The Regional Investigation Of Shandong By Westerners In Modern Times (1831-1862)

As one of the northern coastal provinces,Shandong Province is geographically close to Beijing and Tianjin.Before modern times,it was a must for westerners to enter the political core region of China.Westerners in China have observed and commented on the Shandong region before modern times.During the Yuan Dynasty,Marco Polo,an Italian traveler,visited China through the Shandong section of the Grand Canal and observed and described Jinan,Linqing and Dongchangfu.On the eve of the Opium War,British diplomats Macartney and Amherst successively led a delegation to China.On the way,they made a detailed exploration of the coastal areas of eastern Shandong,provided a lot of information for the British government,and made a detailed observation of the people’s lives in the cities along the Grand Canal on their return,which became an important reference for observing the society of Shandong before the war.In the 1830s,with the rapid development of capitalism,Western countries were eager to expand overseas markets and pointed their finger at China.Protestant missionaries were in the vanguard.Missionaries such as Gützlaff,Medhurst and Stephens reached the coastal area of east Shandong by sailing along the coast of China.Gützlaff has visited the coast of Shandong Peninsula twice,passing through Shandong Lidao Port,Qishansuo,Jiaozhou and Liugong Island,etc.,focusing on the local geography and business environment.Inspired by him,two missionaries,Medhurst and Stephens,experienced the so-called"Huron Tour",paid attention to the life of farmers at the bottom of Shandong and the local agricultural development,and had a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of Shandong.In addition,Westerners also published their views on China issues in the Chinese Repository,and also published relevant Shandong geographical survey contents.It can be seen that during this period,the Westerners had a preliminary awareness of geographical exploration and information collection in the coastal areas of Shandong Province.During the period between the two Opium Wars,the Westerners who came to China took advantage of their treaty privileges and were able to operate at the five Trade Ports.Of course,these "Five Ports" has nothing to do with Shandong,and there are not many Westerners who can personally visit Shandong,however,there are still many works worthy of attention:S.Wells Williams spoke highly of Shandong in his grand works;Thomas Allom showed the folk customs of Shandong towns along the Canal in the form of image history;John Peters expounded and praised the Confucian culture originated in Shandong in his eyes;Bingham arrived at important coastal cities and islands in eastern Shandong and made geographic and military surveys during the Opium War.In 1855,the Yellow River burst and migrated north through Shandong into the sea,causing huge damage to the economy of western Shandong.Lockhart and Edkins,two missionaries of the London Missionary Society,paid particular attention to this historical diversion of the Yellow River,After that,the focus of the regional investigation of the Westerners in Shandong province in modern times has shifted from the west to the east.Osborn,a British officer who participated in the Second Opium War,sailed from Shanghai to the Bohai Bay on the warship "Furious" to conduct a geographical survey of the coastal area,as well as a detailed survey of the geographical and commercial situation along the coast of eastern Shandong.In particular,he read out his survey report in public at the Royal Geographic Society,which showed the western world the significance of Shandong’s geographical resources and commercial value to colonial expansion,and provided knowledge support and information resources for the opening of ports in eastern Shandong.Through the above analysis,we can see that the cognition and research of modern Westerners on Shandong,not only has the geographical shift on area studies,also presents the characteristics of progressive knowledge,that is,from the description of general knowledge such as geographical environment,social life and people’s appearance to the collection of information resources centered on humanistic quality,geological resources,economy and trade.In addition,the geographical investigation of Shandong by Westerners in modern China eventually provided intellectual support and information preparation for the opening of ports in eastern Shandong.