Jiangnan literally means the south of the river. In the concept of human geography, it specifically refers to the south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
In different historical periods, the literary images of Jiangnan are different. Jiangnan first appeared in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties. In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, it refers to the south part of the Yangtze River in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in today's Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, northeastern Jiangxi and other places with the vassal states such as Wu and Yue as the background. During the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, King Wu built the "Gusu Terrace". From then on, the word "Gusu" often appeared in the poems and lyrics of literati in the past dynasties praising the south of the Yangtze River. Su Tai is pillowed on the Wujiang River, and its layers are leaning towards the sky." Li Bai, the poet immortal, wrote "When Wu was sleeping on the Gu Su Tai, Xi Shi was drunk in the palace of King Wu" and so on. The well-known poem by Su Dongpo, the god of poetry, "If you want to compare the West Lake to the West, it is better to wear light makeup and heavy makeup." The beautiful scenery of the West Lake in the south of the Yangtze River is compared to the beauty of Xishi, which strengthens this cultural connotation. The famous line in "Jiangchengzi" by Ouyang Jiong of the Tang Dynasty, "There is a moon on the Gusu Terrace in the sky, like a mirror in the west, shining on Jiangcheng" undoubtedly embodies the pure culture born out of the historical background of Wu and Yue's struggle for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period. tenderness. Therefore, in history, Jiangnan was once called Wuyue by the Central Plains. Later, as a large number of Han people from the Central Plains moved southward, Jiangnan became a region with developed culture and education, beauty and prosperity. It reflected the ancient people's yearning for a better life and was what people thought. A paradise.
From ancient times to the present, "Jiangnan" has always been an ever-changing and flexible regional concept. Jiangnan often represents prosperous and developed culture and education and beautiful and prosperous water towns.
"Jiangnan" has always been an ever-changing and flexible regional concept. In the narrow sense, Jiangnan refers to Huzhou, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Jiaxing and other regions in Zhejiang, and Nanjing, Suzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou and Wuxi in southern Jiangsu. and other regions, as well as the Yangtze River Delta composed of Shanghai. Geographically, the scope of Jiangnan also includes Anhui’s Wuhu, Ma’anshan, Huizhou and other southern Anhui regions, Hunan and Jiangxi’s northern part of the Shanghai-Kunming Line, Nanchang, Jiujiang, Shangrao, Jingdezhen, Yueyang, Changsha, Yiyang, Changde and other places, as well as the southern region of the Yangtze River in Hubei. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Jiangnan mainly included the former Jiangxi Province and Jiangnan Province (collectively known as Jiangsu and Anhui) and the northern region of Zhejiang.
The meaning of "Jiangnan" is varied in ancient documents. It is often a word that goes hand in hand with regional concepts such as "Jiangbei" and "Central Plains", and is ambiguous. Historically, Jiangnan is both a natural geographical region and a socio-political region.
In a broad sense, Jiangnan includes the entire territory of Shanghai, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Zhejiang, as well as the three provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, and Shanghai and the area south of the Yangtze River. Compared with Jiangnan Road in the Tang Dynasty, there is less part involving Guizhou Province. The northern region of Fujian is sometimes called Jiangnan. In the broad sense, Jiangnan has a vast area and diverse landforms, so it is often regarded as the "Greater Jiangnan", which is roughly consistent with the scope of Jiangnan in meteorology. The four major rice markets in Jiangnan and the four famous buildings in Jiangnan are all within the scope of Jiangnan. This area includes the famous three mountains, three rivers and three lakes - Huangshan Qiantang River and Taihu Lake, Lushan Ganjiang River and Poyang Lake, Hengshan Xiangjiang River and Dongting Lake. These three mountains, rivers and lakes are the origins of Wu culture, Ganpo culture and Huxiang culture respectively. birthplace. The definition of Dajiangnan began with the ancient division (Jiangnan Road), and is often described in literary works. For example, Du Fu's "The Year of Li Gui in the South of the Yangtze River" was written in Changsha. The Jiangnan referred to in the weather forecast is also roughly the Jiangnan zone in a broad sense.
In official geography since the Yuan Dynasty, the word "Jiangnan" was also used for administrative divisions. In the early Qing Dynasty, Jiangnan Province, now Jiangsu, Anhui and Shanghai, collectively referred to as Jiangnan, Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Jiangning, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou and other eight Jiangnan prefectures were also the most representative administrative places in the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Raozhou Prefecture, Jiujiang Prefecture, and Nanchang Prefecture in Jiangxi Province and Chizhou Prefecture, Taiping Prefecture, Ningguo Prefecture, and Huizhou Prefecture in Anhui Province were also very representative Jiangnan areas.
Landform
Compared to the north, the most obvious features of the topography of the Jiangnan region are plains and water. Jiangnan is located in the plains of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The terrain is high in the south and low in the north. The northern part is flat and mainly plains, while the south is dotted with some mountains and hills. In addition to abundant precipitation, the Jiangnan area also has the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River. Two major water systems, both connected to each other through canals. The Jiangnan region is dotted with rivers and numerous lakes, including the three famous freshwater lakes in China, namely Dongting Lake in Hunan, Poyang Lake in Jiangxi and Taihu Lake in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. In the long-term development process, a large number of water conservancy projects were built to connect them, such as Taibo opened Bodu, Wu Zixu opened Xuxi, Fucha opened Hangou and Jiangnan Canal, etc., so it has always enjoyed the reputation of "water town and country". reputation.
