Why is Jiangnan being developed?

The development of Jiangnan area began in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, ethnic disputes continued and political power changed frequently. The "Eight Kings Rebellion" and "Yongjia Rebellion" which happened successively directly led to the climax of "Yongjia Du Nan" immigration for more than a century, with a scale of over one million.

A large number of northerners entered Jiangnan, which promoted the development of agricultural economy and technology in Jiangnan. The rise of handicraft industry and commerce promoted the development of emerging cities, essentially contributed to the formation of Jiangnan Economic Zone, and laid a solid foundation for the southward movement of China's economic center after Sui and Tang Dynasties.

The migration of population to the south during the Six Dynasties directly promoted the vigorous development of agricultural technology and economy in the south of the Yangtze River, thus entering the stage of large-scale development of the south of the Yangtze River.

After a long journey, the proportion of young and middle-aged people who successfully moved to Jiangnan is high. These immigrants not only provided local labor force, but also brought advanced production technology in the north, so the economy along the Yangtze River in southern Anhui developed rapidly.

With the expansion of land reclamation area, the original farming methods of fire farming and hydroponics in the south of the Yangtze River were gradually eliminated, replaced by advanced farming techniques in the north and universal fertilization with manure. By the Southern Dynasties, Huiji County had become a granary and one of the richest places in the world.

A large number of northerners who moved south brought advanced agricultural production techniques and methods in the Central Plains. For example, in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the "district field method" was introduced to Sanwu area, and wheat favored by northerners began to be planted in large quantities in the south. In the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, the government of Liu and Song Dynasties ordered the promotion of wheat planting in the name of the government, and wheat gradually became the main crop of the southern people after rice. And in some areas, the earliest double cropping system of rice and wheat appeared.

Not only the varieties of dry land crops in the north were introduced to the south, but also the medicinal materials in the north and fruit tree varieties such as jujube, pear, apricot, nai and walnut were introduced to the south in large quantities.

As advanced production tools in ancient China, ironware and Niu Geng were further popularized in Lingnan area during the Six Dynasties, which greatly improved the level of agricultural productivity and effectively promoted the development of Lingnan agriculture.

The development of commerce and the migration of a large number of Han people to the south have increased a lot of labor force and brought more advanced production technology to Jiangnan, which will undoubtedly accelerate the development of Jiangnan.

At the same time, the Jiangnan area is relatively stable, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Liu Song Dynasty and other dynasties also adopted some measures that are conducive to the development of production, so that the Han people who moved south may make use of unique natural resources together with the indigenous people and ethnic minorities such as Manchu, Li and Liao to promote the social, economic and cultural development of the south.

Not only agricultural production has improved, but also handicrafts such as textiles, mining and metallurgy, shipbuilding, salt industry, porcelain making, tea making and lacquerware have developed significantly. The increase of labor products has promoted the development of commodity economy, and commercial trade is very active.

This is first reflected in the rise of commercial cities. During the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, large commercial cities were basically distributed in the north, such as Chang 'an, Luoyang, Handan, Linzi and Yecheng. Only Wucheng (Suzhou) in the south of the Yangtze River can stand side by side with the famous commercial cities in the north, but in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Jingkou, Wuchang and Jiankang rose rapidly and became the four major commercial cities in the south of the Yangtze River.

During the Six Dynasties, the largest commercial city was Jiankang, Shi Jing. The biggest commercial city outside Jiankang is Jiangling in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Jiangling has close business contacts with Chengdu, and the famous Ma Chuan and Jin Shu are shipped to all parts of the south of the Yangtze River.

Besides, Jingkou, Guangling, Wu Jun, Huiji and Yuhang in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Qiantang River, Shouchun and Xiangyang in the north and Guangzhou in the south are also important commercial cities, and Guangzhou is the center of maritime trade.