The Lixia River Plain, consisting of a great number of small lakes and swamps, spread widely in the north of Jiangsu Province in history. After 1570, the flood of Huaihe River entering Lixia River Plain continued to increase, which caused great changes in the distribution of lakes and drainage pattern in the region. After 1596, the flood from the Jinghe River and the Ziyinggou River entered into the Guangyang Lake, and then flowed through the Sheyang Lake into the sea. The waters in the southeast of Gaoyou all converge in the Luyang Lake. After 1681, due to the southward shift of the Guihai Dams, floods converged in the middle of the Lixia River Plain and overflowed from the south to the north. As a result, the Dazong Lake and other lakes were connected and merged as a whole. Due to the decrease of flood, the Guangyang Lake was divided into several scattered lakes. Whether the Guihai Dams were opened or not, it would directly affect the hydrological environment of the Lixia River Plain, and thus form two completely different lake distribution and drainage patterns in the flood period and normal period.

The office of the Yingtian Governor originated directly from the Governor of Nanzhili and Zhejiang Province, both of which were set up in the first year of Hongxi. When it was officially set up in the fifth year of Xuande, its governing areas should be Yingtian and other ten prefectures rather than only the three prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang and Changzhou as considered in traditional researches. During the period of Zhengtong, due to the abolishment of the Zhejiang Governor, as well as the need of supervising grain tax collection and water conservancy in the Taihu Lake Basin, the administrative areas of the Yingtian Governor was extended to Western Zhejiang for a long time. Thus, a total of fourteen prefectures were under its administration. As for the prefecture of Chengtian, it had been under the administration of the Huguang Governor after the fourteenth year of Jiajing, but never taken over by the Yingtian Governor. The opinion that Chengtian had been a detached enclave of the Yingtian Governor from the fourteenth year of Jiajing to the beginning of Longqing is not credible. Researchers holding this opinion might be misled by the related records in the current version of the Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty.

This paper compares the surviving and excavated documents and points out that the commandery’s capital county was the highest-ranking among the counties belonging to the same commandery in the Han Dynasty. Based on the rank and order of a commandery’s counties recorded in the Statutes on Salaries (Er Nian Lü Ling: Zhi lü) from Zhangjiashan Han Slips, we can analyze the governance of some commanderies in the early Western Han Dynasty. According to the Statutes on Salaries, the capital of Longxi Commandery in the early Western Han Dynasty was Shangli County; Shang Commandery’s capital was Gaonu County, and the capital of Beidi Commandery was Panyang County. Besides, the capital of Hanzhong, Hedong, and Hainai Commanderies in the early Western Han Dynasty can also be further inferred by the Statutes on Salaries. This document’s value in the study of capital counties in the early Western Han Dynasty needs to be emphasized.

This paper clarifies the location changes of several different E's at Xiangning, Qinyang, Suizhou and Nanyang and their relationship between each other based on archaeological material and previous scholarship. The earliest E State was established at modern Suizhou by the court of the Western Zhou in order to control the nearby Huai and Jing Barbarians. During king Yi's reign, it was moved to the West E located in modern Xindian township of Nanyang city, marking the shrinking of the southern defensive line. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, the West E State was extincted and the Nanyang Basin was incorporated into the Chu State. Around the mid-Warring States Period, this place became the fief of the Lord of E. It was not until the War at Chuisha that the Lord of E moved eastward to the capital city of Daye, which was the beginning of the East E. In the Qin and early Western Han Dynasty, the central court established E County at the place of former East E, and later established another county in the Nanyang Basin, the West E, so as to distinguish from the East E. As for E being Hubei's abbreviation, it was not directly related to the E State in Western Zhou or the West E in the Nanyang Basin, but rather to the provincial capital. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Jiangxia (in modern Wuchang of Wuhan) was an important transportation hub. Since Wuchang was also named as E, the later eventually became the abbreviation of modern Hubei Province.

On the basis of literature critique and field surveys, this paper shows there are several errors in the drawing of some prefecture boundaries and administrative centers in the Yunnan Map in the Qing Dynasty volune of The Historical Atlas of China. Among them, the drawing of the Southern boundary between Yongchang Fu and Shunning Fu, and the prefecture boundary between Shunning Fu and Jingdong Zhili Ting were all incorrect. The locations of administrative centers of Langqu Tuzhou and Nandian Tusi were also incorrect and need to be corrected.

