Ethnology And Historical Geography (Landscape and Ethnos,XIII)

The theory that ethnogenesis is triggered by bursts of innate ethnic drive or energy, following an incubation period, is examined further. An examination of the historical record suggests that several superethnoses may arise simultaneously in various parts of the world. The regions covered by such superethnoses may be broken up by natural barriers ruling out any exchange of population or cultural influences, and yet the regions involved in such energetic surges tend to be monolithic. The spatial contiguity of bursts of ethnic energy at particular periods in history is illustrated by a number of examples ranging from Europe to the Far East, but what precisely triggers these energetic displays still requires the formulation of a hypothesis.     

On the Subject of Historical Geography (Landscape and Ethnos,III)

The author develops a methodology of historical geography revolving around the relationship between an ethnos, or ethnic community, and the “encompassing landscape.” He finds that under the conditions of the nomadic stockherding peoples of the steppe, where this relationship is most clearly expressed, the nomads become an inseparable part of the landscape, together with plant and animal life.     

The Subject of Geography and the Science of the Man-Nature Relationship

A philosopher views the geographical environment as a natural-social concept, in which individual elements function simultaneously in a system of natural and social relationships. The geographical environment should be the province of a discipline called general geography, which would exist in addition to specialized physical and social geography. However, since general geography is limited spatially to the earth's landscape sphere, it cannot deal with the broader aspects of the man-nature relationship now that man's influence extends increasingly beyond the earth into outer space. A new discipline called “noology” is proposed to deal with the interplay between human society and all of nature.     

The Nature Of Ethnic Wholeness (Landscape and Ethnos,XII)

The character of an ethnic whole is analyzed in terms of systems theory. An ethnos is viewed as a closed system in which the initial burst of energy (innate drive) is gradually spent while entropy steadily increases. The system must constantly remove the accumulated entropy by exchanging energy and entropy with the environment. What produces the wholeness of an ethnic system is not the grouping of similar individuals, but the existence of a particular set of relationships between these individuals, giving rise to what may be termed an “ethnic field”. In light of the systems and field concepts, the author argues against defining an ethnic community as a mere social organism distinguished by common language, culture, daily life and mental outlook. Such an approach, in his view, limits the question of ethnic wholeness to the principle of external likeness, without delving into the internal linkages that hold an ethnos together.     

The Internal Regularity Of Ethnogenesis (Landscape and Ethnos,XIV)

The author, a Leningrad University ethnologist, completes a series of 14 articles on the relationship between landscape and ethnic communities, and on the forces that account for the rise and decline of ethnic groups through history. After having discussed in the first few articles the relationship between shifts in storm tracks and the fortunes of the steppe peoples of Central Asia, Gumilev developed a theory that attributes the rise, development and decline of an ethnos to the initial burst and gradual waning of an innate ethnic energy or drive. Ethnoses may be grouped into superethnic systems that are identifiable with major culture areas through time and through space (Hellenistic culture, Moslem world, European civilization, Eurasian nomad culture). The author attempts to relate the different phases in the evolution of an ethnos to changing relationships between the group and the individual, as expressed in a series of imperatives, but further analysis of what generates innate ethnic drive is left to other disciplines.     

Khazaria and the Caspian (Landscape and Ethnos,Part I)

The author combines the techniques of historical geography, archeology, and paleogeography to investigate the distribution of the Khazars, a people settled in the Volga delta from the sixth to tenth centuries. Data on Caspian Sea level changes, obtained in part from study of the Derbent wall, are correlated with known political events in the history of the Khazars. A history of settlement of the Volga delta is reconstructed.     

Khazaria and the Terek (Landscape and Ethnos,II.)

The author analyzes a functional relationship between the historical fate of the Khazar people of the Caspian steppe and changes in the landscape produced by an alternation of wet and dry cycles and changes of the Caspian Sea level. A previous article of this series appeared in Soviet Geography, June 1964.     

On the Anthropogenic Factor in Landscape Formation (Landscape and Ethnos VII)

In attempting to classify anthropogenic factors of landscape formation, Gumilev rejects Arnold Toynbee's concept of challenge and response as the factors underlying the genesis of civilizations on the ground that it ignores the factor of ethnic differentiation. Gumilev finds that the principal changes introduced by man into the landscape are associated with certain short-term periods of superhuman effort that coincide with intensive processes of ethnogenesis. This intensive activity is followed by a damping inertia that leads ultimately to a new equilibrium between the ethnos and the environment until the next upsurge of activity.     

