Text | Gong Yuhe studied for graduate school at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and later found a job in Beijing, and the opportunity to work in Beijing for more than half a month every year, over the past decade, I have paid special attention to the explorati

text | Gong Yuhe

Because my daughter studied for graduate school at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and then found a job in Beijing, and the opportunity to work in Beijing for more than half a month every year, over the past decade, I have paid special attention to the exploration of the city of Beijing. In addition to visiting and understanding existing urban buildings, gardens, royal palaces, lakes, imperial tombs, museums, etc., the biggest point of interest is the study of Beijing's history.

Almost every time I go to Beijing, I have to go to the Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore and buy a lot of books introducing Beijing, but these books basically introduce Beijing from the perspective of historical evolution. After reading it, I still wondered why Beijing was built in this place, and is there any deeper reason?

Suddenly one day, a book called "Peking History and Geography" came into view. Judging from the name of the book, there is history and geography. In the past, in our impression, history is history and geography is geography. How could the two be put together?

After reading this book, I felt that I was so ignorant!

It turns out that Historical Geography is an ancient and young discipline!

China's history Geography , which has a long history since ancient works such as "Yu Gong", "Shan Hai Jing", "Biography of Emperor Mu of the Emperor ". In 1923, Zhang Qiyun published "Historical Geography" in the Journal of History and Geography, and since then, historical geography has become a specialized modern discipline in China. Due to the continuity of Chinese civilization and the integrity of historical documents, etc. Mr. Hou Renzhi, a professor at , who studied in the UK, published an article "Discussion on the Course of "China's History Geography" in the 11th issue of "New Construction", and was the first to conduct in-depth discussions on the basic theories of historical geography in China. In the articles of "Control of the Course of "China's History Geography" and the later published "Several Issues on Historical Geography" (Introduced in "Wenhui Daily" on December 14, 1961) and "A Brief Discussion on Historical Geography" (Introduced in " Journal of Peking University " (Natural Science Edition) No. 1, 1962), Professor Hou Renzhi was the first to clarify the essential difference between historical geography and historical geography, pointing out that "historical geography is an integral part of modern geography, and its main research object is the changes in the geographical environment in the human historical period, which is mainly caused by human activities and influence. The main work of historical geography is to not only "restore" the past geographical environment, but also to find the laws of its development and evolution, and clarify the formation and characteristics of the current geographical environment."

"'Environmental Geography' is only the preliminary and final purpose of historical geography research , and not the ultimate goal. There are also several special research on historical geography, which are still smoothly without the help of historical geography knowledge" (A Brief Discussion on Historical Geography). Professor Hou Renzhi's series of papers systematically expounded the subject attributes, research objects, tasks, methods and practical significance of Chinese historical geography . Although there were still some different views in the academic community at that time, his views have been accepted by most scholars. This leap in understanding has brought Chinese historical geography into the stage of modern development.

Because of this, contemporary Chinese historical geography has not only escaped the embarrassing situation that has long existed as a vassal of history, but also has many scholars and has produced many achievements, which has become a prominent academic in the world.

Another gain was that I learned that Professor Hou Renzhi was originally from Enxian County (revoked in 1956, most of them were from Pingyuan County, and Encheng Town was retained), and that I was also my fellow villager. This prompted me to understand Professor Hou Renzhi's own situation and be proud of having such a famous scholar from Pingyuan County!

Let’s take a look at Professor Hou’s life.

Hou Renzhi (December 6, 1911 - October 22, 2013), male, born in Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province, native of Enxian County, Shandong (now Encheng Town, Shandong Dezhou Pingyuan County), a famous Chinese historical geographer, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a former professor at Peking University.

graduated from Yenching University in 1936. 1949 received a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Liverpool, UK. In 1980, he was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Academician). He died in Beijing on October 22, 2013.

1911 Born in Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province on December 6, 1911.

1931, after the "September 18th Incident", he spent his last year in middle school at Texas Bowen Middle School (now Texas No. 2 Middle School).

1932 - 1936, he was admitted to the History Department of Yenching University and received a scholarship to enroll. During his four-year undergraduate study, he began a new field of academic research under the extremely strict training of Professor Hongye (Yuanlian) who was well-versed in Chinese and Western learning, and under the inspiration of Professor Gu Jiegang who actively explored the vast field of geography in China.

In the summer of 1936, Hou Renzhi stayed at Yenching University as a graduate student and served as an assistant professor to Professor Gu Jiegang.

In 1937, Ying Xin was appointed as the director of the History Department of Gu Jiegang, and stayed at the school as a graduate student and assistant professor. Due to the outbreak of the "Lugou Bridge Incident", Peking fell one after another. Gu Jiegang was forced to leave school and go south and became a graduate student of Wulian. At this time, academic thoughts had developed into the research methods of geography in historical periods.

1938, Professor Hong Ye called Hou Renzhi to his study and said with a word: "It is better to join a teacher than to choose a school. If you want to join a teacher, you must join a famous teacher."

