Evidence Of Place By Poetry:A Study Of The Historical Geography Of Song Dynasty Shu Road Poetry

Shu Road is a famous linear historical and cultural heritage zone in China,with deep historical and cultural accumulation.From the Qin and Han dynasties to the end of the Qing dynasty,poets of all generations left a large number of poems about the Shu Road traffic and travels and inscriptions.Before the Tang Dynasty,there were few poems on the Shu Road,but in the Tang Dynasty,there was a large number of poems on the Shu Road,and in the Song Dynasty,the number of poems on the Shu Road was even larger.The poetry of Shu Road in the Song Dynasty is not only one of the characteristic parts of the history of traffic literature,but also has historical and geographical value and academic value.This paper selects Shu Road poetry of the Song Dynasty as the object of study,firstly,combs the route of Shu Road and the development of the road in the Song Dynasty,clarifies the scope of the relevant areas written in Shu Road poetry in the Song Dynasty,analyzes the reasons why poets wrote Shu Road poetry and the development of Shu Road poetry in the Song Dynasty,and lays the foundation for analyzing the historical and geographical value of Shu Road poetry later on.Secondly,the poems of the Shu Road in Song Dynasty reflect the changes of Shu Road traffic and the actual condition of Shu Road traffic.Although the names and geographical locations of all the stagecoaches cannot be fully resolved,it is possible to recover at least the general distribution,number and order of stagecoaches along the Shu Road.Through the poet’s insights,the actual traffic use of the Shu Road in the Song Dynasty can be explored,and the use of some important Song Dynasty traffic nodes,stagecoaches and actual means of transportation can be clarified,and the directions of some roads in the Song Dynasty can be recovered in conjunction with authentic historical documents.Once again,the poetry of the Shu Road in the Song Dynasty recorded the natural scenery,mountains and rivers,urban and rural settlements and folk culture of the areas along the Shu Road,which has an important historical and geographical value of proving the place by poetry.The Shu Road traverses the two mountain systems of Qinling and Daba Mountains in China,and the ecological diversity and vertical differences in climate along the route are obvious.The areas along the Shu Road in the Song Dynasty were characterized by rainy weather,high vegetation coverage and lush forests,with more pine,willow,plum,bamboo and begonia plants;there were many wild animals,with tigers,apes and cuckoos appearing frequently in the poems;the dialects,food and folk beliefs along the Shu Road also had regional characteristics.Finally,based on the study of the transportation,natural and human geography reflected in Song Dynasty Shu Road poems,we further explore the geographical perceptions of Song Dynasty poets about Shu Road and compare them with those of Tang Dynasty poets.We find that Song people generally considered Shu Road difficult to travel and built an important mental image of Shu Road transportation,and Song people considered the military status of Shu Road very important,especially the change of literary theme ideas from "Shu Road is difficult" to "Shu Road is easy" from Tang Dynasty to Song Dynasty,highlighting the change of ancient poets’ travel mentality and creative scenarios.As a whole,Shu Road poetry,as a special historical material,has an important historicalgeographical value.It not only reflects the changes of the Shu Road transportation route,but also reflects the Shu Road and the ecological environment,social and cultural customs along the route from multiple angles,which has the value of historical geography as evidence of the place by poetry.Moreover,it can also explore the cognition and expression of poets or mainstream people along the Shu Road during the Song Dynasty,as reflected in the special literary genre of poetry,and thus reveal the geographical concept of the Shu Road of the people of the time.