Zhang
(Institute of Natural Science History, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1000 10)
Abstract: At the beginning of this century, with the introduction of modern western science, China scholars made in-depth discussions on many scientific theories, and some problems also caused extensive debates. Among many theoretical problems, the discussion of "the relationship between geography and culture" covers a wide range and has far-reaching influence. This paper analyzes the causes of this phenomenon and its influence on the research direction of modern geography in China, and tries to analyze the relationship between the development of modern geography in China and the social and cultural background through this research.
Keywords: geography and culture
Since the 20th century, the development of science in China has entered a brand-new historical stage. New problems are constantly emerging and new disciplines are constantly emerging. A large number of western scientific theories were introduced into China, and scientific thoughts were unprecedentedly active, which led to a gratifying situation of discussing and studying science. In numerous theoretical discussions, the debate about the relationship between geography and culture (or human society) is a noticeable topic.
The research on the relationship between geography and culture originates from the long-standing historical proposition of the relationship between man and land. The theory of man-land relationship has experienced a long development process, but as a proposition with modern scientific significance, it began in Europe in the18th century. At that time, some philosophers and historians pushed the determinism of geographical environment to a climax. /kloc-Latzel (F.Ratzel, 1844 ~ 1904), a German geographer in the 20th century, introduced this theory into geography in his book "Human Geography", and emphasized that human activities were controlled by many aspects of geographical environment. At the beginning of the 20th century, Ratze's thought was reflected in his student and American geographer Jane (E.C.Semple, 1863~ 1932)' s book The Impact of Geographical Environment (19 1 1 year). E Huntington (1876~ 1947), a simpler contemporary American geographer, published "Civilization and Climate" in 19 15, establishing the hypothesis that human culture can only develop in areas that stimulate climate. 1920, he published the book Principles of Human Geography, which further emphasized the decisive role of geographical environment in economy and culture.
At the same time, the geographical environment determinism has a wide influence. The French scholar Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845~ 19 18) put forward the idea of "possibility theory", which is also called "possibility theory", and opposed determinism. He believes that geographical environment only provides many possibilities for the development of human society, and human beings can change and adjust natural phenomena by making choices according to different lifestyles. His student J. Brunehs (1869 ~1930) published "Principles of Anthropology" in 1925, which made this view have a great influence in Europe and America.
After fierce debate, in the 1920s, the "possibility theory" gradually replaced the "geographical environment determinism" and occupied a dominant position in western countries.
Social background of the problem
In the first half of this century, the destruction of the long-term war in China made the fledgling modern science more difficult, so the influence of human and political factors on the development of science in this period was particularly prominent. The current turmoil, the survival crisis faced by the nation and the backwardness of science and technology made the intellectuals in China have a strong sense of crisis at that time. They tried to find out the reasons for China's backwardness through scientific analysis, and hoped to save China in distress through science.
In this social background, many scholars try to find out the essential differences between the East and the West through different geographical environments, so as to explore how China people can get rid of the predicament. This kind of research motivation beyond academics made the debate on "geography and culture" particularly active in the 1920s and 1930s, and became one of the most prominent topics in the discussion of many modern scientific theories. It is for this reason that the geographical environmental determinism, which has sunk in the west, is particularly popular in China.
From the end of 19, Darwin's (C.R.Darwin, 1809~ 1882) theory of evolution had a far-reaching influence in China. Darwin's "evolution" was originally caused by the interaction between creatures in nature and the change of their geographical environment, but the British philosopher Herbert Spencer (1820~ 1903) introduced the evolution theory originally belonging to the biological world into social science and put forward the theory of "social organism". Yan Fu expounded Spencer's viewpoint when translating Darwin's Evolution Theory, which catered to the social environment of China at that time. By the 1920s, the theory of evolution had been accepted by most China scholars [1].