In 1855, the Yellow River moved northward in the aftermath of the Tongwaxiang breach, which had a great impact on the topography of the downstream area and the environment of rivers and lakes. In the Shandong plain to the west of the Great Canal, the sediment deposition resulted in the elevation of the terrain, while the flood flow of the Yellow River in this area even disturbed the original water system. In the lower reaches of Wenhe River and Sishui River, it was difficult to drain water because of the high riverbed of the Yellow River. The formation and expansion of Dongping Lake was the result of the increasing water accumulation in the area. In the plain area on the west side of the hills from Changqing to Qidong in the middle of Shandong Province, affected by the silting up of riverbed of the Yellow River or the back-flow of its water, it was difficult to discharge water into the Yellow River, which directly prompt the opening of the New Qinghe River. In the basin of Tuhai River, affected by the breach of the Yellow River, many tributaries of the Tuhai River were silted, while the Tuhai River was scoured wide and deep by the Yellow River. After the breach of the Yellow River in Lijin in 1907, the tail reach of Tuhai River was also silted up.

Abstract: In the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, Caodong school as one of the Zen began to revive. Furong Daokai (芙蓉道楷) was a monk of importance in Caodong School (曹洞宗) during Northern Song Dynasty. This essay, based on the inscription of Daokai and relevant materials, restores Daokai's history of life and the basic process of his preaching Buddism. The region from Suizhou(随州) up north to the surroundings of Dongjing (东京) became a significant area for Daokai and his dharma heirs. Owing to Daokai's influence, his followers took up the positions of numerous famous monasteries and mountains, which was a turning point in the trend of Caodong School. Although Daokai was demoted when in Dongjing, this was due to his personal clash with Tan Zhen. Because of the relationship between Daokai and monks and laymen in Dongjing, Daokai's relegation exerted no negative influence on the promotion of Caodong School in Dongjing immediately. But in the long run, the monks from Dahongshang were no longer appointed abbots of the monasteries in Dongjing. The Caodong school lost the Dongjing as their preaching area, and turned to preach in south of the Yangtze River.

The ranking system of counties first emerged during Yongzheng’s reign, and was generally founded in the 12th year of Qianlong. However, up to 124 adjustments of descriptions and ranks on counties ranks still occurred during the 12th and 43rd year of Qianlong, most of which happened on lower-ranked counties changing into a Zuiyao (most significant) or Yao (significant) ranked ones. In the 43rd year of Qianlong, a new regulation on standardized adjustments of descriptions and ranks was promulgated. Although implemented strictly, many exceptional adjustments were still allowed down to Daoguang’s reign. Changes to description hardly happened during the reigns of Xianfeng and Tongzhi, only to emerge again from the end of Guangxu’s reign to Xuantong’s reign. Provinces had different modes of county distribution, including anti core-edge distribution, core-edge double centered distribution, linear distribution along a river, coastline or transit lines, similar distribution to developed towns, etc. Fuguo(附郭)counties were generally ranked higher than others in 1911, except for only 48 cases non-conformative to the rule. Moreover, as Hunan province showcases, ranks of counties were not in accordance with commercial benefits for the county magistrate.

There are two places in the Qinfeng Lu map of the Northern Song Dynasty in The Historical Atlas of China that had been mistakenly placed, and one missing from the map. Laiyuan Zhai is in fact located in Donghanping, to southwest of Peijiazhuang, Luomen Town, Wushan County, Tianshui City, rather than Yuanhe Village, Mali Town. Weiyuan Zhai is not Zhenxing Fortress in Tan’ge Town, but near Liaoyang Village and Waner Village in Luomen Town. Meanwhile, Daluomen Zhai is located along the Da’nan River in the north of Simen Town. The three forts, Laiyuan, Daluomen and Weiyuan, jointly controlled the Luomen Valley and were vital to the defense of the Weihe River valley in the west of Qinzhou.