The natural geography of Jiangnan formed under such climate and topography is significantly different from that of the north. This is how the ancients described it:
Wu Jun's "Sishu with Zhu Yuan" is one of the most outstanding landscape sketches in the Southern Dynasty. Its description of the natural scenery from Fuyang to Tonglu reflects the Jiangnan area. The beauty of natural scenery:
The wind and smoke are all pure, the Tianshan Mountains are beautiful, drifting in the current, anything and everything. From Fuyang to Tonglu, a hundred miles or so, there are strange mountains and rivers, unique in the world. The water is all clear and green, and you can see the bottom thousands of feet away; fish and rocks are swimming around, and you can look straight at them without hindrance. The rapids are like arrows, and the waves are as fierce as running. The mountains between the banks are all covered with cold trees. They compete with each other to reach the peak. The spring water stirs the rocks, making a cool sound; the good birds sing to each other, and their chirping becomes a rhyme. The cicada spins endlessly, while the ape cries endlessly.
Those who fly violently to the sky look at the peaks and rest their minds; those who are economical in worldly affairs glance at the valleys and forget to rebel. The top of the horizontal keel is covered, and it is still dim during the day; the sparse strips overlap, and sometimes the sun can be seen.
Tao Hongjing's "Reply to Zhongshu" even praised the Jiangnan area as the "Immortal City of Desire", and his words are also very attractive:
The beauty of mountains and rivers has existed since ancient times. ***talk. The peak reaches the clouds and the clear stream reaches the bottom. The stone walls on both sides of the bank are in five colors. Green forests and green bamboos are available for all seasons. The mist is about to break at dawn, and the apes and birds are chirping wildly; the sunset is about to fade, and the scales are dancing and falling. It is truly the fairy capital of the world of desire. Since the time of Kangyue, no one has been as amazing as him.
"Shishuo Xinyu·Yu Pian" also contains: "Wang Zijingyun: 'Walking up from the mountain valley, the mountains and rivers reflect each other, making it overwhelming, especially in autumn and winter, it is especially difficult to miss'", "When Gu Changkang returned from Kuaiji, people asked about the beauty of the mountains and rivers. Gu Yun said: 'Thousands of rocks compete for beauty, and thousands of valleys compete for flow.'" In the Tang Dynasty, with the development of Jiangnan's economy and culture, the number of literati traveling to Jiangnan further increased, and poems about The landscape scenery of Jiangnan is more fully expressed:
Outside Yangliuchangmen, there is a long and sloping water bank. Take a boat to the mountain temple and wear clogs to other people's homes. There is a red orange tree in the night moon and white lotus flowers in the autumn wind. Jiang Tian's poetry is so good that he won't be allowed to give it on credit when he returns home. (Zhang Ji's "Sending My Brother Dai Xuan to Suzhou")
In the border county of Guzhu Mountain, the stream will be connected to the river. Looking at the city from a distance, everything is covered in water and clouds. (Zheng Gu's "Dedicated to Huzhou Congshu Yuanwai")
Thousands of miles east of Wuting Pavilion, I once sang songs during my travels in the past. There are no traces of horses in the Moss Temple, and there are many restaurants beside the Green Water Bridge. (One of Du Mu's "Two Poems on Runzhou")
In modern times, Mr. Wang Pijiang believed: "Jiangsu and Zhejiang are both in the Yangzhou area of ??"Yu Gong", which is the so-called wealth zone in the world. Its terrain is divided into north and south. The difference is that they are all close to the sea and across the river, with far-reaching mountains and lingering lakes and swamps. The mountains and rivers in Zhejiang are quiet and quiet, and those adjacent to Jiangxi and Fujian are also deep and beautiful." The words quoted above fully demonstrate the unique beauty of the mountains and rivers in the south of the Yangtze River.
Jiangnan Hills
South of the Yangtze River, north of Nanling, west of Wuyi Mountain and Tianmu Mountain, and east of Xuefeng Mountain, including southern Hunan and Jiangxi provinces in China and western Zhejiang and southern Anhui. A large area of ??low mountains and hills is collectively known as the Jiangnan Hills. It lies between 25° and 31° north latitude and 110° and 120° east longitude, with an area of ??approximately 370,000 square kilometers.
Since the Mesozoic Era, the southern part has been uplifted, and the northern part has been faulted and subsided, forming a northward-sloping terrain. The main part can be regarded as a large depression adjacent to the two provinces of Hunan and Jiangxi. There are mountains on the southeast and west sides. Surface runoff passes through the Xiangjiang River, Zishui, Yuanjiang River, Lishui River, Pojiang River, Xinjiang River, Fuhe River, Ganjiang River, Xiushui, etc. The river flows into Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake, and then flows north into the Yangtze River. The mountains and hills in the Zhejiang-Anhui border area in the northeast are connected with the mountains and hills at the junction of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, becoming the watershed where the Yangtze River and Zhejiang and Fujian alone flow into the sea system. Many middle mountains and low mountains in the area are arranged in the northeast-southwest direction, and the New Cathaysian tectonic system is clear. Most of the mountains are around 1,000 meters above sea level, and some can reach 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level. The main mountain ranges include: Mufu Mountains, Jiuling Mountains, Wugong Mountains, Wanyang Mountains and Zhuguang Mountains at the junction of Hunan and Jiangxi, Tianmu Mountains and Xianxia Ridge in western Zhejiang, Wuyi Mountains on the border of Fujian and Jiangxi, and Huangshan Mountains in southern Anhui. Among them, Lushan Mountain, Hengshan Mountain, Huangshan Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Tianmu Mountain and Jinggang Mountain are all famous tourist attractions.
Jinqu Basin
The Jinqu Basin is one of the few basins and plains in Zhejiang Province. It includes the two prefecture-level cities of Jinhua and Quzhou. It has been a prosperous land since ancient times and has " It is known as the "Treasure Bowl of Zhejiang". It is the birthplace of the Qiantang River with clear water and is the mother river of the Zhejiang people.