Under the social background that the idea of "natural selection, survival of the fittest" is deeply rooted in people's hearts, although "geographical environment determinism" was replaced by "possibility theory" in the west from the 1920s, the spread of modern man-land relationship theory in China started from the geographical environment determinism, and it also had a wide influence in China. It reflects the special needs of the times when political enthusiasm is higher than scientific spirit. Evolution also laid the ideological foundation for geographical environmental determinism to find the living soil in China in this century.
The debate about the cultural issues between the East and the West around the May 4th Movement is also one of the reasons why geography discusses the relationship between geography and culture. As the May 4th Movement coincided with the great historical change in China, the cultural differences between the East and the West became a sensitive issue. This debate, which lasted for a long time and involved a wide range in the ideological circle, also directly affected the relevant discussions in the geographical circle. Geologists try to find the root of cultural differences between China and the West through the differences in geographical environment between China and the West.
Great changes have taken place in China's geographical research in this century. At the beginning of the 20th century, China's modern geography just started, and the sub-disciplines such as geology, meteorology, pedology, zoology and botany, geomorphology and so on were constantly separated from the geographical matrix, which was accompanied by a sense of crisis in geographical research. How to continue to develop geography? How does geography transform from traditional description to modern scientific research methods? Under the background that the development of geography in China is not mature enough, the determinism of geographical environment has become the growing point of the development of modern geography in China. When many research fields are still blank, the introduction of the western theory of man-land relationship undoubtedly makes China scholars feel a kind of "fresh breath".
The topic of man-land relationship involves a wide range of disciplines, involving almost all fields of social science and natural science. Because the relationship between human beings and the natural environment has always been one of the central topics concerned by geographers, in the debate about "geography and culture" in modern China, geographers discussed it most deeply, which had the most extensive influence on the development direction of modern geography in China.
Second, the spreading process of modern man-land relationship theory in China.
Geographical environmental determinism is the earliest known and widely accepted theory of man-land relationship by China scholars. 1908, The Commercial Press published Zhang's Geographical Literature, the pioneering work of modern geography in China. In the fifth part of this book, Zhang expounds the advantages and disadvantages of different climatic zones: "People in cold and tropical regions, bound by natural forces, or depressed or frightened, will inevitably grow into barbarians. Subtropical zone is the forerunner of civilization because of its favorable weather, favorable place and harmonious people. In the sub-cold zone, there are few creatures and people are still strong. " And "today's rich and civilized countries are not established by temperate countries" [i]. Zhang is one of the earliest scholars who expounded the determinism of geographical environment in modern China.
Zhang's theory is transferred from Japanese works. Moreover, his view of environmental determinism did not arouse widespread concern in the geographical circles at that time, nor did it trigger a discussion on the relationship between geography and culture. It was not until a large number of overseas students returned to China in the 1920s and 1930s that modern western geography theory was directly and comprehensively introduced into China, which triggered a great discussion on "geography and culture".
The Journal of Earth Science introduced Huntington's works in 192 1, holding that "Huntington's theory mainly explains the phenomenon of human life organization with natural phenomena and air conditions on the ground, and determines the boundaries between the creation and development of human civilization. This theory is simply called "the historical view of geography" [ii]. 1922, the earth science magazine translated the first chapter of Huntington's Civilization and Climate, and the historical geography magazine translated J. Fairgrave's History of Countries Dominated by Geography. During this period, a large number of translation and introductory articles were published in relevant magazines, and the theory of geographical environmental determinism was evaluated, which was considered as "historical materialism and geographical historical view" [iii]. Determinism has exerted a wide influence on the geographical circles in China. A number of articles and works on determinism have appeared, among which the most representative and influential ones are Zhang Qiyun's Geography of Life (1926) and Bai Meichu's Philosophy of Geography (1933).
