GeographicalBackgroundofBeijing—ManuscriptoftheSpeechattheSocietyfortheStudyofArchitectureinBeijingintheCivilEngineeringBuilding,TsinghuaUniversity,onJanuary8th,1950
HouRenzhi(posthumouslyedited
byTangXiaofeng,MaoYi) (1)
(Research Institute for Historical Geography, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)
Abstract: This is a collated manuscript of Prof. Hou Renzhi’s speech on January 8, 1950 on the geographical background of ancient Beijing. In the speech, he introduced a great north-south road between Taihang Mountain and the eastern marshy area of the North China Plain. Regarding this road, Hou discussed its geographical features such as the morphology and transportation, reviewed relative literatures and reflected on his own traveling experiences during the fieldwork. Settlements of early tribes were spreading northward along the road, and the embryonic towns on the North China Plain gradually took form. The Beijing Little Plain is located at the northernmost end of the road, acting as a pivot linking northern and northeastern China. Beijing is sited on this Little Plain which is named after the city. With this locational advantages, it emerged as the most important city of northern China.
Keywords: historical geography; great north-south road of the North China Plain; Beijing City
EastwardExtensionoftheEasternBorderofPrehistoricSitestotheWestoftheShanghaiSandLevee(GangShen)
GaoMenghePanBihua(6)
(Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)
Abstract: Investigating the archaeological sites to the west of the Shanghai sand levee (also known as Gang Shen) for their spatial distributions and changes in different periods from 6 000 to 4 000 years ago, human traces showed evidence of an almost 20-kilometer eastward expansion of man’s activity space. Several borderlines extended to the east, and eventually met the Gang Shen area. The findings were of great use to the Shanghai land-building process or the human-land relation studies.
Keywords: Shanghai; the west of sand levee (Gang Shen); archaeological sites; eastward extension
WusongRiverCourseChangeandRenRenfa’sWaterManagementinSongandYuanDynasties,BasedontheEstablishmentandAbandonmentofZhaopuSluicesandWunijingSluices
FuLinxiang1DingJiarong2(15)
(1. Center for Historical Geography Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; 2. Shanghai History Museum, Shanghai 200003, China)
Abstract: During reigns of Dade and Taiding of Yuan Dynasty, Ren Renfa built pairs of sluices on Xinjing, Zhaopu, Panjiabang and Wunijing channels. Analyses on the abandonment process of Wunijing sluices and rules of stone sluice construction recorded inShuiliJi(EssaysonWaterConservancy) demonstrate that these sluices were not built on original river channels but rather on newly-excavated branches that flank original channels and flooded original channels later. Dianshan and Changmao lakes exclusively drained through six sluices after they were constructed. Watersheds west of Shanghaipu (Huangpu) River and south of Wusong River were relatively isolated. Having such a status requires sluices at Zhaopu and Panjiabang to be on branches of the “parallel” Wusong Rivers (i.e. Wusong and Qiu rivers in Ming dynasty). Building a sluice at Wunijing is a consequence of the shift of Dianshan Lake’s drainage paths through Caogang, Eastern and Western Hengliu and Wunijing channels into Shanghaipu (Huangpu) River. This change reflects a temporary stage during the evolving process from Wusong River watershed to Huangpu River watershed in the vicinity of eastern Lake Tai during Song and Yuan dynasties.
Keywords: Zhidanyuan Site; Ren Renfa; Wusong River; Huangpu River; East Taihu Lake System
HongzeLakeWaterDrainageandRuralWaterManagementinXiaheAreainMingandQingDynasties
XiaoQirong(30)
(Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization, Henan University, Kaifeng 475000, China)
Abstract: Rural water management in the Xiahe area changed from Ming to Qing Dynasties. It could be divided into four phases. In the early-mid period of Ming Dynasty, the management system operated smoothly. By the mid-late Ming Dynasty, however, it had been seriously damaged. In the Kang-Qian Age of Qing Dynasty, the state and local government rebuilt the system. After that, the system was mainly managed by local governments. In other words, water resource management systems of rural area were operated and maintained by local governments in Ming Dynasty. Entering the Qing Dynasty, the state government controlled the system in the Kang-Qian Age, but local governments and the public took them over in the Jiaqing Age or later. In the late Daoguang Age, building the main levee of Great Canal became the responsibility of local governments. In the tenth year of the Xianfeng Age (1860), the agency for Great Canal was dissolved and the provincial governments took charge of rural water management affairs. Specifically, maintaining the main levee of Great Canal became the official responsibility of the county government and local squires. The four elements that influenced rural water management were the drainage of the Hongze Lake, tactics and effects of the Yellow River and the Great Canal administration, preferential policies of the state, as well as responses of the public and local governments.
