Ancient Salt Roads in Eastern China

This chapter delves into the ancient salt routes of eastern China, particularly the Huai salt route and the Zhejiang salt route, highlighting their central role in the historical socio-economic and cultural contexts of eastern China. Eastern China primarily produced sea salt, with the Lianghuai distribution area, predominantly plain terrain, known as the “national salt,” while the Liangzhe distribution area, characterized by a combination of mountains and sea, was famed for “boiled sea salt.” The research extensively covers sea salt production techniques and sales systems and deeply analyzes how the salt industry spurred the development of towns and settlements along the routes. By employing historical document excavation and GIS spatial analysis, the chapter reconstructs the distribution routes of Lianghuai and Liangzhe during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It not only reveals the salt industry’s profound impact on regional economic geography but also emphasizes how the salt economy shaped settlement patterns and architectural styles along the distribution routes, alongside a detailed analysis of numerous intangible cultural heritages. This multidimensional research enriches the understanding of the salt transportation network in eastern China’s salt-producing regions, providing comprehensive historical data and theoretical support for regional economic and cultural development and offering essential perspectives for protecting and researching related architectural heritage.