Two Traditions Of Ancient Tibetan Cartography (Landscape and Ethnos,VIII)

An historical geographer and a Tibetan philologist combine their talents in an effort to interpret and date two ancient Tibetan maps, one in the Iranian-Tibetan tradition and the other in the Indian-Tibetan tradition. The Iranian-Tibetan map, though drawn in an unusual stylized fashion, is found to reflect a level of precision and areal coverage superior to Greco-Roman maps. The Indian-Tibetan map, though more concerned with cosmological matters of the Buddhist tradition, also reflects, in the authors' opinion, an unusual range of knowledge whose precise origins remain obscure.     

Ethnogenesis from the Geographical Point of View (Landscape and Ethnos,IX)

The author deals with the question whether the biological evolution of the species Homo sapiens is continuing under conditions of established civilizations. He replies in the affirmative, but qualifies his answer. The evolution of modern man affects behavioral patterns rather than anatomical or physiologic traits, and is reflected in a greater capacity for adaptation and an expansion of the area of settlement rather than in the improvement of a particular phenotype. The evolution is analyzed best in terms of the ethnos, or ethnic group. Two states of the ethnos are distinguished: a persistent (static) state, in which the ethnos may be said to stagnate, each generation copies the behavioral patterns of the previous generation, and the life patterns are adapted to the landscape; a historical (dynamic) state, in which the new generation breaks new paths, the landscape is adapted to the needs of the economy, and the ethnos strives to expand its area of settlement.     

Heterochronism in the Moisture Supply of Eurasia in the Middle Ages (Landscape Ethnos,V)

The author relates climatic fluctuations in inner Asia to the political fate of the nomadic inhabitants from the 1st century A. D. to the 18th century. He thus establishes an absolute chronology of climatic changes related to latitudinal shifts in storm tracks. Previous articles in this series appeared in Soviet Geography, June 1964, February 1966, and December 1966.     

Space-Time, 'Science' and the Relationship between Physical Geography and Human Geography

This paper explores the possibility that there may be commonalities between physical geography and human geography in emerging ways of conceptualizing space, time and space-time. It argues that one of the things holding physical and human geography apart for so long has been their relationship to physics as an assumed model of 'science'. It is proposed here that not only is this an inadequate model of science but that it has led us astray in our inherited conceptualizations of both time and space. The urge to think 'historically' is now evident in both physical and human geography. The paper argues that this both forms the basis for a possible conversation and also obliges us to rethink our notions of space/space-time.     

近20年来历史地理信息化的发展成就

历史地理信息化是20世纪90年代后期发展起来的历史地理学新兴方向。基于论文、专著、会议报告、访谈等多种材料,回顾了中国历史地理信息化的基本发展历程。从平台、组织、数据、应用、新技术实验和研究视角等角度介绍了历史地理信息化所取得的成就。历史地理学不可能回避信息时代这一大背景,新技术、新方法的利用将有力推动历史地理学取得更大发展。     

我与中国历史地理学的不解之缘(上)

我从1933年接触中国历史地理到现在已65个春秋。60多年来,我与中国历史地理学结下不解之缘。在这篇文章中,我从十个方面简单回顾了自己研究中国历史地理学的历程,进一步阐发了自己的一些主要学术观点。我始终认为中国历史地理学是一门有用于世的学科,深望这门学科能够发扬光大。     

对中国历史地理学渊源问题的再认识

传统认为中国历史地理学渊源于古代沿革地理。本文通过对古代地理学体系概念、学科关系及其著述特点的考察分析 ,认为中国古代地理学自形成以来便存在人文地理和自然地理两大系统 ,并逐步孕育形成了古代历史人文地理和历史自然地理。中国古代历史地理学是现今中国历史地理学的渊源。其中 ,古代历史人文地理与现代历史人文地理 ,古代历史自然地理与现代历史自然地理有着直接的承继关系。     

史念海教授对中国历史地理学的杰出贡献

史念海教授是我国杰出的历史地理学家。他在将近 70年的学术生涯中 ,坚持“为世所用”的原则 ,努力从事中国历史地理学研究 ,并取得了重大的成就。他对中国历史地理学史进行了深入研究 ;发掘了中国历史地理学的社会功能 ;提出了文献记载与实地考察相结合的研究方法 ;促进了沿革地理学的发展 ;树立了黄河流域环境变迁研究的丰碑 ;开辟了历史农业地理研究的新领域 ;揭示了人口稠密地区形成和演变的内在机制 ;奠定了历史军事地理研究的基础 ;提高了历史文化地理研究的层次 ;对历史民族地理进行了独到的研究 ;对历史上的交通问题进行了系统探索 ;对陕西历史地理的研究取得了丰硕的成果 ;创立了中国古都学 ;阐明了地方志的价值 ;丰富了历史地图学的内容 ;创办了中国历史地理学的定期刊物 ;培养了历史地理学的研究队伍