Since the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the legend that Zong Ze was born in Shibantang (石板塘) village and later moved to Niansanli Town is popular in Yiwu County. Textual research reveals that the related documents about Yiwu Zong’s genealogy descending from the Southern Song Dynasty were counterfeited in the late Ming Dynasty. On this basis and using the biographic chronicle of Zong Ze compiled by Qiao Xingjian, it is pointed out that Zongtang village is the birthplace of Zong Ze. Finally, the relevant geographical information from the epitaphs and poems written by Zong Ze, Chen Liang, Huang Jin, etc. is extracted. From the perspective of life circle, the geographical information proves that Zongtang village is the actual hometown of Zong Ze, while neither Shibantang village or Niansanli Town fit the geographical relationship as documented in Song and Yuan dynasties.

Diplomatic staff of the Western powers were permitted to reside in Beijing after 1860. The number of city maps of Beijing drawn by Westerners increased and their accuracy improved significantly. The types and uses of maps were also greatly enriched. This paper first systematically organizes the historical material of these maps, and then classifies them into three categories according to their uses and modes of publication. By taking the perspective of the history of cultural exchanges and using the method of textual analysis in literary studies, we look at these maps as a reflection of Sino-foreign relations in the late Qing Dynasty and the image of Beijing perceived by Westerners.

As the Cipei (literally, prick and expel) punishment was abused in judicatory practice of Song Dynasty, the number of fugitives convicted for expulsion increased significantly. Accordingly, the Song court transferred and dispersed the convicts from the capital and its environs to remote regions in the south. However, by the turn of the Southern Song, the exiled criminals gradually assembled in the Five Ridges, where they joined the forces of Yankou (salt bandits) and Dongkou (minority bandits), resulting in a chronic threat to the stability in the region and its surrounding areas.

The old map Fengmishan Zhaoken Sizhi Ditu collected in Germany library, showing mountain peaks, rivers, lakes, settlements, traffic lines and so on, is a valuable historical material. The map was drawn under the background of immigration and reclamation in the eastern Jilin Province in the late Qing Dynasty. It reflected the regional development in the frontier crisis. By interpreting the features on the piece of map, combining with the historical background outside of the map, it is helpful to understand the historical process of Jilin border area in the late Qing Dynasty.

The flow direction of the mainstream shifted from southwards to northwards in the Chang-Xi-Cheng District, northwest of the Taihu Lake Basin, from pre-Han Dynasty to today. The turning point was approximately between the Tang and Song Dynasties. This was driven by the long-term external factors such as the advance and retreat of coastlines, the variation of tidal power and the water storage and drainage situations in the Taihu Lake Basin over historical periods. Influenced by the variation of mainstream flow directions, the reclamation process of Furong Lake can be divided into three stages. Before the Tang Dynasty, the reclamation attempts in the Furong Lake Area were mainly conducted in the east of Wuxi and the south of the primitive Grand Canal in Wuxi section to adapt to southward characteristics of the mainstream flow in this time. Such projects changed the original form of the south edge of the Furong lake, and shaped the boundary-con-bank between the Furong lake, primitive canal and Taihu Lake. In mid-Tang Dynasty, the south edge of the the Furong Lake retreated by nine li (traditional Chinese length units, one li equals 500 meters approximately) north of the Wuxi section of the Grand Canal. The overall hydrological pattern in the Song Dynasty made it hard for the long-lasting success of reclamations of the Furong lake. All the attempts in this time such as the dredging of river channels and the construction of weir and gate system were soon proved unsustainable. The variation of hydrological patterns in not only the Chang-Xi-Cheng District but also the entire Taihu Lake Basin since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties was the fundamental factor for the complete and final reclamation success of the Furong lake. The dynamic variation of water flows was not only affected the reclamation process of the Furong Lake, but also recorded in the writings of relevant historical material.

There have been three different viewpoints on the ancient fortress site of Haiyan County from Qin Dynasty to the early Western Han Dynasty: the north foot of Dajinshan, Qijiadun, and Dianshan. While each of them is reasonable in its own right, they are not correct and true in all details. The archaeological excavations of Zhashan ancient cultural site in 1973, 2008, 2017 (Block N) and 2018 (Block L) provide us with new clues and ideas, that is, the fortress site of Haiyan County during the said period maybe located on the east side of Zhashan. This paper takes the story of Gongbeimen stone tablet, which was popular in the Jinshanwei region, as the point of departure, and makes full use of the remains collected from the surface of the area, the existing archaeological work reports, the multidisciplinary data or research results of historical philology and meteorological geology as well to test the new hypothesis. It is hoped that this discussion will benefit future site exploration and accurate positioning of the Haiyan fortress.

