A History of Chinese Transportation -(Illustrated Treasure Edition)

Author: Bai Shouyi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2007-01-01
Features: The book is divided into five parts: Transportation in the Pre-Qin Era, Transportation in the Sui, Tang, and Song Eras, Transportation in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Eras, and Transportation in Modern China. It comprehensively examines various aspects of transportation, including routes, facilities, vehicles, and management. As part of the China Culture History Series, the book is regarded as an "academic monograph that provides a relatively comprehensive and integrated study of the history of transportation in China," which has had "significant academic influence," and thus formally established the field of transportation history as a branch of study. In the Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian and the Book of Han by Ban Gu, the section on "transportation" was not treated as a standalone chapter. The Seven Summaries by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin, a work on bibliographic studies, did not include a category for "transportation." The Continuation of the Book of Han by Sima Biang created the Annals of Vehicles and Attire, which covered the content of vehicles but could not reflect the true state of transportation. Throughout the traditional Chinese knowledge system, "transportation history" was scattered among the descriptions of systems such as "vehicles and attire," incomplete and obscure. It was not until the Drafts of the Qing Administration that the Annals of Transportation was established, distinguishing categories such as "railways," "steamships," "telegraphs," and "post offices." Before the publication of this book, Wang Zhuo's History of Transportation (Shangwu Book Company, 1923) was published, consisting of three volumes with over 60,000 words; and Yuan Deshan's Brief History of Transportation (Beijing Transportation Press and Changsha Railway Association, 1928) was also published, but its content was very simple. Wang Zhuo, Yuan Deshan, and Bai Shouyi pioneered the new field of "transportation history," demonstrating that "historians had broadened their perspectives and introduced innovative ideas."