With the deepening of research, more and more scholars realize the defects of geographical environment determinism. During his study in France, Hu Huanyong studied under the French modern geographers E. Demathons and J. bruch, and was influenced by the French school of man and land. When he returned to China from 65438 to 0928, China's modern geography had just started, and the idea of "geographical environmental determinism", which had fallen behind in the west, was still widely circulated in China academic circles. Deeply aware of the gap between China's geographical research and the West, he wrote articles such as Recent Situation of Western Man-land Theory, Life Geography of Bellevue, Recent Situation of French Geographical Research, and introduced the "possibility theory" of the French Man-land School. 1935, Louina's Principles of Anthropology was published in Chinese. In the translator's long preface, the author's viewpoints are systematically introduced, which makes the "Possibility Theory" have a great influence in China's geographical circles and gradually accepted by more and more scholars.
In 1930s, Marxist dialectical materialist view of man and land was introduced into China. Chu Zeng (Chu Tunan) published "The Development of Human Geography and Its Schools" in Geography Quarterly, which introduced the Marxist view of man and land for the first time, and pointed out that "the influence of natural environment on human beings is mainly influenced by the economic relations that occur under its own influence" [iv]. It is emphasized that nature and society are two aspects of the labor process, not strictly opposed.
Third, the rise of "geography and culture" discussion
The theory of the relationship between man and land in the West has exerted a wide influence on China scholars, and China scholars have written articles to explain their understanding of this issue, which has set off a big discussion on the issue of "geography and culture". As early as 1904 (the 29th year of Guangxu), Zhang Zhidong, Zhang Baixi, Rong Qing and others drew up the Articles of Association of Shi Jing University Hall. In the interpretation of the teaching methods of various disciplines in the articles of association, the explanations of "the relationship between culture and geography", "the relationship between military and political affairs and geography" and "the relationship between customs and geography" are emphasized [v].
In the 1920s and 1930s, the discussion on "Geography and Culture" reached a climax, and the number and scope of papers were unprecedented in the history of geography in China. In issue 169 of Journal of Geosciences published by 1933, a special column "Land and Culture" was set up, which shows that there were many such articles at that time and scholars paid attention to this issue. Oriental Magazine also published an article discussing the relationship between geography and culture. According to the author's incomplete statistics, there are more than 40 articles devoted to the study of the relationship between geographical environment and culture (or civilization) in this period, which were published in 10 journals, among which "Earth Science" has the most papers and the widest influence. However, there are many articles about the thought of man-land relationship in geography, especially in regional studies, and the study of man-land relationship has become one of the research topics. Therefore, there are nearly a hundred papers and works about the relationship between geography and culture in this period. Therefore, this topic has become one of the main topics in the modern history of science in China.
In the development of modern geography in China, geographical environmental determinism has never withdrawn from the historical stage, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, before the introduction of other western theories on man-land relationship, this view became more popular.
Some scholars first try to explain the history and culture with China's superior geographical environment. 19 14, Wang Tongling published the birthplace of Chinese culture, analyzed the geographical environment of the six birthplaces of world civilization, and thought that the development of Chinese culture was due to "warm climate, fertile soil and rich products" [vi]. 1924 published "Shaanxi's position in the history of China" in the Journal of Geosciences. Based on the analysis of climate, soil, rivers and population, he proposed that "Shaanxi is the oldest place of civilization in China" and "the birthplace of China culture" because "Shaanxi geography has various outstanding points" [vii]. Some scholars even blamed China's invasion of China by modern powers on China's superior geographical environment, which aroused the envy of the powers [viii] and led the research on the relationship between geography and culture to extremes.
Modern intellectuals in China have deeply realized the huge gap between China and the West in science and technology, and some scholars have tried to find out the reasons why China is backward in geographical environment. 19 14, Wang Tongling published The Disadvantages of Asian Geography, pointing out that "Asia is the birthplace of ancient civilizations, and the oldest civilized countries all originated in Asia. However, so far, it is very weak. " And "the history of Asia gave birth to this result, and it is also the defect of Asian geography that makes it natural." After analyzing the characteristics of topography and coastline, the author points out that "Asian geography has all the conditions that can block traffic", rich internal resources and poor traffic are the reasons for people's lack of communication spirit. The author also pointed out that Europe "has convenient transportation, but natural products are scarce, so Europeans make more use of transportation agencies in order to make a living in all directions." The reason why it is full of lively and enterprising atmosphere is that work is the reason "[ix].
