In the mid-Qing Dynasty, the flood level of the Jingjiang River (a section of the Yangtze River) began to rise and was repeatedly recorded in the Sanxun Anlan Zouben of the Qing Palace Memorials and Archives of the Grand Council. During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns, after the Ouchi and Songzi dikes collapsed and the main flow diverged to the Dongting Lake, the flood level eased temporarily and rose again rapidly in the Guangxu’s reign. The rising flood level affected the courses, and water environment of the rivers flowing southward into the Yangtze River. In the Juzhang River Basin, this involves the expansion, separation, and approaching northward of the Bailizhou Island in the Yangtze River, shifts of the estuary of the Juzhang River, the shift of the main Yangtze River course, the extension of the lower reaches of the Juzhang River caused by the adjoining of Lower Bailizhou with the east bank, as well as the silt caused by the counter-balanced effect of the river flow and mountain torrents. In the Ma’nao River Basin, the backwater effect of the rising flood level at the estuary turned the area into a swamp.
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.
Located along the lower reaches of Daqing River and Ziya River, the Wen’anwa(文安洼) in Wen’an and Dacheng County of Hebei Province is a low-lying depression and shaped like “the bottom of a cauldron” in colloquial language. It is difficult to drain its water reserve, which often caused severe flood disasters in the past. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wen’an County took many measures, such as building dikes, diverting river courses, and planting rice in shallow water, to control the flood but to no avail. It was not only the environmental factors, such as the low-lying terrain and the silt of the lower reaches of Daqing River and Ziya River, that made it hard to control the flood in the Wen’anwa Depression, but also social factors, such as the conflicting interests of water control between Wen’an County and the surrounding prefectural and counties, and the lack of ability and tactfulness of water management by Wen’an County itself.
It is possible to make a comparative calculation of the distances and routes recorded in ⅡT0214①∶130 and ⅤT1611③∶39, two Han dynasty slips from Xuanquan. The post at the easternmost point of Jiuquan Prefecture recorded in ⅡT0214①∶130 was not Biaoshi, but to the west of it; Biaoshi was a county belonged to Zhangye Prefecture at that time. The jurisdiction of Wuwei Prefecture recorded in ⅤT1611③∶39 was not in Guzang, but possibly in Fanhe. The main line of the “Southeast”courier route as seen in ⅤT1611③∶39 passed Tianshui and connected Anding, which was basically the conventionally acknowledged “North Route”from Chang’an to Hexi. This route also had a branch to Jincheng. Based on the above conclusions, the features of ⅡT0214①∶130 can be roughly reconstructed. The two slips of ⅡT0214①∶130 and ⅤT1611③∶39 commonly display a portion of the courier routes and administrative divisions of Hexi at a certain point in the Western Han dynasty.
In the past, it was believed that Xinzhou(信州) in the Liao and Jin dynasties was located in present-day Qinjiatun, in Gongzhuling City, while the ancient site in Wujiazi, 13 km to the west of Qinjiatun, was considered to be a sub-state of Xinzhou and received little attention. Based on the reading of historical satellite photos and field surveys, we have discovered the outer city wall around Wujiazi, thus increasing its perimeter to be comparable to that of Qinjiatun. This discovery is different from the old understanding. By re-evaluating the surface remains of the two cities and the excavated relics, it is clear the ancient city of Qinjiatun was a Jin dynasty site, while the ancient city of Wujiazi was a Liao dynasty site, abandoned in the early Jin dynasty. Based on the archaeological evidences and combined with the literature, we believe that the Liao Dynasty Xinzhou was ruled from Wujiazi ancient city, and during the Jin Dynasty Xinzhou was ruled in Qinjiatun ancient city. According to the Yuan Yitong Zhi, the time of the change seems to be the third year during the Huangtong period (1143).
Yanfa-Dao was an important official set up by the Ming and Qing governments to regulate the production and sales of salt. It began with the Wanli reign, at the end of which the Lianghuai salt zone was set up to rectify and manage Yanfa-Dao, which was a special dispatch officer of the imperial court to collect salt taxes. During the Tianqi years, party conflicts were fierce, and Yanfa-Dao’s rectification of salt affairs had not been effective, so the Chongzhen court worked to restore the old system dominated by the Salt Administrator. The Qing Dynasty readjusted the salt official system, and in addition to the merger of Salt Administrator and Yanfa-Dao, the Fenxun Yanwu-Dao to manage production and the Tongsheng Yanfa-Dao to manage sales were established. Yanfa-Dao went from being a dispatch officer to a local salt agency, and together with the Salt Administrator became a direct office of Booi Salt Inspector. To monopolize Lianghuai’s salt interests, the Emperor also ordered the Liangjiang Governor-general to also manage the salt affairs to supervise the Booi Salt Inspector. The Daoguang court abolished Booi Salt Inspector and salt affairs were placed under the administration of Liangjiang Governor-general. After Xianfeng and Tongzhi, the authority of Salt Administrator and Yanfa-Dao was usurped by the Bureaus of Investment and Supervision, and Lianghuai’s salt interests were returned to the Liangjiang Governor-general and became a monopoly and financial basis of his office.
