Objective  The Grand Canal of China is a world cultural heritage. The current protection practice of the Grand Canal cultural heritage in China tends to ignore that the Grand Canal cultural heritage is a result of continuous historical and cultural accumulation, leading to the problem that the elucidation of the value correlation and spiritual unity between the material entity and cultural connotation of the heritage is too superficial, which is specifically reflected in the insufficient protection of the heritage itself and the generation mechanism thereof. In order to promote the exploration of the authenticity and integrity of the Grand Canal culture, this research takes Luofan Pavilion in Jiaxing, a canal city in Zhejiang Province, as a case study.

Methods  This research firstly analyzes the necessity and importance of Luofan Pavilion to Jiaxing City by the research method of urban morphology based on the historical geographic data from relevant maps drawn at the macro, meso and micro scales. Then the research superimposes and compares the historical information of Luofan Pavilion and Shanqing Gate and the water transport history of the Grand Canal to trace the mutual relationship between the source attractions and the development of the Grand Canal. After that, the research, mainly by the method of iconology, comparatively analyzes the surveying and mapping maps and the old historical images of Luofan Pavilion included in the book Annals of Jiangnan Gardens written by Tong Jun in the 1930s, as well as the current photos of Luofan Pavilion, and calibrates the surveying and mapping maps of Luofan Pavilion drawn by Tong Jun during the period of the Republic of China in combination with current surveying and mapping maps of the pavilion. On this basis, the research has the plane layout of Luofan Pavilion in the sixth year of Guangxu's Reign in Qing Dynasty (1880) restored to its historical appearance preliminarily.

Results  The organic generation process of Luofan Pavilion can be divided into three stages: Function spawning by the Grand Canal in Song Dynasty; event occurrence and humanistic rendering in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties; landscape construction and cultural identity during the period from the Republic of China to the present. Therefore, the generation mechanism of Luofan Pavilion is summarized into three parts as follows. 1) The Grand Canal and local customs constitute the natural and cultural bases of the cultural heritage as two necessary conditions. 2) The natural and cultural bases interact with the heritage entity of Luofan Pavilion at both material and immaterial levels. The specific functional relationship is as follows: On the one hand, through the material association between water conservancy facilities, production and living facilities and Luofan Pavilion, the cultural heritage can be invisibly integrated into the surrounding living and production environments; on the other hand, through the Grand Canal culture and citizen culture, the immaterial cultural penetration into Luofan Pavilion makes Luofan Pavilion the cultural exchange center in the canal area in north Jiaxing. 3) Linear landscape heritage and regional cultural spirit are formed under the action of the aforesaid material association and cultural penetration. Based on the study of the historical appearance and generation mechanism of Luofan Pavilion, the research puts forward the following protection strategies for the Luofan Pavilion cultural heritage. 1) As for the heritage itself, take into account the requirements of both cultural relic protection and contemporary reconstruction when protecting and restoring the Luofan Pavilion garden, with a focus on the preservation and restoration of existing heritage such as landscape elements and the Grand Canal, and the research and restoration of non-existing historic sites such as Shanqing Gate site. 2) As for the mechanism of heritage generation, enhance the overall connection between the surrounding heritage of Luofan Pavilion through strengthen the spatial connection between heritage, optimizing the construction of settlement facilities, activating idle heritage resources, and unifying the heritage management system. Additionally, the regional cultural spirit should also be carried forward by tracing and displaying the cultural spirit of the Grand Canal in combination with the living mode and attitude of local community.

Conclusion  Based on the case study of Luofan Pavilion, the research reveals that the protection of the cultural heritage sites of the Grand Canal needs to respect the law of historical development of the heritage and attach importance to the interaction between local culture and the heritage, so as to provide reference for the sustainable development and protection of the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal. It is expected that today's cultural heritage protection should be actively involved in the process of urban social development to build a collection of dynamic heritage groups with cultural appeal and emotional connection that can promote the building of human settlement heritage worthy of respect.