Some scholars try to prove that geographical environment also plays a decisive role in human spirit and social system. They believe that "the relationship between geography and civilization, such as skin and spirit. Full spirit must come from healthy skin. A complete civilization must be born with a sound geography "[x]. And "social system is the result of the correspondence between man and land, and history is the record and explanation of the achievements of human adaptation to nature and social environment;" ...... Different natural environments make human beings adapt to different situations, resulting in different social systems "[xi]. They try to prove the correctness of their theory by analyzing the differences between Chinese and western geographical environments and some concrete examples of social and cultural development in world history, and try to draw the conclusion that western culture has communicative spirit, while eastern culture lacks communicative spirit.
On the one hand, scholars who hold the geographical environment determinism use China's superior geographical conditions to explain the splendid ancient culture, on the other hand, they use the same geographical environment to explain the reasons for modern backwardness, so this explanation is inevitably far-fetched and self-contradictory. At that time, some scholars pointed out the harmfulness of this view. In the 1920s, Yao published an article in the Journal of Geosciences, pointing out that if the determinism of geographical environment is "corrected rather than corrected", how will people be encouraged to follow suit, encourage their courage to contribute to the future world, and strive for the survival of the nation? He further pointed out that "such appalling remarks are only an accidental feeling, not a fundamental observation, but a temporary phenomenon, which cannot be investigated" [xii]. And believe that "human beings can conquer and use nature, and human culture will progress day by day" [xiii].
1933, Dr. Li Changfu published The New Turn of Scientific Geography, and also criticized determinism, thinking that they "fell into a fast inference method and missed the labor process of the intermediate term between man and land." Its conclusion is arbitrary, although it is sometimes correct, it is often semi-correct or even completely wrong. "[xiv].
Fourthly, the influence on modern geography of China.
Modern China scholars' extensive discussion on the relationship between geography and culture not only deepened the theoretical discussion of geography on the relationship between man and land, but also influenced the research direction of modern geographers in China and promoted the development of some applied branches of geography closely related to human production and life.
1 development of land use and agricultural geography China has been dominated by agriculture since ancient times. Land resource is one of the important natural resources for human survival, and it also reflects the closest relationship between human and nature. Land use is the most concrete landscape among human production activities, scientific research and natural environment. Therefore, through the study of land use, we can understand the main problems of the relationship between man and land. This idea has prompted many geographers to choose land use and agricultural geography as their leading research direction in their lives.
Since 1930s, Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi and other provinces have set up special soil investigation and research institutions. Many scholars have analyzed the relationship between soil and natural factors such as climate and rocks through investigation and study, some have studied the relationship between soil and human activities, agricultural production and geographical environment, and some have discussed the relationship between land use and population distribution [xv].
China is a populous country, and scholars have been engaged in the research of population problems for a long time. However, the early population research focused on the derivation of population figures, and paid little attention to the influence of geographical background. Since 1930s, Hu Huanyong has published a series of papers on population geography, and analyzed the characteristics and laws of population distribution in China from the aspects of geographical environment and agricultural production. From 65438 to 0935, Hu Huanyong published "Population Distribution in China" in the Journal of Geography, in which the first population isoline density map of China was published. In this article, he proposed that Aihui-Tengchong Line is the dividing line between the densely populated areas in the southeast and the sparsely populated areas in the northwest of China. 1936, Hu Huanyong published "China Agricultural Production Area" in Geography magazine, which was the first time to study population geography from the relationship between population carrying capacity per unit area and agricultural production level.