Dengkou County, now under the jurisdiction of Bayan Nur City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is located in the west part of Hetao Plain and agro-pastoral ecotone in northwestern China. The area was the fiefdom of Alxa Lord in the Qing Dynasty. Due to the convenient conditions of irrigation and water transportation along the Yellow River, the Catholic Church established a Catholic society in Dengkou area by reclaiming land, constructing irrigation canals, and attracting the poor farmers of the Han population in Shaanxi and Gansu since the late Qing Dynasty. During the period of the Republic of China, along with the gradual increasing of Han immigrants in Dengkou area, Gansu Province and Ningxia Province separated from Gansu tried to continue the policy of “The Mongols are governed by Qi, while the Han are governed by counties”, which from Qing period and based on the principle of personal jurisdiction. At the same time, Gansu and Ningxia Province tried to extend the political power to Dengkou and establish the county administration. The political competition and the benefit struggle in Dengkou area reflected the frontier policy of the central government during the Republic of China, and also reflected the influence on the administrative divisions of different groups and various forces in frontier areas.

A map of the English Settlement in Shanghai right after its port-opening collected by the British Royal Geographical Society did not mark its drawing time. One view holds the map was drawn in 1846-1847, another infers that in 1844-1847, but both are speculative. We reconsider its drawing time and try to evaluate the map based on the information on it. The results show the map should be drawn from October 1st to October 19th, 1846. It is the earliest map of English Settlement in Shanghai having found, and a very important source to study the developing process of English Settlement. Also, this map is of great value for the study of Land Deed.

The “Nanhuai Zhi Xing” (南怀之行) was recorded in the chapter of Xi Nian on the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips, which conformed to historical facts that King Ling of Chu led the troops to fight against Wu in the fourth and fifth year of Zhaogong in Zuo Zhuan. It can be inferred from the war that places named Zhufang, Ji, Li, Ma, Xiarui, Zhongli, Zhoulai, Chao, Fanyang, Suo, Quean, Luorui, Laishan, Nanhuai, Ruqing, Dijizhishan are around the region of Huai River.

According to the narrate on Xuanzang’s smuggling out of the Yumen Pass from Guazhou recorded in “The Biography of Master Sanzang of the Daci’en Temple”, combined with studies on Soviet military maps and field investigations to carry out “accurate restoration”, it is determined that the site of Xiaowan City is the only possibility of the site of the Yumen Pass in the Tang Dynasty. A deserted beacon was discovered at the southern end of the Jieshanzi Valley, making it even more certain that this road was the route from Guazhou City to the Yumen Pass in the Tang Dynasty.

On the basis of the existing system in late Tang Dynasty, regimes of the Five Dynasties continued to set up Tuanlianshi-governed and Fangyushi-governed prefectures. By the end of the Later Zhou, there were 19 Fangyushi-governed prefectures and 10 Tuanlianshi-governed prefectures. In the meantime, the conglomeration of Fangyushi-governed and Tuanlianshi-governed prefectures gradually moved eastward from Guanzhong and the west of Central Plain to the Central Plain, with Luoyang and Bianzhou as the center. Towards the end of Later Zhou Dynasty, Fangyushi-governed and Tuanlianshi-governed prefectures were concentrated in the Central Plain, Huainan, Southern Hebei, and showed a trend of continuous integration. Furthermore, Fangyushi-governed and Tuanlianshi-governed prefectures had become an important measure of the central government to weaken the power of the Fangzhen. After setting up Fangyushi-governed or Tuanlianshi-governed prefectures, Fangzhen with jurisdiction over more than three prefectures tended dissolve and became similar to those with two prefectures, which greatly strengthened the central government’s control over local military affairs.

After reading the Manchu and Chinese records in Beijing and Taibei's archives, the article firstly discovers that the Qing army used the Narin Road to relocate the Ili troops to Kashgar and patrolled on the Burut's border in three stages from the end of the eighteenth century to the 1830s, to achieve the dual effect of incorporating borderland inspection into the rotation of troops. Secondly, the article discusses the origin of the use of this road, the rotation process and its evolution, the reason of deserting the road, and the final influences and so forth. Lastly, the article argues that the map with the description “from Ili to Kashgar by Narin meadow road” is an attachment with annotation of the Ili General Deyingga's memorial to the emperor on September fourteenth of the seventh year of Daoguang.

