| Xu Jiyu,as an official in the late Qing Dynasty,had important and advanced ideas.He has made some contributions to literature,history and other fields,and has a positive impact on society,which has been discussed by predecessors.However,his contribution to geography and its achievements have not been paid enough attention so far.This paper,starting from a brief history of Ying Huan Zhi Lue,explores Xu Jiyu’s special contribution to geography.The book begins with an overview of Earth knowledge and world geography.Among them,the knowledge of the earth is discussed about longitude and latitude,equator,temperature zone,etc.After introducing the general situation,he divided the world into four continents,Australia into Asia,and the oceans into five oceans.He divided the world into continents and oceans,breaking through the traditional world outlook.In introducing the Asian part,this paper discusses the geographical knowledge of eight regions,including topography,soil,climate and other aspects of physical geography.It also introduces the orientation,territory,tribe,city,war,race,population,transportation,Tonggong,Putou,colonization,taxation,customs and folklore,lifestyle,product resources,official management,agriculture,animal husbandry and forestry,etc.The introduction of human geography is much more than that of natural geography.In Asia,he reflected on the destruction of the tributary system centered on China,and treated religions around the world with an equal and objective attitude.In introducing the European part,the paper elaborates on the geographical knowledge of 16 countries.In part of Europe,he carried out national strength analysis and strength assessment for many European countries,paid attention to the European"mercantile" consciousness and its relationship with geographical environment,and at the same time recognized the multi-source origin theory of world civilization and produced the sea power consciousness.When discussing Africa and the Americas,the physical geography of Africa is introduced in detail.This part discusses the geographical situation of 12 regions,pays close attention to international issues,pays attention to the slaves and trade of slaves,and praises the political system of the United States.In addition,his agricultural thought is also reflected here.Generally speaking,the book has distinct compilation characteristics.It uses the traditional self-annotation style,uses the traditional expression way and pays attention to the writing of historical evolution.These fully reflect the characteristics of geographers in the modern transformation period of Geography,and the characteristics of academic discourse in the transition period,reflecting the docking of Chinese intellectuals to the world.When introducing the knowledge of Western geography,we not only pay attention to natural geography,but also introduce many fields of human geography.Xu’s contribution to geography in China is manifested in his integration of the sense of learning from the West and taking geography as the guide into the subsequent educational activities,which promotes the establishment of geography curriculum and the development of geography education.He has played an active role in popularizing world geography knowledge,promoting reform and innovation,and enlightening people’s wisdom.At the same time,it also has important geographic contributions in Asia. |