The study of ethnic geography has also developed. In Zhang's geo-literature, races were divided into straight hair, fist hair and velvet hair earlier. The geographical distribution of ethnic groups is the main content of ethnic geography research. In his article "Geographical Distribution of the Chinese Nation" [xvi], Zhang Qiyun divided the nationalities into four distribution areas according to the topographical features. But more articles study the relationship between different nationalities and geographical environment.
Applying climatology and bioclimatology to study climate change is one of the most important geographical factors affecting human beings. Climatology is more and more widely used in commerce, agriculture, transportation and military affairs. Since the 1930s, people have made in-depth research on the climatic factors closely related to human life, such as typhoon, monsoon, rainfall and air pressure, and published a large number of papers. Such as Zhu Kezhen's Southeast Monsoon and Rainfall in China [xvii] and Xu's Tropical Cyclone [xviii]. In addition, the research on phenology and climate zoning closely related to agricultural production has also developed.
Geologists have also begun to study the use of suitable climatic environment to treat diseases, thus developing bioclimatology. Many scholars have also studied climate change in different historical periods to find out the laws of climate change in China. For example, Zhu Kezhen discussed the cycle of drought and flood changes in China according to the records of China ancient books [xix].
Five revelations
People emphasized in geography should be natural people, but in the specific research process, people can not do without social background. Until today, the relationship between geography and human society is still one of the core contents of the basic theoretical research of geography, and because the relationship between man and environment is constantly changing, the research of this subject has not been completely solved, but every time the understanding of the relationship between man and land is deepened, it is conducive to the development of geography with man and nature as the research object. The development of China's modern geography in the dispute between geography and culture has given us a good enlightenment.
First of all, because the research object of geography contains the factor of "people", this subject is more susceptible to the influence of social thoughts than other disciplines. The above-mentioned geographical environmental determinism flourished in China in the 1920s when the West was depressed, which just illustrates this point. It can't be simply attributed to the lag of the spread of western theories in China. Yan Fu's translation of the theory of evolution, mentioned earlier, was based on an article published by the British scholar Huxley (T.H.Huxley, 1825~ 1895) in 1893, and Yan Fu began to translate it in 1895 [xx] at the latest. In the 1920s and 1930s, with the increase of the exchange of visits between Chinese and foreign scholars and the phenomenon of overseas students, the process of scientific exchanges between China and the West was greatly shortened. Some influential geographical works published in the west can be translated into Chinese within three to five years. About the introduction of western geography theory and research results, the article is more extensive. Moreover, in the debate on "geography and culture" in the first half of this century, the viewpoint of environmental determinism has always occupied a place in the geographical field, and it has not withdrawn from the historical stage because of the development of the discipline and the in-depth research. Until 1948, some scholars were still promoting Huntington's theory and thought his research was "unique" [xxi].
Secondly, the necessary theoretical contention and argumentation will contribute to the development of the discipline. On the one hand, this contention promotes the deepening of theoretical research, on the other hand, it is also conducive to the far-reaching influence of scientific theory on the development of disciplines.
As we all know, there are many viewpoints of environmental determinism in the history of China. For example, in the Book of Rites, there is a saying that "the broad valley is different from the broad river, and the people's livelihood is also different". There is a cloud in "Guanzi Shuidi": "The water of Qi is impetuous and complex, so its people are greedy and brave; The water of Chu is weak and clear, so its people despise thieves; The more water, the more turbid it is, so people are stupid and dirty; The water of Qin is the most concentrated, stagnant and miscellaneous, so its people are greedy and useless; The water of Qi and Jin dynasties is transported by drought, stagnation and miscellaneous things, so it is flattering and deceiving, clever and beneficial; Yan's water is weak and stagnant, so its people are stupid and wise, and they are easy to die if they are sick. Song Zhishui is light and clear, so he is easy and good. " The eighty-first book "Dai Li Yi Yisheng Core Monument" has "the strong soil is fat, the empty soil is big, ... the sand is thin, ... and the idle soil is ugly". In "Li Zhou Di Guan Da Situ", there are "people in the mountains are hairy and square, people in Chuanze are dark and Tianjin, and people in the hills are expert and long. Yan Zhimin is barren, and Yuan Zhimin is rich and painful. In addition, Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, Huai Nan Zi Luo Xun and other works have similar views.
