Research On Railway Traffic In Late Qing Dynasty From The Perspective Of Historical Geography

As one of the main modes of modern transportation,railway has played an important role in promoting the modernization of China.It started in the late Qing Dynasty,but it did not develop smoothly.Finally,with the vigorous promotion of the Qing government,the railway was able to develop rapidly.From the birth of the first railway in China in 1876 to the demise of the Qing Dynasty in 1911,nearly 35 years later,the Qing government built nearly 10,000 kilometers of railway.It is not difficult to find that the spatial and temporal distribution of these Railways was extremely uneven by studying the history of Railways in the late Qing Dynasty.Railways built in 1903-1911 accounted for more than half of the total railway mileage,and most of these railways were concentrated in Northeast and North China,while the distribution of southwest and northwest regions was very rare.Studying the process and reasons of the change of Qing government's attitude,the distribution of railway lines and the characteristics of route selection will help us to understand the development process and background of railway in China,and provide reference for today's railway transportation.Through objective analysis and summary,we can accurately grasp how the Qing government pushed forward the railway industry under the background of the great powers,the decline of the national situation and the turbulence of the situation.From the perspective of historical geography,this paper analyses how the Qing government determined the route when it decided to build the road,and what factors affected the route and changed it.In the late Qing Dynasty,the factors affecting railway route selection can be roughly divided into natural factors and social factors.First of all,the distribution of mineral resources,topography and landform,as well as waterway transportation,will affect railway route selection.Secondly,social factors such as advocating people's ideological understanding,the interference of imperialist forces,and the specific purpose of railway construction will make railway lines change.The interaction of man-land relationship makes these railways have positive and negative effects on regional society after they are completed.It is undeniable that railways brought great changes to modern China.They not only promoted the development of industry and mining,the specialization of agriculture,but also promoted the prosperity of trade and the rise of modern cities.But railways also had a lot of bad effects on modern society.Through the study of these problems,we can know what achievements the railway undertakings of the late Qing Dynasty have made are worth learning from,and what shortcomings are worth reflecting on,so as to achieve the purpose of making the past serve the present.