A methodological transformation in the knowledge system of Chinese historical geography is taking place. Photo: TUCHONG

The call to construct an independent knowledge system in China is a newly articulated proposition to suit the country’s academic development in the new era. It is a product of China’s socioeconomic development reaching a new historical stage and represents a broader intellectual mission for scholars and theorists alike. As a secondary discipline of history, historical geography stands out for its interdisciplinary scope and its higher degree of visualizability. Under current historical conditions, developing an independent knowledge system for historical geography not only promises to significantly raise the level of scholarship in the discipline but also serves as an important stage for the spatial construction and display of Chinese civilization. This endeavor is particularly important for advancing a holistic and independent knowledge system within Chinese historical geography more broadly.

Fusion of traditions: the formation as a discipline

The disciplinary system of Chinese historical geography emerged from a synthesis of Chinese and Western academic traditions. In 1990, when contributing an entry to the geography volume of the Encyclopedia of China, the eminent scholar Hou Renzhi observed that “the development of Chinese historical geography can roughly be divided into three stages: the origin and development of ancient evolutionary geography; the transformation of evolutionary geography into historical geography; and the formation and development of modern historical geography.” These three phases summarize the evolution of the discipline over two millennia, offering both a retrospective on traditional Chinese scholarship and a framework for understanding the modern field’s formation.

Ancient evolutionary geography has deep roots in China, with most scholars tracing its origins to the Treatise on Geography in the Book of Han, widely recognized as the foundational text of Chinese evolutionary geography. From this starting point through to the Qianjia School, the tradition developed over the course of 1,000 years. The term “historical geography,” however, is a relatively modern import. In the late Qing period, as China’s educational system drew experience from Western models, “historical geography” began to be introduced as a distinct academic category.

In the 1930s, the Yugong Society, represented by Gu Jiegang, further transformed traditional evolutionary geography into what was explicitly termed Chinese “historical geography.” A key marker of this shift was the renaming the society’s journal, the Yugong Fortnightly, in English to Chinese Historical Geography—a change that marked a deliberate and targeted adoption of the disciplinary term “historical geography.” This change signaled the scholars’ growing engagement with modern geographic thought and their intention to modernize the field. Hou Renzhi regarded this period as a transitional stage between evolutionary geography and historical geography.

The establishment of historical geography as a distinct academic discipline in China took place after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. During this period, the field moved away from its roots in evolutionary geography—concerned primarily with tracing changes in the examination and cartographic records of administrative divisions, the rise and fall of prefectures and counties, and the shifting of river systems—and turned toward a new focus on the study of “human–land relationships.” In the course of this transformation, foundational contributions were made by pioneering scholars such as Hou Renzhi, Tan Qixiang, and Shi Nianhai.

Independent exploration: the development and refinement

The academic system of Chinese historical geography has developed and improved through a process of independent exploration. Historical geography is a highly comprehensive and interdisciplinary discipline, incorporating complex and diverse research materials and encompassing extremely wide-ranging fields. Long-term shifts in temporal and spatial patterns are intricately connected to the evolution of social forms. Understanding the laws and characteristics of historical development requires methodological approaches that no single discipline can adequately provide. China’s historical trajectory, marked by both longevity and continuity, poses distinct challenges: the chronological scope of Chinese historical geography is broader than in most countries, and constructing long-term geographic profiles demands correspondingly intricate methods. For a long time, Chinese historical geography scholars have remained committed to examining the relationship between environment and civilizational development in light of China’s unique conditions. Through sustained practice, the discipline’s theoretical and methodological foundations have steadily grown more robust.

Research on historical climate change illustrates the distinctiveness of China’s contributions. While Western scholars initiated such studies in the 1950s and 60s, their work was constrained by the lack of historical documentation and thus relied heavily on natural science techniques. Chinese researchers, by contrast, have enjoyed unique advantages. Zhu Kezhen, for example, drew on the country’s extensive phenological records, integrating archaeological findings, official histories, and local chronicles to reconstruct a climate change curve spanning over five millennia. In terms of methodology, temporal scope, and research outcomes, China can be said to have achieved leapfrog progress, offering long-range empirical evidence for global climate studies. This work stands as a landmark contribution to the international understanding of historical climate dynamics, distinguished by its methodological originality and depth.

China’s research into desertification and desert historical geography similarly benefited from pioneering efforts in the mid-20th century, most notably those of Hou Renzhi. By conducting archaeological surveys deep within desert regions and combining archaeological chronology, site positioning, and textual research, Hou traced two thousand years of desertification patterns in China. He further examined the interplay between environmental forces and human activity, ultimately establishing a comprehensive set of methods for the study of desert historical geography.

