What is the definition of Jiangnan?

There was a saying of Jiangnan in the pre-Qin period. "Historical Records of Qin Benji" also contains: "In the 30 th year of Qin Dynasty, Shu defended Ruochu and took Wujun, and Jiangnan was the county in central Guizhou." The early appearance of Jiangnan refers to the whole of Hunan and part of southern Hubei. Qian Daxin thinks that "Jiangdong" in the cloud "Jiangdong is small, but my elders in Jiangdong pity me" in Biography of Xiang Yu is a part of Jiangnan now. Wang Mang once changed Yidu County to Jiangnan County, which is the Yidu area in Hubei today. "The Biography of Liu Biao in the Later Han Dynasty" records that "Jiangnan thieves flourished ... only Jiangxia thieves Zhang Zhuang and Chen Zuo supported troops according to Xiangyang City, indicating that Yue and Pang Ji were better than each other. Jiangnan Xiping. " Until the Sui Dynasty, the Central Plains was still the center of geographical coordinates, and Jiangnan often referred to the area south of the Yangtze River in Hunan and Hubei.

Jiangnan Road was established in the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (627). Jiangnan Road is completely south of the Yangtze River. Later, in the twenty-first year of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (733), it was divided into Jiangnan East Road, Jiangnan West Road and Guizhou Middle Road, which became the beginning of defining the meaning of modern Jiangnan. Later, Jiangnan became the proper name of Jiangdong area. The evolution of administrative divisions named after "Jiangnan" in history;

After the Tang Dynasty, the term Jiangnan included the vast areas along the Yangtze River and Jiangnan, including Jingzhou (southeastern Hubei and Hunan) and Yangzhou (Jiangxi, southern Anhui, Fujian, southern Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang, not Yangzhou today).

Jiangnan West Road (southeastern Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi, southern Anhui) and Jiangnan East Road (Fujian, southern Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang) were established in the Tang Dynasty.

Jiangnan West Road (most of Jiangxi, southeastern Hubei) and Jiangnan East Road (northeastern Jiangxi, southern Anhui and Nanjing) were established in the Song Dynasty.

1645, the Qing court established jiangnan province here, 1667, which was divided into Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province. But jiangnan province includes not only parts of the south of the Yangtze River, but also large areas north of the Yangtze River (Huaibei and Subei).

In the Qing Dynasty, the Governor's Office of Two Rivers was established, which governed Jiangsu Province (including Shanghai), Anhui Province and Jiangxi Province. The two rivers included jiangnan province (now Jiangsu, Anhui and Shanghai) and Jiangxi Province.

The definition of modern Jiangnan can be divided into Jiangnan and Jiangnan.

Great Jiangnan refers to the whole area south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, namely southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang, southern Anhui, southwestern Jiangxi, southern Hunan and southern Hubei. Some areas in Fujian are sometimes called Jiangnan. The definition of "Great Jiangnan" begins with the ancient division (Jiangnan Road) and is often described in literary works. For example, Du Fu's Random Encounter Li Guinian was written in Changsha. The Jiangnan referred to in the weather forecast is roughly the Jiangnan zone in a broad sense. Three famous buildings in the south of the Yangtze River (Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Yueyang Tower in Yueyang and Wangtengting Pavilion in Nanchang) are all located in the south of the Yangtze River.

Xiaojiangnan generally refers to southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang and parts of southern Anhui. This concept probably began in the Eastern Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, took shape in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and then changed. The core area of Xiaojiangnan is the southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang areas of Taihu Lake basin, including the traditional six southern provinces, namely Suzhou, Changzhou, Songjiang, Jiaxing, Huzhou and Hangzhou.

However, it is not the Yangtze River basin, and it is considered to be some areas south of Taihu Lake or even south of Qiantang River, such as Shaoxing and Ningbo. Some areas north of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, such as Yangzhou, are located in the north of the Yangtze River, but their economy and culture are similar to those of Jiangnan, and sometimes they are regarded as a part of Jiangnan in the cultural sense.

Literally, Jiangnan geographically refers to the south of the Yangtze River, that is, the whole middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This probably includes three major components: Dongting Lake water system, Poyang Lake water system and Taihu Lake water system.

Meteorologically, Meiyu is the characteristic climate of Jiangnan. In addition to the most distinctive plum rain, spring rain, summer drought, rainy weather and winter cold are the main climate characteristics in Jiangnan area. This range includes not only the south of the Yangtze River and the north of Nanling, but also a large area in Jiangbei from the north of the Yangtze River to the south of Huaihe River. There are many ancient poems describing these climatic characteristics, such as "it rains in the Qingming period, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls".

In terms of geographical concept, there is also the saying of "the hills in the south of the Yangtze River". The hills south of the Yangtze River, north of Nanling Mountain, Wuyi Mountain, west of Tianmu Mountain and east of Guizhou Plateau are the general names of low mountains and hills. Generally located in central and eastern Hunan, most of Jiangxi, southern Anhui and western Zhejiang.

However, Li Bozhong believes that "Jiangnan" must be geographically integrated, that is, an area with relatively unified "natural ecological conditions" (this is based on the new theory of Shi Jianya and Shi Boyi), and it is best to belong to the same water system, so that its internal areas are closely linked.

According to this standard, the scope of Jiangnan in Ming and Qing Dynasties should be today's southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, that is, Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Jiangning, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou and Taicang in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is roughly similar to the Yangtze River Delta. This area is bordered by the sea in the east, the Yangtze River in the north, Hangzhou Bay and Qiantang River in the south, and the Anhui-Zhejiang Mountains in the west, forming a natural dividing line, all of which belong to Taihu Lake Basin.

Li Bozhong defined Jiangnan as eight provinces and one state, and some scholars adopted a looser definition, including Shaoxing and Ningbo in the south, Taizhou and Tongzhou in Yangzhou in the north, and even the whole Yangzhou.