Study On The Peking-Hankow Railway And The Transformations Of City In Modern Luohe （1906—1948）

Luohe was historically a commercial town with important inland wharfs in the East Henan Plain.It was well-known as the "Liuchen（many kinds of grains）Distribution Center" for its booming trade and developed water transportation in the Central Plains during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In the middle and late Qing Dynasty,Luohe Town declined sharply due to the superior water transportation conditions and stronger economic radiation in Beiwudu.Until the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China,the construction and opening of the Peking-Hankow railway brought earth-shaking changes to the urban development of Luohe.The Peking-Hankow railway changed the traditional mode of transportation in modern Luohe,and transport by railway became the main mode of transportation.A kind of new transportation system was built with newborn railway transport and developing traditional water transport promoted by the railway.The urban industry and trade was influenced greatly for the rise of forwarding agency,the expansion of trade scope and the settlement of modern industries.The improvement of transportation conditions led to the gradual disintegration of the traditional small-scale peasant economy in Luohe,which built Luohe as a famous grain trading market and livestock trading market for the development of the agricultural and livestock industry,and the commercialization of agricultural and sideline products.As a result,Luohe became an important distribution center transporting materials from the East Henan plain to many parts of the country,and its economic center status far exceeded that of Yancheng County,the regional political center.In short,after the opening of the Peking-Hankow railway,Luohe’s economic status was improved,the population increased sharply,businesses gathered,and the scale of the city expanded.And the original blocks were further changed with new blocks emerging rapidly around the station,which transformed the original urban space.This series of changes built an economic structure which is dominated by trade and supplemented by industry and handicrafts,enhanced its transporting trait and finally established Luohe as a regional economic center.This paper summarizes the generation mode of the Peking-Hankow railway and the transformations of city in modern Luohe,trying to provide a reference for the development of Luohe in the future.Luohe should pay attention to railway transportation,give full play to the role of logistics distribution hub,and shape characteristic industry gathering area.