The Grand Canal of China connects the five major water systems, which has played a great role in the ecological environment, social economy and cultural development of the regions along the Canal. The work aims to deeply study the endogenous logic and multiple values of the cultural memory of the Grand Canal, and provide academic support for the protection, inheritance and utilization of the culture of famous towns and villages in the Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal. Focusing on the relationship between the Grand Canal and cities, towns and villages, the relationship between the spatial structure of famous towns and villages along the Grand Canal and the water system pattern of the Grand Canal is analyzed from two dimensions: city and river symbiosis, and river transport and culture symbiosis. The endogenous logic of the cultural memory of the famous towns and villages in Jiangsu section of the Grand Canal is expounded. The canal transport promotes the rise and fall of urban and rural areas along the route. The form and spatial pattern of the Grand Canal water network affect people's aesthetic perception. The connecting of the northern and southern water systems of the Grand Canal promotes the integration of different regional cultures. The cultural memory of the Grand Canal regulates the rationality, authenticity and integrity of the landscape language symbols of villages and towns on both sides of the river, and becomes an internal criterion for the sustainable development of urban and rural areas for thousands of years, and an endogenous motivation of activating the historical and cultural towns and villages along the Grand Canal.