1940, Hou Renzhi wrote and published the book "A Brief Collection of the Ancient Capital" at Yanjing University in Peking for the needs of teaching internship.

In 1940, Hou Renzhi obtained his master's degree under the guidance of Professor Hong Ye.

1941 In December, the Pacific War broke out in the United States, and Yenching University was sealed off by the Japanese invaders. At that time, he taught at Yan University and served as vice chairman of the Student Life Counseling Committee. Therefore, he was arrested by the Japanese invaders. He was sentenced to one year in prison and three years of probation by the Japanese invaders for "transmitting hearts to resist Japan and anti-Japanese". He was sentenced to one year in prison and three years of probation and released on bail until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.

In the summer of 1946, I went to study in the Department of Geography of the University of Liverpool and received my Ph.D. Fortunately, the new director of the Department of Geography, Professor H.C.Darby (Darby or Debe), is one of the founders of contemporary historical geography. Under the guidance of his theory and methods, he was able to enter the new field of historical geography research in Beijing. Because the geographical environment in which humans live is constantly changing, today's geography will become historical geography tomorrow. The study of the history of territorial changes and administrative evolution with a long historical tradition, and the development of historical geography will have broad prospects and important practical significance.

1949, at the founding ceremony of the New China, I returned to China and taught at Yenching University, opened "Chinese Historical Geography", and wrote the article "Discussion on the Course of China's History and Geography" and published it in the magazine "New Construction". During this period, Professor Liang Sicheng of was invited to to Tsinghua University to teach part-time lessons in the "City Geographical Basics" and also served as a member of the Beijing Metropolitan Committee. The first research paper after the founding of New China was "Topography, waterways and settlements near Haidian, Beijing."

In 1952, the departments of Chinese universities were adjusted, and Yenching University and Peking University merged. After the merger, Peking University moved to Yanyuan and was appointed as the vice provost of Peking University and the director of the Department of Geology and Geography. Teaching administrative work and social part-time jobs are increasing day by day, from director of the Editorial Committee of the Journal of Geography, vice chairman of the Chinese Geography Society, to Beijing People's Representative, member of the Chinese CPPCC, etc.

1957 In the summer of 1957, dispatched by the Central Ministry of Education to attend the international seminar on "University of Today" chaired by the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

1960-1964, he led the Peking University Historical Geographic Research Group to go deep into the sand area to inspect the changes in the natural environment in the desert area during the Chinese historical period and explore new directions of historical geography.

1980 - 1996, after the Cultural Revolution, he went abroad ten times, mainly to participate in international academic conferences and cultural exchanges. He has served as a visiting professor, a visiting scholar on campus, and a member of the Academic Thought History Professional Committee of the International Geographic Society. Mainly in the United States, Canada, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries, he introduced the special research on the history of Chinese geography and the outstanding achievements of ancient Chinese geographers; he gave academic lectures on Beijing's urban historical geography and urban planning, as well as historical geography investigations in the northwest sand area of ​​China, etc.

In April 1984, in the name of a member of the Chinese CPPCC, the first proposal was made to include the Chinese Ape Man Site, the Badaling Great Wall and the Palace Museum in Zhoukoudian, Beijing as Chinese cultural and natural heritage as Chinese cultural and natural heritage in the protection convention. The three members jointly signed the signatures and finally received the approval of the government. In 1987, the heritage included in the protection convention has increased significantly.

In May 1996, he attended an international seminar at Clement and McKina College in the United States, with the speech titled "Yenjing University's Experience and Chinese Higher Education", which was his door to his academic research path. At the same time, he also served as the director of the Yanjing Research Institute and often devoted himself to writing popular science books.

1997, won the Ho Liang and He Li Science and Progress Award.

China's first "applicant to World Heritage".

In 1980, during an exchange with his colleagues in the United States, he learned about the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. After returning to China, he immediately went on a variety of ways to make our country accede to this convention. In 1987, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Beijingers' ruins were included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO, becoming the first successfully selected World Heritage Sites in my country. Hou Renzhi became the first person in China to apply for World Heritage.

Friendly in Beijing.

From the fall of 1932 to study at the History Department of Yanjing University in Peking, Beijing has become Hou Renzhi's true hometown. Regarding the feelings of Beijing, Hou Renzhi claimed that "the deeper you know, the stronger you love." It is precisely with his active efforts that Lugou Bridge, which has been poorly protected for a long time, has become what it is today.

In the urban development of Beijing, he shouted loudly: The primary issue is the development of water sources. He cherishes the "roots" of the customs and customs of old Beijing, and goes to the areas of Shichahai , Huitong Temple, Bell Tower, Drum Tower , and Houmen Bridge again and again, paying close attention to the transformation of this area. It was at his initiative that the withered lotus pond was rippling with blue waves and the abandoned back door bridge was surrounded by clear water today.

The content of this article was published by the author Yidianhao and does not represent the position of Qilu Yidian.

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