The establishment of Jiangsu as a province dates back to the 6th year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign in the Qing Dynasty (1667). Jiangsu’s “jiang” was picked up from “Jiangning” (江宁) and “su” from “Suzhou” (苏州), and Jiangsu was usually abbreviated as “Su” (苏).

According to the chapter The Tribute to Yu in the Book of Documents (one of the five ancient Confucian classics), the territory of Jiangsu today belonged to Xuzhou and Yangzhou among the nine administrative divisions of China in ancient times. During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), the regions of the province were parts of the states of Qi, Lu, Song, Wu and Chu. They then belonged to the states of Yue and Chu during the Warring States Period (770-221 BC). The Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) adopted the system of prefectures and counties. Within Jiangsu, the part in the south of the Yangtze River belonged to Kuaiji Prefecture, while the northern part belonged to Donghai Prefecture and Sishui Prefecture. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 8), prefectures and states coexisted. The whole province belonged to the states of Chu, Jing, Wu, Guangling and Sishui, and the prefectures of Kuaiji, Danyang, Donghai, Linhuai, Langya and Pei chronologically. In the 5th year of the Yonghe Period (AD 140) in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220), the part in the south of the Yangtze River belonged to Yangzhou and the part in the north belonged to Xuzhou. During the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-280), it belonged to the Wu State in the south and the Wei State in the north. In the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty (AD 265-317), once again the south belonged to Yangzhou and the north belonged to Xuzhou. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420) and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-589), the province was generally divided apart by the Huaihe River into the southern part belonging to the Southern Dynasty and the northern part belonging to the Northern Dynasty. After the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) united the whole country, the province was divided into Suzhou, Changzhou, Jiangzhou (now Nanjing), Runzhou (now Zhenjiang), Yangzhou, Fangzhou (now Luhe), Chuzhou, Pizhou, Sizhou, Haizhou and Xuzhou before later being re-divided into Wu, Piling, Danyang, Jiangdu, Xiapi, Donghai and Pengcheng prefectures. The Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) divided the whole country into 10 regions. Jiangsu belonged to Henan Region, Huainan Region and East Jiangnan Region. During the Five Dynasties Period (AD 907-960), Xuzhou to the north of the Huaihe River belonged to the Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou Dynasties in succession. Suzhou to the south of the Yangtze River belonged to the Qian’s family of the Kingdom of Wu-Yue, while other parts belonged to Yangwu and Southern Tang in sequence. In the 1st year of the Zhenghe Period (AD 1111) in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 960-1127), the province belonged to Jiangnan East Lu, Liangzhe Lu, Huainan East Lu, Jingdong East Lu and Jingdong West Lu. Then the Song royal family sailed southward, standing against the Jin Dynasty which seized the northern part of the Huaihe River later occupied by Mongolia, while the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1127-1279) held the southern part of the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River. The Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368) adopted the system of province and Jiangsu fell into the jurisdiction of Jianghuai Province, Jiangzhe Province and Henan Province in chronological order. 

The Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644), in its early years, established its capital in Yingtian, which was called first Nanjing and later Jingshi and then back to Nanjing after Emperor Zhu Di relocated the capital to Beijing. The local government in Nanjing administered the region roughly covering the present Jiangsu Province, Anhui Province and Shanghai. Early in the Qing Dynasty (AD 1636-1912), Nanjing’s administrative position was abolished and the area originally administered by Nanjing was renamed as Jiangnan Province. In the 6th year of the Kangxi Period (AD 1667), Jiangnan Province was split into Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province. At the very beginning, Jiangsu governed seven prefectures including Jiangning, Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Huai’an and Yangzhou plus the county of Xuzhou, with the seat of the provincial government found in Suzhou. At the end of Qing Dynasty, it had under its jurisdiction eight prefectures, three directly-ruled counties and one directly-ruled department. In 1927, the national government established Nanjing as the capital and set Nanjing and Shanghai which were both within the jurisdiction of Jiangsu as special cities directly under the rule of the central government.

In June 1949, the whole province of Jiangsu was liberated. Subei (north Jiangsu), Sunan (south Jiangsu) and Nanjing were established as three provincial-level administrative regions. Later in January 1953, the three regions were integrated into Jiangsu Province whose capital was set in Nanjing. The Province governed six cities including Nanjing, Wuxi, Xuzhou, Changzhou, Suzhou and Nantong as well as eight special regions including Songjiang, Suzhou, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Nantong, Huaiyin, Yancheng and Xuzhou. In 1983, Jiangsu adopted the city-ruling-county system and set up 11 cities, namely Nanjing, Wuxi, Xuzhou, Changzhou, Suzhou, Nantong, Lianyungang, Huaiyin (renamed as Huai’an in 2001), Yancheng, Yangzhou and Zhenjiang. In 1996, another two cities of Taizhou and Suqian were founded. By the end of 2023, there had been 13 prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu.