Abstract: This paper gives a comprehensive overview of recent progress in the study of the mud area in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. The research progress in East Asian monsoon, paleoclimate, paleoceanology and the sedimentary records in response to human activities since the industrial revolution is discussed. It is found that the sensitive grain size, which was used as a proxy to Asian monsoon, may have different meanings in different areas. High-resolution paleoclimate studies in the Yellow Sea are important and should be carried out as soon as possible to explain the mechanism of the related process. Recently, the research of ancient ecosystem on the shelf has provided new references for climate change. Organic pollutants and heavy metals contamination on the shelf area could be used to reveal the environmental changes since the industrial revolution.