Study On 《the Concise Description Of The West Area》 By Qi Yunshi

Personal research on Northwest Geography of the Qing Dynasty originated inthe period of JiaQing-DaoGuang.Qi Yun Shi can be called honorably the first oneexpert on the research of northwest history-geography.His sprits of seeking truth,studying aims of practice and studying attitudes of being down-to-earth made animportant and profound influence to the latter experts who devoted oneself tostudying the northwest history-geography.He had many political obstacles in his lifeand many works.Among his works,《the Concise Description of the West Area》 canbe called a satisfactory one which also can be called 《the Concise Description ofXinjiang》.It includes four volumes and35000words.The book is systematic and richin its content that described the geographical conditions of xinjiang, mountains andrivers,Ka-Luns,courier station and castles, the system of military, the cultivated landshepherd,and the origination and customs of the ethnic groups of Mongol,Kazak,Uygur,Kirkiz objectively and realistically.It contains the social situation of allkinds of aspects,for example,the situation of geography,military,economy,the ethnicgroups.So it can be called a geographical book on xinjiang’s administrative areas. Thebook wholly is concise and rich in resources.So it has a very high value in the aspectof historical materials.It not only provided reference for the Qing governors’ policies,but also an indispensible historical materials for the experts who devoted oneself tostudying the geography,economy and culture of xinjiang in the middle of the QingDynasty.As a founder of the subject of the northwest history-geography, Qi Yun Shiadvocated that the geographical books should be concise，and emphasized that weshould believe in today and prove the ancient.This is his principles and methods inwriting the book.Meanwhile,this centrally reflects his academic thoughts.As the firstpersonal book whose content mainly focused on northwest area,it was spreadedwidely and a main document literature to understand and acquaint xinjiang for thepeople at that time.