从江南到长三角:16世纪以来江南经济文化的整合与发展

From Jiangnan to the Yangzi Delta:The Integration and Development of Economy and Society in Jiangnan since the Sixteenth Century

在今天的中国大陆,长江三角洲地区无疑是经济、社会、文化最为发达的区域之一,它在行政区划上虽然分属于江浙沪皖四个不同的省区,但历史地看,其内部各个小区域间有机联系与相互整合却早已存在。特别是自16世纪以来,随着世界市场的兴起,海外贸易的发展,使得这一区域经济社会与文化整合的步伐大大加快,其对内的整合与对外的开放经历了数个阶段的波折,最终形成了今天长三角特有的区位特点和优势。追溯其渊源,今天长三角的形成与发展实在是一个自然的历史过程,而回溯这一历史演变的过程及其背后的原因,无疑对于进一步突破行政区划的人为分割,真正实现以上海为中心的长三角经济社会的全面整合,是十分有意义的。

In China's Mainland today,the Yangzi Delta area is undoubtedly one of the most developed regions,economically,socially,and culturally.Administratively,the region belongs to four provinces,Jiangsu,Zhejiang,Shanghai,and Anhui,but its subregions had long been mutually connected and integrated.This was particularly true since the sixteenth century with the rise of a world market and the development of overseas trade.Consequently,the social and cultural integration immensely accelerated.Such an integration was completed in several stages,leading to the making of the unique characters and advantages of the Yangzi Delta.In retrospect,the formation and development of the Yangzi Delta has been a natural historical process.An analysis of the process of and factors behind such a historical transformation would undoubtedly contribute to breaking the artificially drawn boundaries among various administrative zones and a full integration of the Yangzi Delta’s society and economy,with Shanghai being its center.