Does Jiangnan exist? Then where is it?

Jiangnan has it, but the specific scope is vague.

Jiangnan literally means Jiangnan. "Jiang" has a special meaning in Chinese, which is the Yangtze River. Jiangnan originally refers to the area south of the Yangtze River. In ancient times, Jiangnan often represented a prosperous and developed culture and education and a beautiful and rich water town scene, and the region was roughly the south bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Historian Feng Xianliang said, "Geographically, Jiangnan is undoubtedly the most prosperous area in China since modern times. But the definition and application of the word Jiangnan has never been unified since ancient times. "

Jiangnan (Little Jiangnan) in a narrow sense refers to Jiangnan East Road, excluding Fujian Province and southern Zhejiang, with Taihu Lake as the center, including Suzhou, Changzhou, Wuxi and Hangzhou. Nanjing was also the core area of Xiaojiangnan in ancient times, but because residents speak Jiangbei dialect, it is often not considered as a part of Xiaojiangnan in Wu dialect area in modern times. 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 they were once regarded as the core areas of Jiangnan. And some areas that are not in the Yangtze River basin, but are sometimes considered as small Jiangnan, are in the south of Taihu Lake and even the south of Qiantang River, such as Shaoxing and Ningbo.

Jiangnan in a broad sense originated from the division of Jiangnan Road in Tang Dynasty, which refers to the Jiangnan area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, that is, excluding Jiangnan Road in southern Hunan, southwestern Jiangxi, Guizhou and Fujian. Including the narrow sense of Jiangnan, the north of Jiangxi, the south of the Yangtze River in Hubei and the north of Hunan. Some areas in Fujian are sometimes called Jiangnan. Jiangnan in a broad sense was widely used in ancient times, for example, Du Fu wrote "Meet Li Guinian and Go Down the River" in Changsha. Jiangnan in a broad sense is also used in modern times. For example, Jiangnan in weather forecast refers to Jiangnan in a broad sense; The three famous buildings in Jiangnan (Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Yueyang Tower in Yueyang and Wangtengting Pavilion in Nanchang) refer to Jiangnan in a broad sense.

1. Region name. Generally, it refers to the south of the Yangtze River, but the meaning of each era is different: the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties refer to the south of the Yangtze River in Hubei and the area around Hunan and Jiangxi; Modern times refers to today's southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.

2. The name of this road. One of the ten ways of Tang Zhenguan. Jurisdiction over Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan and other provinces, Jiangsu, Anhui, south of the Yangtze River, Hubei, Sichuan, parts south of Chongqing, and northeast of Guizhou. In the 21st year of Kaiyuan (AD 733), there were two roads: East Road ruled Suzhou (now Suzhou), and now it governs southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. West Road governs Hongzhou (now Nanchang), Dongting Lake in Hunan, east of Zishui River Basin and west of the host city. To the west of Yuanjiang River Basin, it is divided into Guizhou Middle Road.

3. Name of the road. One of the fifteenth roads from Song to Dao. Jurisdiction over jiangning house (now Nanjing). Jurisdiction over Jiangxi province, south of Jiangsu Yangtze River, west of Zhenjiang, damao mountain and Changdang Lake, south of Anhui Yangtze River, and Yangxin and Tongshan counties in Hubei. Tianxi four years (1020), divided into east and west roads; East Road governs jiangning house, west of Anhui, south of Yangtze River, Zhenjiang of Jiangsu, damao mountain of Jiangxi, and east of Changdang Lake and Poyang Lake. West Road governs Hongzhou, Poyang Lake in Jiangxi, all places west of yingtan-Xiamen railway line, Yangxin and Tongshan counties in Hubei.

4. Ancient provincial names. In the second year of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty (1645), it was changed to Nanzhili in Ming Dynasty. Jurisdiction over jiangning house (now Nanjing). Xikang six years (1667), divided into Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. But since then, it is customary to refer to these two provinces as Jiangnan.

Jiangnan in history

There was a saying of Jiangnan in the pre-Qin period. Until the Sui Dynasty, the Central Plains was still the center of geographical coordinates, and Jiangnan often referred to Hunan and Jiangxi. The establishment of Jiangnan Road in Tang Dynasty was later divided into Jiangnan East Road, Jiangnan West Road and Guizhou Middle Road, which became the beginning of defining the meaning of modern Jiangnan. Later, Jiangdong became the proper name of Jiangnan (that is, small Jiangnan or narrow Jiangnan), and Jiangnan Road became wide Jiangnan (that is, big Jiangnan).

The evolution of administrative regions named after "Jiangnan" in history is as follows: before the Tang Dynasty, the area referred to by the word Jiangnan included Jiangnan and the vast areas along the Yangtze River, including Jingzhou (southeastern Hubei, Hunan) and Yangzhou (southern Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, southern Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang). Emperor Taizong established Jiangnan Road, covering the whole middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, south of the Yangtze River and Guizhou and Fujian. Tang Xuanzong subdivided Jiangnan Road into Jiangnan West Road (southeastern Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi, southern Anhui) and Jiangnan East Road (Fujian, southern Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang). Jiangnan West Road (most of Jiangxi, southeastern Hubei) and Jiangnan East Road (northeastern Jiangxi, southern Anhui and Nanjing) were established in the Song Dynasty. The provinces in the south of the Yangtze River were established in the early Qing Dynasty (1645- 1667), but they included a large area in the north of the Yangtze River. Later, it was divided into Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province.