Research On Southwestern Local Chronicles From Late Qing Dynasty To The Republic Of China (1905-1949)

Since ancient times, patriotic education depending on texts, especially textbooks, among children has been a major concern of governments of all ages and it is vital for the development of nations and ethnic groups. In late Qing Dynasty, when the nation was in peril, the Local chronicles took up the responsibility of cultivating children’s patriotism. Though local chronicles are textbooks for local education, their historical geography information on politics, military, economy and culture makes them precious historical geography documents in nature, rather than textbooks only. They are rich in content, high in value and should be attached great importance to. It is an important part of the philology research of historical geography to discuss the background, geographical distribution and compiling situation of local chronicles and to analyze their values and limitations from the perspective of historical geographical documents. As a relatively independent geographical unit, as well as the area with many minority peoples, southwestern area is unique in regional features, and it is the key area in the campaign to open up the west. An intensive study on the southwestern local chronicles from late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China is not only of important academic value, but also of great practical significance.The analysis and the statistics of southwestern Local chronicles from late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China depend mainly on such reference books as Union Catalog of Chinese Local Chronicles, Summary of Chinese Local Chronicles and Aggregation of Chinese Local Chronicles, and on fieldwork. In the process of the research, not only ancient Chinese historical geography documents and local chronicles, but also the related educational resources, files and government papers are utilized. In order to have a deep understanding of the geographical distribution, compiling situation and value of southwestern local chronicles, we will use the methods and theories in such disciplines as history, historical geography, historical philology, pedagogy and cultural sociology, combine qualitative study and quantitative study, adopt historical comparative method, and at the same time pay attention to field investigation.Based on the review of academic history, the historical background, geographical distribution and the compiling situation which including compiling group, compiling style and writing characteristic, the contents and features of southwestern local chronicles are analyzed, the relation between local chronicles and the old ones is comprehensively discussed, and their values, educational functions and limitations are revealed from different perspectives as well. Finally, a stereo structure of southwestern local chronicles from late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China will be constructed.Local chronicles in that period were products of invasion and Chinese people’s awakening. On the one hand, they meet the requirements of educational reform of that period, and are deeply influenced by foreign educational concepts; on the other hand, they take on features of traditional Chinese culture. There are109kinds of them in total, which covers60%of southwestern area. The geographical distribution of local chronicles in Sichuan is widest, covering a vast majority area of it. The distribution in Yunnan is also relatively wide, while in Guizhou it covers only a very narrow area, therefore, the distribution of local chronicles in southwest China is extremely uneven in that period.In that period, leaded by local government officials, the compiling group consisted of local educators, scholars and some nonlocal intellectuals and overseas students. Among them, the government officials played a crucial role in leading and organizing and they ensured the compiling work with their executive power; educators and scholars were the main force of the compiling group; nonlocal intellectuals and overseas students brought about advanced ideas, scientific spirits, and textbook compiling methods in modern western countries, etc.. All of them exerted a profound influence on local chronicles in southwest China.Due to the communication and integration between Chinese and western cultures in modern times, local chronicles take on both Chinese and western features, and both ancient and modern features in terms of style and writing characteristics. At that time, the style of local chronicles in this area was dominated by traditional chronicle style, with few chronicles written in chapter style or Kemu style, which were specific in the west. As to writing characteristics, at that time, most local chronicles were written for children as their textbooks. According to children’s learning pattern and their psychological features, the local chronicles stuck to the principle of from the near to the distant, and strived to be easy and concise in language. Meanwhile, in order to arouse children’s interest, the local chronicles were written in various patterns, which was a reflection of modernization of textbook compilation in China.According to Local Chronicles List issued in the late period of Qing Dynasty, local chronicles should consist of three parts, namely history, geography and Gezhi (the study of nature), with15concrete items such as history, products, business, etc.. When it came to the Republic of China, some new items were added, such as transportation, postal service and telecommunication, etc.. During Anti-Japanese War, items such as autonomous organizations, military defense were added. The information recorded in local chronicles was becoming more and more comprehensive, among which, local physical geography was the most abundant part; local political geography was more or less mentioned; local economic geography was an important part; local cultural geography was rich and comprehensive in content. Local chronicles in southwest China from late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China carried distinct features of that period:1. patriotism was emphasized;2. the advanced thought, such as opening up to the world, was becoming prominent;3. contents concerning about modern science, and political and economical management experience;4. focus on field investigation and pragmatic learning;5. national spirit and solidarity were advocated and the sense of war crisis was strong. The content about ethnic minorities was high in proportion and rich in content, and the ethnic minorities discussed in them were large in number, and wide in distribution. The contents differed as time went by.Both southwestern local chronicles from late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China and the old local chronicles are important documents for Chinese historical geography, however, due to their differences in historical accumulation and historical background, they differ in compiling group, compiling guideline, style, writing characteristics and contents. Since local chronicles innovates on the basis of the old ones, they share both similarities and differences, which not only manifests their distinct features respectively, but also deepen our knowledge of local chronicles.As an important category in historical geography documents, local chronicles are of great value. They can supplement what the old ones missed, correct their mistakes, enrich historical geography documents in southwest areas, and provide important materials for studying the physical and human geography in southwest China from late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. Meanwhile, local chronicles exert a positive significance on patriotism education, standardization of subject teaching, the development of pedagogy, etc.. However, because of various reasons, local chronicles of that period also have some limitations, such as uncertainty in history facts, over-simpleness in content and roughness in editing. Therefore, the scientificity of local chronicles in that period should be strengthened.Southwestern local chronicles from late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China not only can enhance our understanding of the local history of Southwest China in that particular period, but also exert great influence on the compiling of local chronicles there during that period. Therefore, their significance should not be underestimated.