The land of Chu and Yue refers to the south of the Yangtze River, which is vast and sparsely populated. Taking rice as food and fish as food means eating rice and fish, engaging in agricultural production with burning land and primitive rice farming techniques, and being self-sufficient without buying or selling.

The southern part of the Western Han Dynasty is vast and sparsely populated, with backward farming methods and underdeveloped exchanges. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties, the pace of economic development in the south of the Yangtze River accelerated, and the southern region was rich in wild land and agricultural output increased.

Extended data

In the history of China, there are four rice markets: Wuhu, Wuxi, Jiujiang and Changsha, all located in the south of the Yangtze River. These four rice markets, such as Wuhu Rice Market (in Nanling County) in southern Anhui, are still full of youth.

"Four rice markets in the south of the Yangtze River" came into being in the process of underdeveloped agricultural commodity economy in the old society, which played a positive role in promoting grain production and circulation at that time and greatly improved local social development, farmers' life and commercial trade.

Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the culture given to Jiangnan has really changed Jiangnan from a geographical term into a word that contains beauty, culture and wealth, and is constantly yearned for and expected by the world. In the process of shifting the economic center of gravity to the south, Jiangnan gradually replaced the Central Plains. By the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, Jiangnan economy had become the most important core position of the national economy, and now the Yangtze River Delta is also one of the most developed regions in China.