A Research For Hu Chuan’s Travel Journal Of The Li Dong In Qiongzhou

Hu Chuan,a scholar and official in the late Qing Dynasty,is the father of Hu Shi,a scholar in the Republic of China.In 1887,Zhang Zhidong,governor of Guangdong and Guangxi,and Wu Dacheng,governor of Guangdong,sent him to Qiongzhou to investigate the questions of Establishing county government,developing Li Dong and so on.The diary,Travel Journal of the Li Dong in Qiongzhou,is the record of Hu Chuan’s investigation.However,the historical background affected the social of Hainan and Hu Chuan’s inspection.After the second Opium War,according to the Treaty of Tianjin,Qiongzhou was opened up as a trading port.The social of Qiongzhou changed constantly.The influence of the Sino French War spread to Hainan and made preparations for the war.Before Hu Chuan came to Qiongzhou,the "Li ’s troubles" in Qiongzhou had just been suppressed by Feng Zicai,and the policy of pacifying the Li was being implemented.The most important one was to open the cross road through Li District.Hu Chuan’s inspection was also an investigation of the implementation results of the policy of pacifying the Li.Hu Chuan passed through Li District of Han District,recording roads,traffic,villages,"Li bandits’ troubles",natural geography,agricultural production,commercial trade,government officials,station troops,culture and folk customs,etc.,reflecting the general appearance of Hainan society at that time.The first-hand materials obtained from Hu’s field investigation are of great significance in recording and reflecting Li nationalities’ historical events,Li’s culture and even Hainan’s historical figures and major events.The author uses four chapters to make a comprehensive study of Travel Journal of the Li Dong in Qiongzhou.The first chapter is Hu Chuan’s biography and versions of the diary.The second chapter is the background and reason of Hu Chuan’s investigation.The third chapter is the record of Hainan society in the late Qing Dynasty.The fourth chapter is his investigation and the diary’s value.The reason why it is called a comprehensive study is that the author studies the diary from the aspects of biography,edition proofreading,background analysis,content carding,textual research and value analysis.Understanding Hu Chuan’s life experience is helpful to further study the records and more helpful to comprehend the social background at that time.However,there is little research on the edition of the diary,and the author has perfected this deficiency.In addition,the author believes that the text content is the basis for the study of Travel Journal of the Li Dong in Qiongzhou,which must be summarized and explained.At the same time,the necessary textual research should be carried out to verify the authenticity of the content of the diary.Finally,the author demonstrates the values of the diary in the history and geography of frontier,the strategy of governing Li nationality in Ming and Qing dynasties and supplement of the original historical materials through the study of the content of this diary,supplemented by relevant historical materials.