Jiangnan literally means the south of the river. "Jiang" in Chinese specifically refers to a large river, namely the Yangtze River. Jiangnan originally means the area south of the Yangtze River. In ancient times, Jiangnan often represented prosperous culture and education and beautiful and prosperous water towns.

The saying that Jiangnan was born in the pre-Qin period. Until the Sui Dynasty, Jiangnan referred to the area around Hunan and Jiangxi. The Tang Dynasty established Jiangnan Road, which was later divided into Jiangnan East Road, Jiangnan West Road and Central Guizhou Road, which became the beginning of defining the meaning of modern Jiangnan.

Jiangnan is now specifically referred to as Jiangnan in a narrow sense, and is generally regarded as the core area of ??Jiangnan. That is, excluding Fujian and southern Zhejiang, the Jiangnan East Road is centered on the area from Nanjing to Suzhou, including parts of Anhui, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang south of the Yangtze River, that is, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, southern Anhui, and northern Jiangxi. Some areas to the north of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, such as Yangzhou, but their economy and culture are the same as those of Jiangnan, and are also considered to be part of the Jiangnan region. Also not in the Yangtze River basin, but considered to be Jiangnan are some areas south of Taihu Lake and even south of the Qiantang River, such as Shaoxing. , Ningbo, etc.

Jiangnan in a broad sense refers to the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River south of the Yangtze River, that is, Jiangnan Road excluding southern Hunan, southern Jiangxi, Guizhou and Fujian. Including the narrow sense of Jiangnan, north of Jiangxi, south of the Yangtze River in Hubei and northern Hunan. Jiangnan in a broad sense was often used in ancient times, such as Du Fu's "Jiangnan Meets the Year of Li Gui", which was written in Changsha. Jiangnan in the broad sense is also used in modern times. For example, Jiangnan in the weather forecast refers to Jiangnan in the broad sense; the three famous buildings in Jiangnan are outside the concept of Jiangnan in the narrow sense.

Geography

Taizong of the Tang Dynasty established Jiangnan Road, which included the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River south of the Yangtze River, as well as Guizhou, Fujian and other places. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty subdivided Jiangnan Road into Jiangnan East Road, Jiangnan West Road and Middle Guizhou Road. In the late Tang Dynasty, Jiangdong was also called Jiangnan.

In the early Qing Dynasty, Nanzhili was renamed Jiangnan Province, and later it was divided into Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province. During the Republic of China, Jiangsu Province was separated from Shanghai City.

In ancient times, Jiangnan was divided into the east of Jiangnan and the west of Jiangnan, namely Jiangdong and Jiangxi. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, Jiangnan West Road and Jiangnan West Road were established, covering Jiangxi, Hunan and southern Hubei to the west of Jiangnan. They were originally composed of Jiangnan in the broad sense. Later, the concept of Jiangnan in the narrow sense was used to evolve Jiangnan West Road into today's Jiangxi Province; and Jiangdong The region is centered on Nanjing and mainly includes parts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. In the Qing Dynasty, the Liangjiang Governor-General's Office was established, which governed Jiangsu Province (including Shanghai), Anhui Province, and Jiangxi Province. Liangjiang included Jiangdong and Jiangxi.

Famous Places in the South of the Yangtze River

The Jiangnan Garden is a natural landscape garden that mainly focuses on opening ponds and building mountains. It flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Suzhou, Yangzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Changzhou, Huzhou, Shanghai, Jiaxing, Hangzhou and other cities are the main ones. Among them, Suzhou and Yangzhou are the most representative, while Suzhou has the most private gardens.

Famous Jiangnan Gardens

Jiangnan gardens are usually private gardens, and Xuanwu Lake is the only remaining royal garden in the south of the Yangtze River.

Suzhou Humble Administrator’s Garden, the Lingering Garden, Lion Grove, Canglang Pavilion, Master of the Nets Garden

Yangzhou Wuting Bridge Garden, He Garden

Nanjing Zhanyuan Garden

Wuxi Jichang Garden Liyuan

Hangzhou Guozhuang Wangzhuang Liuzhuang

Changshu Yanyuan

Shanghai Yuyuan

The three famous towers in the south of the Yangtze River are the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, the Yueyang Tower in Yueyang and the Tengwang Pavilion in Nanchang.

Jiangnan Culture

Jiangnan is known for its prosperous culture and education. The Confucius Temple located on the Qinhuai River is a temple commemorating Confucius. The Jiangnan Gongyuan in the Confucius Temple complex was the examination room for imperial examinations in ancient times and is a symbol of Jiangnan imperial examination culture.

There are many famous academies in Jiangnan. Important ones include Yuelu Academy, Shigu Academy, Bailudong Academy, Lize Academy and Donglin Academy.

From ancient times to the present, a large number of literary works praising Jiangnan have constructed the "Jiangnan" in Chinese people's imagination. Famous ones include Bai Juyi's "Jiangnan Hao" and Su Dongpo's "Looking at Jiangnan".