Keywords: rural water management; state and local governance; Hongze Lake; Xiahe area; Ming and Qing dynasties
AnalysisofJinanCity,theCapitalofChuState,BasedonNewDatafromArchaeologicalMaterialsandBambooSlips
YinHongbing(46)
(Institute of Chu Culture, Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China)
Abstract: The site of Jinan City in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, was once recorded as Ying, the capital of Chu. According to archaeological excavations of the 20th century, the Jinan City was existent from late Spring and Autumn Period to early Warring States Period. Recent evidence further proved it should have taken form in the early stage of mid- Warring States Period, and it should be in use from late mid- Warring States Period to early late Warring States Period. Feng’s tomb outside the site of the Jinan City might be the tomb of King Su of Chu since the age of tomb was estimated as old as the inception of the Jinan City. Tsinghua bamboo slips and Geling bamboo slips both recorded that King Su of Chu moved the capital to Xunying, then “Xunying” was probably today’s site of Jinan City. From the 4th year of King Su of Chu (377 BC) to the 21st year of King Qingxiang of Chu (278 BC), Jinan City was the capital of Chu for 99 years.
Keywords: Jinan City; Capital Ying of Chu State; King Su of Chu State; Xunying; Zaiying
ResearchontheRanksofPrefecturesintheJiangbiaoAreainSouthernLiangDynasty
ZhangZhongyinHuAxiang(58)
(Department of History, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China)
Abstract: Under the Guanban system (a ranking system of officials) of Liang Dynasty, prefectures could be classified into ten classes. According to the basic principles of Guanban system and the rules for official preferment, the ranks of more than 20 prefectures in the Jiangbiao area can be inferred. Given that Jiangbiao was the core area of Xiao Liang state, recovering the ranks of prefectures in this area would contribute to the prefecture rank change studies. The rank of each prefecture was usually influenced by its political status, economic strength, and so on.
Keywords: Southern Liang Dynasty; Jiangbiao Area; prefectures; rank; Guanban system
EstimationoftheLowerLimitofPopulationDuringLateMingandEarlyQingDynastiesintheChongqingArea
GeJianxiongHouWenquan(72)
(Centre for Historical Geographical Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)
Abstract: In historical population geography and population history, demographic gaps were unavoidable once there were severe natural disasters, large-scale social unrest or change of dynasties. Sometimes only rough descriptions and unfounded estimates of remain population were recorded. Against the situation, we propose some research methods and principles for historical population geography. Based on a case study of population calculation in the Chongqing area in late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and collecting as much relative historical materials as possible, we analyze various factors and impacts of population changes its subareas during the period. After strict deduction and calculation by picking threshold value of each variable, it could be figured out that in the Chongqing area its population was at least 270 000 in 1664.
Keywords: population; population geography; late Ming and early Qing dynasties; Chongqing Area
NorthernSongBureaucraticFamilies’NetworkBasedonChinaBiographicalDatabaseandChineseHistoricalGeographicInformationSystem
QianChaofeng1,2DuDebin1,2(83)
(1. Institute for Global Innovation and Development, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China; 2. School of Urban and Regional Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)
Abstract: The elite class of the ancient Chinese imperial examination and the scholar-official clans were formed in Song Dynasty. Since then, it has profound influences on China’s society, which causes academic attention. Rather than case studies, we take a more macroscopic and quantitative approach of digital humanities. The network dataset of Northern Song Dynasty bureaucratic families was constructed by querying and collating the data of the bureaucrats and their relatives in Northern Song Dynasty from the China Biographical Database (CBDB) database, which is then combined with the geographic data in Chinese Historical Geographic Information System (CHGIS) and Chinese Civilization in Time and Space (CCTS). Based on the maximal connected subgraph algorithm, the Northern Song family network was found to be composed of a large and relatively sparse core subnetwork and many other small subnetworks. With HGIS spatial analysis technology, it turned out the bureaucratic network of Northern Song Dynasty was not only dominated by a few core families, but also highly concentrated in some core areas such as Zhongyuan (central China) and Jiangnan regions. Further studying the relationship among families or geographical nodes, core nodes and local nodes, it turned out that the highly agglomerated and centralized family network also had a trend of deconstruction in the long term. This trend sustained until the end of Northern Song Dynasty when it got reversed.
