Tai'erzhuang Ancient Town was built during the Qin dynasty and the township was within the Xu and Biyang borders. It had been an area disputed amongst the feudal lords of Wu, Yue, Lu, Song, Qi and Chu. Archeological records confirmed that the Ancient Biyang City had been a water city over 2,000 years ago. It was listed as an “Important Historical Monuments under Special Preservation” in 2006. During the Qin, Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties, the canal was divided into Fuyang and Lanling counties. After Yongjia had shifted south, Fuyang County had merged into Lu County and was later renamed Shouzhang County. After the Eastern Wei period, the township came under the administration of Cheng County, which later merged with Lanling County, and came to be known as Lanling County, Yizhou and Yi County successively. During the Tang Dynasty, the family of Tai formed a village here and called it Taijiazhuang (Tai Family Village). Zhunti Court, situated outside the northern gate of the township, was built in the late Tang Dynasty and is the oldest structure in the history of Tai’erzhuang. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Di Qing, Su Shi and others had successively presided over the large-scale development of Xuzhou (known as Pengcheng in ancient times) and its iron ore industry. Taierzhuang began to assume an important role in the transportation of iron ore and was thus called the Peng River, or more commonly known as the Iron-Ferrying River, New River and Central Gutter. Tai'erzhuang prospered during Emperor Wanli's reign in the Ming Dynasty as a result of the change in the course of the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal to prevent flooding. The town was developed into a market town during the Yuan Dynasty when several buildings were constructed, including the Sanhuang Temple and Xuandi temple. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Tajiazhuang had a total population of 2,000 inhabitants. The name "Taierzhuang" had taken root in the 12th year of Chongzhen (1639) because of the canal defense monument which had been set up in Huanglin Village, in the southeastern direction of Taierzhuang. Due to the diversion of the Yellow River, the section between Xuzhou to Huai'an had once been part of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal during the Ming and Yuan Dynasties. However, frequent floods along the Yellow River were a major disruption to water transport, thus giving rise to the idea of "opening up Jia river to strengthen the canal". This was advocated by Weng Dali in 1570 and was formally approved in 1600. Construction began in the following year and by 1610, Jia River had completely replaced the Yellow River Canal, becoming the country's economic lifeline and golden waterway. Historically, the water level at the lower reaches of the Tai’erzhuang section of the canal was 21 meters lower than the water level at the mouth of Weishan Lake. The significant difference resulted in rushing water. As the source of water was mainly from Weishan Lake, eight lock gates were constructed during the opening up of the Jia River to manage the threat of high water. Among them, the Taizhuang Gate was located on the southern side of Tai’erzhuang and was the first lock gate seen by ships when travelling from Jiangsu to Shandong. The establishment of the Taizhuang Gate forced merchants to stop over at the town, resulting in a large influx of people and goods. Ample opportunities for commerce and trade propelled the rapid rise of Tai’erzhuang's socio-economy, as well as its development into a strategic location to guard Lunan and Xuzhou from floods, and an important trading port between the north and the south. Due to Tai’erzhuang’s strategic role in the defense, maintenance and management of the Grand Canal, a governor was appointed in 1604 to oversee the area. Troops were stationed and administrative offices were established, making Tai’erzhuang the regional city center. 5 major river management units were successively established during the Ming and Qing dynasties, namely the General River Institute, the East Yan Channel, Jia River Hall, Yi flood control and the Taizhuang gate. An inspection office was also set up and government officials of various ranks were stationed in Tai’erzhuang. During the Qing Dynasty (1647), the city stretched over 1.1 km along the river and had a width of 1 km. In 1857, a new wall was built on the old foundation and was raised by columns to reach a height of 4 meters. The city walls were slightly inclined and was nearly 3 meters wide at the top. Tai’erzhuang had a total of 6 gates: Yangsheng on its eastern side, Taicheng Jiuzhi on its western side, Zhongzheng on its northern end and Huidiji on its southern side. In addition, Cheng’en Zhanlu was known as its Little North Gate and Yingxiang was known as its Little South Gate. The 4 larger gates had 2 stories and were about 7 meters high, with watchtowers and thoroughfares which were wide enough for large carts. The moat was 9 meters away from the city wall, 10 meters wide and 2 meters deep, with a circumference of 5.7 km. On the eve of the Tai’erzhuang Battle, there were 8 streets, 13 docks, 437 alleyways, 5,000 households and 20,000 houses in the ancient city. Unfortunately, the ancient city was ruined completely during the battle of Tai’erzhuang in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938.