In ancient times, what was the representative culture of Jiangnan area?

In ancient times, the representative culture of Jiangnan was Wu Yue culture.

Jiangnan literally means south of the Yangtze River, but as a typical historical and geographical concept, Jiangnan originally refers to the area south of the Yangtze River. In ancient times, Jiangnan often represented prosperous culture and education and beautiful and rich water towns. The region is roughly divided into the south bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the south of the Yangtze River represents the infinite yearning and hope of the people of China for a better life.

In regional culture, Jiangnan culture and Wuyue culture are closely linked. Wu dialect is sometimes called Jiangnan dialect, and Mandarin, which is a mixture of Wu dialect and Yayan, is sometimes called Jiangnan Mandarin.

Wuyue culture, also known as Jiangsu and Zhejiang culture, is an important part of Han civilization and a regional culture of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The Wuyue Cultural District is centered on Taihu Lake Basin, and its scope includes today's Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang, southern Anhui and northeastern Jiangxi. With the Qiantang River as the boundary, Wu-Yue culture can be subdivided into "Wu culture" and "Yue culture", both of which are homologous.

Along the way from Hemudu culture and Liangzhu culture, after thousands of ups and downs, Wuyue culture remains the same. "Wu culture" and "Yue culture" and "common customs" have gradually formed a unified cultural type in the process of mutual blending, agitation, evolution and integration.

Both Wu culture and Yue culture originated in the Yangtze River Delta. With the evolution of history, the content and essence of Wu and Yue culture have continuously enriched and promoted the political, economic and cultural development in the Yangtze River Delta. The study of Wuyue culture has attracted more and more attention from all walks of life, which has far-reaching historical and practical significance for the development of the Yangtze River Delta region and even other regions.