Ferdinand von Richthofen; (Ferdinand von; 1833-1905) Barron is a German traveler, geographer and scientist.

Richthofen left little background information in his early years. It is understood that he may be educated in Tyrol in western Romania and Virginia in Delancy. From 1860 to 1862, Richthofen traveled to many places in Asia, such as Ceylon, Japan, Taiwan Province Province, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar. From 1863 to 1868, he did a lot of geological exploration in California, and his research indirectly led to the gold rush in California. From 1868 to 1872, he made seven expeditions to China. During this period, he officially pointed out the position of Lop Nur (a dry saltwater lake in Xinjiang with Guloulan as its toe).

1872, Richthofen returned to Europe as a professor of geology. 1875- 1886 studied in Leipzig university, and after 1886 transferred to Friedrich William University in Berlin. Among his many students, the most famous is the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin. In his later years, Richthofen served as the president of the German Geographical Association for many years and helped to establish the Berlin Hydrological Institute.

In the field of modern geography, Richthofen is regarded as an important pioneer. His geological records, observation results and documents all over the world are very detailed and highly praised by scholars.

Manfred von Richthofen, a famous pilot in World War I, was Richthofen's nephew.

The mountains on the southern edge of Gansu Corridor in western China used to have some English names named after Richthofen, such as Richthofen Mountain, which is now Qilian Mountain.

1860 and 1868, Richthofen, a famous German geographer and geologist, visited China twice and wrote China, which had an important influence on the geological development of China.

Two visits to China for geographical and geological investigation.

From 1860 to 1862, Richthofen accompanied Prussia's "expedition" to conduct geological investigation in East Asia and arrived in Shanghai, China on 186 1 year. However, at that time, due to the restrictions of the Qing government, he was only trapped in Shanghai, and actually failed to conduct any inspection activities.

1868, Richthofen got the financial support from the Bank of California and went to China again for on-the-spot geological investigation. Later, with the support of the Shanghai Foreign Chamber of Commerce, he carefully designed seven investigation routes, which took Shanghai as the base and lasted for 1865 ~ 1872 years, covering 18 provinces and regions all over the country, and made geographical and geological investigations. The investigation range was from Shenyang, Liaoning Province to Chengdu, Sichuan Province to Guangzhou (including Hong Kong).

The condition for Richthofen to get the financial aid from Shanghai Foreign Chamber of Commerce is to report the geological data, products, population, traffic, customs and social and economic conditions obtained in the survey area to the Chamber of Commerce in time. Therefore, this also fully highlights the purpose and background of Li's visit to China.

The seven routes visited by Li are as follows:

The first route:186811~ 65438+February. The main areas are Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Zhenjiang, Nanjing and other places, especially Zhoushan Islands.

The second route: 1869 to 65438+ 10, then go to Nanjing and Zhenjiang and transfer to Hubei (Wuhan and Hankou).

The third route: March 1869, half a year, mainly visited Shandong Tancheng, Linyi, Tai 'an, Jinan, Zhangqiu, Boshan, Weifang and Zhifu.

1877 submitted the special report "Shandong Geographical Environment and Mineral Resources", emphasizing Qingdao's superior geographical position and rendering the theory of JIAOZHOU Bay as a good port. After crossing the sea to Liaodong Peninsula, including Wafangdian, Gaiping and Xiong Yue; After entering Dagushan, I arrived in Benxi and Shenyang. After Shanhaiguan, we visited Kaiping, Luanxian, Feng Run, Yutian and some coalfields. After re-entering Beijing and its western hills through Tongzhou, geological investigation and study were carried out, and the paleostrata exposed at the south exit of Beijing were named Sinian system. After resting in Beijing, return to Shanghai.

The fourth route: depart from September 1869, mainly in Jiangxi (near Jiujiang and Jingdezhen), transfer to Tunxi, Anhui, then take a boat to Hangzhou via Xin 'anjiang and Qiantang River, and return to Shanghai.

The fifth route: from the end of 1869 to the beginning of 1870, from Shanghai to Hong Kong, via Beijiang to Yizhang and Chenzhou in Hunan, to Guangzhou, by boat along Xiangjiang River and Dongting Lake to the Yangtze River to Hankou, via Luoyang and Jincheng in Henan, Taiyuan in Shanxi, Yangquan in Hebei to Zhengding, to Beijing, and from Tianjin to Shanghai, with emphasis on coal resources in Shanxi and Shaanxi. During this inspection, around 1870, Li wrote from Beijing boasting that "China is the largest Carboniferous country in the world!" "The coal of a province in Shanxi can be consumed by the whole world for thousands of years!" And draw it into the first coal distribution map of China in China.

