【Objective】 The circum-Taihu Lake area has been inhabited for centuries, and humans have paid a great effort for adapting to the complex and changing geographical environment throughout the history. We analyzed the distribution characteristics of rural settlements in different historical periods around Taihu Lake, and discussed the internal influencing factors and adaptation mechanism. 【Method】 Based on the space-time background, this research selected the five cities of Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou, around the Taihu Lake, as the areas of research, and screened 363 historical villages as research objects. Five stages were analyzed: selecting site and survival period, spontaneous adaptation period, conscious adaptation period, overlapping expansion period, and unordered consolidation period. With the help of GIS spatial analyses, the nearest point index, Kernel density, and standard deviation elliptic were used to analyze the distribution characteristics of rural settlements around the Taihu Lake during different historical periods. 【Result】 The spatial distribution pattern of rural settlements in the circum-Taihu Lake area is clearly concentrated; the quantity and density increased gradually, and the spatial distribution center shifted toward the northeast with a trend for “northwest-southeast” axial diffusion. The different stages influencing of natural native environment, agricultural irrigation environment, social and cultural environment on the rural settlements in the circum-Taihu Lake area are in a state of long-term dynamic change. 【Conclusion】 Regarding the historical latitude over a long period of time, the three environmental drivers of nature, irrigation and water conservancy as well as socio-cultural factors reflect the continuous capacity of humans to adapt to the regional environment, and the synergistic process of rural development in the circum-Taihu Lake zone is a multi-scale, multi-process complex system.