Settlement pattern is an understudied topic in historical settlement geography. The settlement pattern of Jingsheng Village in Lingshi County in Shanxi Province had experienced three stages of change: the initial development of the gullies and lanes from the late Yuan Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, the boundary expansion and internal expansion from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, the filling of the settlement pattern in the late Qing Dynasty and the “southward invasion” across the river. Factors such as geographical environment, clan power, war and banditry, national policies had all played an important role in the development and evolution of Jingsheng Village settlement pattern. The case study of Jingsheng Village shows that the formation and development of settlement pattern is a historical process of dynamic change, and the establishment history of settlement temples and landmark buildings has become an important index for investigation. Research on the pattern of rural settlements will be one of the trends of future rural historical geography studies in China.
Selecting the population data of settlement in 1934, 1982, and 2019 in Tumote plain, the distribution pattern evolution and its driving factors of settlement in the study area were analyzed through using GIS spatial analysis methods and combining qualitative and qualitative analysis. The results show that: during 1934-2019, the scale system of settlement in the study area was dominated by small settlement. The number and proportion of settlement with larger populations increased year by year and the population hierarchical structure showed a pyramid shape from “flat” to “long-tall”. The spatial distribution pattern of settlement showed the characteristics of agglomeration distribution as a whole. The agglomeration of large-scale settlements is not significant, and the distribution pattern of the other three levels of settlements changed from uniform to agglomeration distribution model. The population polarization in the study area was significant. The non-equilibrium development trend of the spatial distribution of the study area was obvious, showing signs of evolution from pole nucleus type to Pole-axis type. The spatial neighbor effect of network connection of settlement was significant, and the central urban area with a large population became a strong connection node. Terrain, river and traffic were the main driving factors for the evolution of the distribution pattern of the settlement in the study area during 1934-2019. The settlement showed strong spatial orientation to low altitude, and were significantly close to rivers, roads and towns. This study facilitates the clarification of the evolution of the settlement distribution patterns in the Tumut Plain in the past 100 years, and provides a certain reference value for the optimization and regulation of the spatial layout of local settlements.
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.
Likin system is an important commercial tax system in modern times, which affects the development of commodity economy and market. This article attempts to restore the actual state of likin collection in the southern Jiangsu area in the late Qing Dynasty, and sort out the collection items and various collection modes. The taxation model was not completely divided between commodities. Rather, there were various options which not only facilitated merchants choosing to pay according to their own circumstances, but also ensured that the officials maximize their collects, so as to balance the relationship between the two. In addition, this paper uses the likin stations as a carrier to perform ArcGIS Thiessen polygon(泰森多边形) segmentation to analyze the market space structure in southern Jiangsu. The results show that the radius of Southern Jiangsu area likin stations(厘卡) in the late Qing Dynasty was 5.56-6.67 kilometers, and the radius of Head offices was 16.45-21.93 kilometers. The difference between the Thiessen polygons generated by the Head office and the likin station is different from the regional market analysis under the Skinnerian Model. This difference is due to the difference in the attributes of the space division carrier in the regional market, which partially reflects the spatial characteristics of the “local market according to likin stations” issue.
The first issue of Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis in 1962 published the article “Humble Opinion on Historical Geography” written by Mr. Hou Renzhi. It has been 60 years since this year. The publication of the paper adapted to the needs of the Historical Geography circles in China at that time to understand the object, nature, future research direction and other professional issues, especially the view that Historical Geography is an integral part of Modern Geography, which greatly promoted the discipline transformation of Historical Geography and the advancement and development of Historical Physical Geography in China. Related to this is the view in the paper, which has also been verified by the degree system management and its discipline evolution in the past 60 years.
Prof. Zhang Xiugui is one of the main founders of the Chinese Historical Geomorphology and Historical Physical Geography. Guided by modern geomorphology theory, he has established a set of unique research methods and paradigms for historical geomorphology through field investigations and interpretations on the historical records of environmental changes. His works on the geomorphological evolution of the riverbed of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are well received in Chinese academia and regarded as the most outstanding achievement in Chinese Historical Geomorphology. Amongst his other accomplishments are the studies on the formation of the Hai River, the change of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the evolution of the lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the formation of the Shanghai Landmass, all of which were based on Prof. Tan Qixiang’s researches but with new findings and improvements. Prof. Zhang Xiugui’s works have covered a timespan of thousands of years and demonstrated the integration of historical and modern geography as well as the pragmatical applications of the principles of historical geography. In addition, he also took part in the recovery and restoration of the earliest Han Dynasty map found at Mawangdui in China and thoroughly investigated the content of the map to ensure its historical accuracy and reliability. His researches on ancient maps have laid the foundation for future studies in the field.
The record about the establishment of Eyue Fanzhen(鄂岳镇) in Daizong’s period of Tang Dynasty in Xin Tangshu and Jiu Tangshu(两唐书) was inaccurate, including the change of administrative division, the set-up time and so on. By comparing with other historical data, Mianzhou(沔州), Qizhou(蕲州) and Huangzhou(黄州) haven’t been attached to Eyue Fanzhen in the Daizong’s period. The set-up time of Eyue Guancha Shi was in the eighth year.
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.