Keyword: Northern Song Dynasty; bureaucratic family; CHGIS; network analysis; political geography
DeclineofImperialExaminationResultsinWenzhouPrefectureinMingDynasty
ZhuHaibin(95)
(Centre for Historical Geography Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China)
Abstract: In Southern Song Dynasty, the quantity of Jinshi (the highest and final degree in the imperial examination, sometimes called recipients) in Wenzhou ranked first in Zhejiang Province and second nationwide. Down to Yuan Dynasty, the number of people achieved Jinshi degrees reduced rapidly to a mid-low level in Zhejiang Province. Statistics reflected that Jinshi from Wenzhou were above the average comparing to those from elsewhere in Zhejiang Province in the early 60 years of Ming Dynasty. However, starting from Zhengtong Age, Wenzhou’s position in Zhejiang Province dropped. It fell to the bottom till the end of Ming Dynasty. Few candidates could achieve the degree in provincial examinations should be the direct cause, even worse, their ranks went all the way down. On this basis, we thoroughly analyze the fall of Wenzhou in Ming Dynasty in imperial examinations in a comprehensive way in the article.
Keywords: Ming Dynasty; Wenzhou; imperial examination; Jinshi; provincial examination
DistinguishingDifferentVersionsofYudiJisheng
ZhengLifeng(115)
(School of Humanities, Jinling Institute of Technology, Nanjing 210038, China)
Abstract:YudiJishengis a masterpiece of chorography compiled in Southern Song Dynasty, and it is known to have been printed during the fourth year of Jiaxi to the third year of Jingding age. While the original copies were lost, there are traces in literatures of no less than two versions in Song Dynasty. Meanwhile, there are three versions from Ming Dynasty. Down to Qing Dynasty,YudiJishenghad been handed down to different people and preserved at different places. There were eighteen versions in total, including fourteen manuscript copies and four block printing types. Especially in and after the Jiaqing Age, the travelling paths of the varying versions ofYudiJishengformed a complex network.
Keywords:YudiJishengbook; version; spread
NewResearchontheLocationoftheBattleofCanheBeibetweentheYanandWeiStates
ZhangWenping(135)
(Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Hohhot 010011, China)
Abstract: The exact location where the battle of Canhe Bei broke out between Yan and Wei armies in 395 AD is a contentious topic in the field of history. Scholars often confuse this “Canhe Bei” with the Canhe of Dai County of Western Han Dynasty or the Canhe of Liangcheng County of Northern Wei Dynasty. Based on the results of archaeological investigation, combining with historical records, we consider Canhe Bei the same as Sanhe Bei (the Chinese character “can” is very similar to the character “san”), which is neither the Canhe of Dai County of Western Han nor the Canhe of Liangcheng County of Northern Wei, but the Huangqi Lake of present day Ulanqab city, in Inner Mongolia. The location of battlefield was the WanmuTan area, which is on the east side of the Huangqi Lake and in front of Gushan Mountain.
Keywords: Canhe Bei; Huangqi Lake; the Battle of Canhe Bei; Northern Wei State; Later Yan
ResearchontheLocationofAshelierBuddhistTempleandXuanzang’sRoutetoBaluka
ZhangChi1ZhuHong2(145)
(1. School of History and Culture, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510263, China; 2. School of Geographical Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510251, China)
Abstract: Location of Ashelier Buddhist Temple has been a popular topic for years. The temple is recorded in literatures such asGreatTangRecordsontheWesternRegionsandThebiographyofMasterSanzang, and the word “Ashelier” means ‘peculiar’ in Kuchean. According to the Third Large-scale National Archaeological Survey, combining with historical materials and field trips, we consider Xuanzang’s route to Baluka was “yanguan dao” in history, which is almost overlapping with present day Kuqa-Baicheng part of the provincial highway 307. The Ashelier Buddhist Temple should be a combination of two sites at present: the Keziergaha Grottoes and the Boqihanna Ruins.
Keywords: Qiuci; Ashelier; Keziergaha Grottoes; Boqihanna Temple
FootprintsofthePioneer:HouRenzhi’sHistoricalGeographyExpeditionofDesertandStudyonEnvironmentalChanges
HanGuanghui1ZhaoGuifang1PengJingyang1WangHongbo2(149)
(1. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China; 2. History Institute, Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)
Abstract: Hou Renzhi began his fieldwork and research on historical desert geography under the call for transforming the arid and semi-arid area in the northwest of China in late 1950s. He duly became a pioneer and participant in combing practice with reality in historical geography research. Since 1960s, Hou had explored several deserts from Ningxia Hedong sandy land to Mu Us desert, and to Ulanbuh desert, and had gained plenty of scientific achievements. In late 1970s, Hou Renzhi turned to human-land relationships from desert expedition, then generated great progresses on historical desert geography and environmental change studies.
Keywords: Hou Renzhi; desert expedition; historical geography of desert; environmental change