Historical records after the late Ming Dynasty generally claim that Nanwang has been the “water ridge” occupying a commanding height alongside the Huitong Canal, which is a section of the Grand Canal, since the Yuan Dynasty, and the key determining the success of the Huitong Canal in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties lies in choosing Nanwang “water ridge” as the water diversion hub. This paper proposes that this view is incorrect. Nanwang was originally the last remnant of Liangshanpo with a low-lying terrain. It began to silt up after Song Li diverted Wenshui River water to Nanwang for transportation in the early Ming Dynasty. In the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the pivotal position of Nanwang as the water diversion hub was determined. By then the mud and sand dug out and piled up on both sides of the river created a landform of heaped-up hill, hence the “water ridge” image in the eyes of people since the late Ming Dynasty. That is to say, the Nanwang “water ridge” was formed in the Mid Ming Dynasty as a result of natural sediment accumulation and artificial dredging. Based on this, this paper re-examines the reasons determining the success or failure of the Huitong Canal in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties and discusses the significance of the formation of the Nanwang “water ridge” on transforming the Huitong Canal from a river depending on the violent Yellow River for water supplies to the one that relies on the stable Wenshui River for water source in the middle of the Ming Dynasty as well as its far-reaching influence on the principle of Yellow River maintenance after the Mid Mind Dynasty.

In this paper, the historical data about drought and flood in the western part of the Jianghuai (江淮) region in Ming and Qing dynasties are sorted out, and quantified hierarchically by year and county. Then, by calculating the average grade value of drought and flood and the 10-year moving average value, the time series of dry-wet change in this area from 1450 to 1911 are reconstructed. The results show that there were six dry-wet phases in this area. From 1450 to 1490, the drought was mainly mild. From 1491 to 1545, drought and flood disasters occurred frequently, and the fluctuation of dry and wet climate was obvious. From 1546 to 1625, there were few droughts and floods, and the dry and wet conditions were relatively stable. From 1626 to 1710, moderate drought events were dominant, and the frequency of extreme drought events increased significantly. From 1711 to 1860, wetness dominated. From 1861 to 1911, dry-wet trend fluctuated and tended to be wet. Lakes in this region were also affected in dry and wet stages.

On the lower reach of Damagou River in Tarim Basis, there was a desertified area once an oasis, it was about 80 square kilometers. On the ancient oasis area, many relics were scattered, such as Huyangdun Buddha temple ruins, Tuopulukedun Buddha Temple ruins, Big Graveyard, Huyang Graveyard, Kalaqin Ancient City, and Sipier Ancient City. The textual research shows the Kalaqin Ancient City was Kanchengzhen (Kanzhou) in Tang Dynasty, also the Phema City. In those years, the Kalaqin Ancient City was of a large population, commercially developed, and prosperous for Buddhism, but abandoned and desertified after 790 A.D. The Sipier Ancient City was the former capital of Qule State in Han Dynasty, but also abandoned and desertified in late Wei and Jin dynastys. The author analyzed two stages of desertification in the ancient oases and its causes.

Postal network was a modern element with the characteristic of “spatiality”. For modern China, it was mainly composed of various corporate entities such as Minxin (native postal services), owned by small private capital, and state-run postal services. After its establishment, the Chinese Imperial Post began to encroach on the operating space of Minxin. Based on the digitization work of the 1936 Postal Atlas, published by the Post of Republic of China, it was found that after nearly 40 years, the state-run post had basically completed the integration and construction of a nationwide postal space. In this process, the state-run postal service prudently imitated the operation modes of the Minxin and adopted a variety of innovative business strategies. In addition to building a convenient and fast postal network within and between large and medium-sized cities, the state-run postal service also adopted new business strategies such as “postal agency” in rural areas that could not be covered by railway and road at a very low cost, and completed the coupling with the traditional rural grassroots “periodical market” network. Basically, it has achieved the effect wherever there was commerce, there was postal service. The “postal agglomeration” formed by the state-run postal network and the concentration of postal points have also become a prominent external spatial representation of modernization and a good macro-external indicator for defining the so-called “core” and “peripheral” spaces.