Physiographic macroregions of China
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American anthropologist G. William Skinner suggested a subdivision of China Proper into 9 what he called physiographic macroregions, divided according to the drainage basins of the major rivers and other travel-constraining geomorphological features. They are distinct in terms of environment, economic resources, culture and more or less interdependent histories with often unsynchronized developmental macrocycles. [1] They were described in Skinner's landmark essays in The City in Late Imperial China (1977)[2]
[edit] 19th century
Skinner and his school maintain that prior to the modernization, the transportation was largely constrained by the terrain and the physiographical macroregions are a close approximation for the socioeconomical macroregions of the 19th century China. These macroregions are defined by Skinner as follows.[3]
- Northeast China, 东北区
- North China, 华北区
- Northwest China 西北区
- Wei-Fen Basins 渭汾流域分区
- Upper Huang River Basin 黄河上游分区
- Gansu Corridor 河西(甘肃)走廊分区
- Upper Yangtze 长江上游区
- Middle Yangtze 长江中游区
- Lower Yangtze 长江下游区
- Southeast Coast 东南沿海区 (approximately Fujian, an Eastern part of Guangdong, a Northern part of Zhejiang, and Taiwan)
- Lingnan 岭南区, which may be translated as "South of Mountains". It includes the Southern coast and nearly coincides with the two entities: province of Guangdong and Guangxi autonomous region, together traditionally called "Two Guang provinces", or Liangguang. [4]
- Yungui 云贵区; covers most of Yunnan Province and larger part of Guizhou Province and corresponds to the Yungui Plateau.
Modern provinces of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai and a larger part of Inner Mongolia are not considered by Skinner's scheme.
[edit] 20th century
According to Skinner's analysis, the 20tth century China excluding Inner Asia has 9 socioeconomical macroregions with cores not changed from the physiographic ones of the 19th century, but with changed territorial extents.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Joseph Needham, Francesca Bray, Hsing-Tsung Huang, Christian Daniels, Nicholas K. Menzies (1984) "Science and Civilisation in China" ISBN 0521632625
- ^ G.W. Skinner (ed.) (1977) "The City in Late Imperial China." Stanford University Press.
- ^ a b "A note regarding the Physiographic and Socioeconomic Macroregions of China", by G. William Skinner, Mark Henderson, and Zumou Yue
- ^ Robert Marks (1997) "Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China", Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521591775