The field of historical agricultural geography was founded by Shi Nianhai. Given that China has long been an agrarian society, agriculture has not only influenced the cycles of dynastic rise and fall but also underpinned the country’s broader economic development. Beginning with investigations into historical agricultural geography in China, Shi led a research team that systematically examined the expansion of farming areas and related geographic issues across successive dynasties. Whether focused on environmental shifts or agrarian patterns, these studies have had clear implications for national economic development. Tan Qixiang repeatedly advocated for more robust engagement with this field, which includes such domains as economy, politics, population, urbanization, and culture. Research in these areas has since flourished, grounded in indigenous theories and methods and yielding a wealth of pioneering findings.

Thanks to the foundational work of senior scholars such as Gu Jiegang, Hou Renzhi, Tan Qixiang, and Shi Nianhai—as well as the sustained efforts of a new generation of researchers—the academic system of Chinese historical geography has continuously improved. Its scope has expanded, its research objects have grown more diverse, and it now encompasses two major branches: historical natural geography and historical human geography.

Digital era: new methods

The digital age has brought about a methodological transformation in the knowledge system of Chinese historical geography. In recent years, advances in computing, remote sensing (RS), information technology, the internet, and artificial intelligence have ushered human society into an era dominated by digital technologies. The speed and efficiency of information dissemination have increased dramatically. In particular, the widespread application of 3S technologies—RS, geographic information systems (GIS), and the global positioning system (GPS)—has propelled the development of geography and historical geography into a new phase. Under these new historical conditions, Chinese historical geography has undergone unprecedented changes. First, the foundational data available to researchers has become increasingly diverse. Second, the discipline is moving steadily toward spatial modeling and dynamic process analysis. Finally, the development of data management and analytical platforms based on GIS has emerged as an important need for the discipline.

Approaches and values: building an independent knowledge system

Approaches and core values must guide the construction of an independent knowledge system for Chinese historical geography in the digital era. As with many disciplines, early development in Chinese historical geography drew upon modern Western academic theories. However, over time, the field increasingly integrated local experience and indigenous practices, eventually forming a comprehensive and distinctly Chinese knowledge system. This system, while rooted in domestic traditions, also reflects broader trends in global academic differentiation since the modern era—marked by an increasingly elaborate and finely subdivided disciplinary structure. Such differentiation has undoubtedly deepened our understanding of specific aspects of the real world, but it has also led to a diminished capacity for holistic comprehension. Although each branch aspires to interpret the world in its entirety, its perspective remains partial, one-sided, limited, and focused on isolated phenomena. Recognizing this tension, scholars in Chinese historical geography have become increasingly conscious of the need to construct an autonomous, integrated academic framework. Still, elevating this project to the level of a fully independent knowledge system will require further progress in at least three key areas.

First, greater emphasis must be placed on the distillation and refinement of theoretical frameworks and core concepts. The building of an independent disciplinary system depends on the sublimation of both theory and method. Although Chinese historical geography has accumulated an impressive body of empirical research over more than half a century, its theoretical development has lagged behind.

Second, a coherent set of academic questions must be formulated. China’s varied geographical environments, deep historical legacy, and abundance of written records and cultural relics offer ideal conditions for generating research that is diverse in scope, deeply humanistic, and of high academic caliber. Such work should aim not only to inform practical applications but also to contribute historical insight into contemporary global transformations—grounded in China’s own experiences. This endeavor lies at the heart of building an independent knowledge system and reflects its substantive dimension in the discipline.

Third, historical geography information platforms should be leveraged to support efficient knowledge dissemination, helping foster a vibrant, pluralistic space for the mutual exchange of research findings.

With over five millennia of continuous civilization, China possesses a vast trove of historical documents, material artifacts, and archaeological sites—resources that offer unparalleled evidence for reconstructing the regional spatial dimensions of past human activity. Therefore, guided by Marxist theory and grounded in the principles of ecological civilization, the discipline is well-positioned—theoretically, practically, and technically—to construct an independent Chinese knowledge system in historical geography. By centering on the evolving relationship between human societies and land throughout China’s history, this field is poised to provide rich, persuasive case studies for understanding long-term patterns of development. In the broader project of building China’s independent knowledge system, historical geography holds a position of distinct and powerful advantage.

Zhang Ping (professor) and Zhang Min are from the School of History at the Capital Normal University.