is the most balanced province in China. Statistics show that the economic gap between southern Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu is 2.7 times, and the economic gap between Guangdong, Pearl River Delta and northwestern Guangdong, both developed provinces, is more than 9 times. Looking at the whole country, cities in northern Jiangsu are among the best in other provinces. Shi Xiusong believes that the economic development speed of northern Jiangsu has been leading in the province for many years. As the gap between the north and the south is narrowing, the future Jiangsu will not use the name of the north and the south to make the region poor and rich, but should seek common development based on the difference of functions.

　　Dividing regions by function coincides with the "1+3" strategy that Jiangsu is vigorously promoting. This strategy redefines the development map of Jiangsu, in which "1" is the Yangtze River urban agglomeration composed of eight cities along the Yangtze River; "3" refers to the coastal economic belt of Lianyungang, Yancheng and Nantong, the Jianghuai Ecological Economic Zone composed of Suqian, Huai ‘an and parts of Central Jiangsu, and the central city of building Xuzhou into Huaihai Economic Zone. Last year, the 14th provincial Party Congress clearly stated, "Advance at a higher level ‘ 1+3’ The construction of key functional areas will make greater efforts to promote the coordinated development of the whole province and promote the higher quality and integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. "

　　It can be seen that a new Jiangsu that pursues regional linkage development, characteristic development and balanced development is being reconstructed, and the regional division of "Northern Jiangsu" is more out of date.

　　A blueprint for the development of Qvanxian Zhang

　　The positioning of "Northern Jiangsu" is out of date, and Huai ‘an blueprint needs to be redrawn urgently.

　　In recent years, many cities in northern Jiangsu have proposed to break through the "northern Jiangsu consciousness" and "prefecture-level city thinking". For example, Xuzhou proposed to draw development momentum in the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, gather more elements from the central area, and build a central city in the northern wing of the Yangtze River Delta; Lianyungang proposed a demonstration from the bridgehead of Eurasia to the fulcrum and benchmark of the "Belt and Road" initiative, from being among the three major areas of Jiangsu Free Trade Zone to being listed as a national hub port; Suqian is speeding up the construction of the pioneering zone of reform and innovation, the advanced manufacturing base in the Yangtze River Delta, the Jiangsu Ecological Park and the national civilized and honest highland … …

　　Work hard and time waits for no one. Facing the major historical issues of future development, Huai ‘an comprehensively examines its position and puts forward the goal of focusing on building a "green highland and a hub new city" and building a modern central city in the northern Yangtze River Delta in an all-round way. This goal is put forward under the great logic and background of profoundly grasping the new development stage, implementing the new development concept and building a new development pattern, which is both forward-looking and feasible. The Fourth Plenary Session of the Eighth CPC Central Committee once again proposed to deeply integrate into the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, highlight the interconnection of infrastructure, industrial cooperation and complementarity, and the co-construction and sharing of public services and functional carriers, closely cooperate with key cities in the central area such as Shanghai, Nanjing and Suzhou, and gather more resources in the high-energy open platform.

　　As Chen Zhichang, secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, said, docking and integration into the Yangtze River Delta will not only help Huai ‘an better promote the national strategy, but also undertake the transfer of high-quality industries, factor flow and radiation in the central area of the Yangtze River Delta. It will also enable us to broaden our horizons and change our concepts in the process of docking and integration, and consciously use the thinking and vision planning of the Yangtze River Delta to lead Huai ‘an’s development. Moreover, the national plan clearly includes Jiangsu as a whole into the integrated development scope of the Yangtze River Delta. Huai ‘an has truly become a member of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, a key node and main channel for connecting the central area with northern Jiangsu, and also a leader and link for linking relevant cities in the Huaihe River Ecological Economic Belt to the west. It can be said that Huai ‘an docking into the Yangtze River Delta has a good foundation and conditions, which is conducive to enhancing its position and influence in the regional pattern.

　　"Openness has contributed to the prosperity of Huai ‘an’s history, and the lack of openness has restricted Huai ‘an’s current development. Only by actively embracing openness and continuously expanding openness can we broaden our horizons, connect with the frontier and enhance our skills, make new friends, master new information and gather new resources, and make the city more attractive, make cadres more confident and make the masses love Huai ‘an more." The Fourth Plenary Session of the Eighth Municipal Party Committee once again drummed for the pursuit of the dream of urban rejuvenation. From the migration of refugees to the overflow of industries to the north, from the opposition between the rich and the poor to the integration of development, the significance of northern Jiangsu to Shanghai has quietly changed, and the era of Huai’ an’s integration into the Yangtze River Delta and the realization of the dream of urban rejuvenation is accelerating.