The sixth route: 187 1 June-August, from Shanghai to Ningbo, into Tiantai Mountain to Jinhua, Tonglu and other counties, through Xishui County to Tianmu Mountain, across Qianqiu Pass, to Ningguo, Jingxian County, Anhui Province, to Wuhu, and then to Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Zhenjiang for many times to conduct detailed geological survey and measurement.

The seventh route: 187 1 September 2008 to1May 872, which is the longest of his seven routes. From Shanghai to Tianjin to Beijing, to Zhaitang and other places in Xishan, through Jiming Mountain and Xuanhua to Zhangjiakou, and then to Datong and Wutai Mountain, "Wutai greenstone schist" was discovered. Through Taiyuan, go south to Tongguan along Fenhe River Valley, and enter Shaanxi through xi 'an to Baoji. According to relevant documents, the mountains on the southern edge of Hexi Corridor are named after Richthofen, such as RichthofenRange, which is now Qilian Mountain. Richthofen then turned to Baocheng, entered Mianxian, crossed Wuding Mountain, entered Guangyuan, Sichuan, and Zitong arrived in Chengdu via Mianyang. Richthofen praised Chengdu as one of the largest cities in China and the most beautiful and elegant city in Sichuan, and lamented the perfection of Dujiangyan irrigation method, which is unparalleled in the world. Later, it turned to Jiading (Leshan), crossed the Minjiang River and returned to Shanghai along the river. On the way, I visited the Three Gorges area in detail and gained the most.

During the investigation of seven routes in Richthofen, a large number of field geological data were recorded and a large number of fossils and rock samples were collected. The topographic map, schematic diagram, geological map and stratigraphic profile of the investigation area are drawn. During the intermission of the inspection, he wrote a report in time and reported the observed scene to the foreign trade association as scheduled. 1903 foreign chambers of commerce compiled Li's "report" into two volumes and named it "China Travel Report".

1872, Richthofen returned to Germany and was praised and appreciated by William II. His academic and social status has risen rapidly and he is famous all over the world.

The magnum opus China was compiled and published.

With the support of the Prussian government, Richthofen devoted himself to sorting out and writing his monograph "Geographical and Geological Survey of China". From 1877 to 19 12, it took 35 years to complete the macro book China-Personal Travel and the research results based on it (China for short). The book consists of five volumes and two sets of geographical and geological atlas.

The first volume was published in 1877 and was written by him. This paper mainly discusses the geographical overview of Central Asia and China, among which the historical geography of China is more abundant and precious.

The second volume, published by 1882, is edited by myself, mainly including the nature, geology, mineral resources, social economy and other contents in this area, involving Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi, Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan.

This volume contains the most abundant contents: Wutai greenstone schist discovered in Wutai Mountain in 1822 laid the foundation for the establishment of China paleostratigraphic system-Cambrian Wutai System (upper part) and Hutuo System (lower part); 187 1 put forward the word "sinian system", and named a large group of strata dominated by carbonate rocks from early Paleozoic to Proterozoic as sinian system based on the outcropping strata in Beijing Nankou; The Qilian Mountains were inspected in the southern edge of Hexi Corridor, some of which were named after themselves, and the geographical locations of Lop Nur and Loulan sites were also pointed out. The ancient road of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions in Han Dynasty was called "Silk Road". In the investigation of North China and Northwest China, the "aeolian theory" of loess genesis was put forward.

The third volume, published in 19 12, is the last of the five volumes. It was edited by his student E. Dyson, when Richthofen had been dead for seven years. This volume contains Li's investigation records and materials in Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi. Among them, Guizhou, Tibet and other areas that Li has never been to are also selected with the help of other people's information.

The fourth volume, published in 1883, mainly collects paleontological fossils collected in the investigation, conducts identification and research, and invites famous paleontologists of various categories to identify, describe and classify them. These paleontologists include F. Flynn Selenium, E. Kesher, G. Linster Lom, C. Xie Valore, A. Xie Hengke, etc. , and collected the most precious information and pictures during the investigation.

The fifth volume was published in 19 1 1, edited by Dyson.

The first volume of the two episodes was compiled by Li Yu in 1884 and published in 1885, including 12 geological and geographical maps of northern China. The second volume edited by Dr. M. Golol in 19 12 contains 15 geographical and geological maps belonging to southern China. When compiling the atlas, other people's documents and maps were also consulted, and there were 160 kinds of officially published materials, which reflected the understanding of China's geography and geology at that time.