The archaeological site of Huating, located in the southwestern part, was inhabited as long as 5,000 years ago. During the Zhou dynasty, its southern territory was dominated by a minor state: Zhongwu, which was variously annexed to Wu, Yue and Chu.[1] Two counties designated Siwu and Jianlin were established in its southern part and northern part in the West Han, both counties were dissolved during the Southern and Northern dynasties, and the major region was administrated by Suqian.[2][3] The borders among then Suqian, Shuyang, Donghai along with Pizhou were merged and became a separated county in 1949. It named after the seat, Xin'an (新安) town, but was renamed Xinyi, a river flowing through its area, in 1952, because of its namesake in Henan.[4][5] The county was converted to a county-level city in 1990.