China's ancient geographical environmental determinism was rich in thought, but it was only a topic discussed by a few philosophers, and it did not cause widespread controversy in academic circles, so it did not have a great impact on the development of geosciences in China, which proved the importance of the contention of scientific theories to the development of disciplines from the opposite side.
Thirdly, theoretical research is complementary to each other, and the debate on "geography and culture" has promoted the in-depth study of China's modern geography theory. Through discussion, scholars deeply realize the disadvantages of traditional geography and think that we should "get rid of the geographical records that seem to have only flesh and blood but no soul" [xxii]. While discussing the relationship between "geography and culture", the discussion on the object, nature, scope and research methods of geography discipline has gradually begun [xxiii]. This theoretical research is one of the important differences between modern geography and ancient geography.
On "Geography and Culture" in this century and its influence on modern geoscience in China.
Zhang
(Institute of Natural Science History, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1000 10)
In the 20th century, the development of science in China entered a new historical stage. New problems are constantly emerging and new disciplines are constantly emerging. Among many theoretical problems, the discussion on the relationship between geography and culture has a wide range and far-reaching influence, and has become one of the most prominent topics in the discussion of many scientific theories in this century.
The topic of the relationship between geography and culture involves almost all fields of social science and natural science. Because the relationship between man and natural environment (man-land relationship) has always been one of the central topics in geoscience research, the debate on "geography and culture" in modern China has been deeply discussed by geographers, which has the most extensive influence on the development direction of modern geosciences in China.
Great changes have taken place in China's geoscience research in this century. Geology, meteorology, pedology, geomorphology and other sub-disciplines are constantly separated from the geoscience matrix, which is accompanied by a sense of crisis in geoscience research. How to continue to develop geoscience? How to change geoscience from traditional description to modern scientific research method? Under the background that the development of geoscience in China is not mature enough, the determinism of geographical environment has become the growing point of the development of modern geography in China.
Modern geographical environmental determinism is the earliest known and widely accepted theory of man-land relationship by China scholars. Some scholars try to prove that geographical environment plays a decisive role in human spirit and social system. They try to prove the correctness of their theory by analyzing the differences between Chinese and western geographical environments and some concrete examples of social and cultural development in world history, and try to draw the conclusion that western culture has communicative spirit, while eastern culture lacks communicative spirit. On the one hand, they use superior geographical environment to explain the history and culture of China. On the other hand, find out the reasons why China is backward in the same geographical environment.
The explanation of geographical environmental determinism is inevitably far-fetched and self-contradictory. At that time, some scholars pointed out that this view was "caught in the rapid inference method" and that "its conclusion is arbitrary, although sometimes correct, it is often semi-correct or even completely wrong". With the deepening of the discussion, scholars pay attention to the viewpoint of emphasizing people's choice ability and the interaction between people and the environment, which affects the development direction of this topic.
The extensive discussion on the relationship between geography and culture in modern times not only deepened the theoretical discussion on the relationship between man and land in geoscience, but also influenced the research content and development direction of modern geoscience in China. At that time, many geoscientists chose agricultural geography, soil geography, population geography, climatology and meteorology, which are closely related to human production and life, as their leading research directions in their lives.
The relationship between geography and human society is still one of the core contents of the basic theory research of geosciences at present. The research on this subject has not been completely solved because of the constant change of the relationship between man and environment, but every deepening of understanding is conducive to the development of geosciences with man and nature as the research object, which directly affects the research of geosciences.