Historical Atlas of China (Volume 5): Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period

Author: Tan Qixiang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-06-01
Features: The publication of the Historical Atlas of China (Volumes 1-8) has received significant attention and praise both domestically and internationally. Its theoretical innovations are primarily reflected in the following aspects:
1. China has been a multi-ethnic nation since ancient times, with vast unified states emerging over two thousand years ago. However, due to the influence of feudal orthodox ideology and Han-centric nationalism, as well as insufficient records and research on the history of minority ethnic groups, previous historical atlases often depicted only the Central Plains dynasties or Han-dominated regimes, obscuring the historical status and role of minority ethnic groups. The Atlas aims to fully reflect the historical facts that dozens of ethnic groups collectively contributed to the founding of the great motherland. It adopts the Qing Dynasty's territory before the 1840s of imperialist invasion as the basic scope of historical China. All regimes established within this range, whether Han or other ethnic groups, are displayed. Some frontier minority regimes, such as those of the Turkic and Tibetan peoples, are also depicted in their periods of greatest territorial expansion. The Atlas opposes the fallacy of recognizing only Han regimes or Central Plains dynasties, while also rejecting the incorrect view of treating minority regimes and frontier regional regimes as mere appendages of the Central Plains. This promotes a correct understanding of history and strengthens the values of patriotism, ethnic equality, and unity.
2. Most previous historical atlases relied on written records as the basis for plotting locations, but historical records are vast, and compilers' limited resources often led to numerous errors and omissions. When the records themselves were inaccurate, differences on maps became even harder to avoid. The Atlas extensively incorporates research findings from archaeology, geography, and related disciplines since the mid-1980s to verify and correct written records. The compilation of frontier maps also draws on minority ethnic literature and foreign research, making the content more precise and comprehensive. Even for points and lines determined primarily by records, careful research has been conducted to correct previous errors as much as possible.
3. Historically, China's maps of past dynasties were usually drawn as single full maps per dynasty, with very limited content and inaccurate place names. Yang Shoujing's Maps of Past Dynasties was the first to divide the country into dozens of separate maps. However, since all maps used the same scale, and the development levels and records of different regions varied greatly over time, the Central Plains often had overly dense place names, making them nearly illegible, while frontier areas appeared excessively blank. Additionally, this uniform division often split a single regime across multiple maps, making reference inconvenient. The Atlas, building on the experience of Maps of Past Dynasties, adopts a regional division based on historical administrative zones (or surveillance districts, geographical regions) and sets different scales according to content density, completely solving these issues. Due to its use of high-precision base maps, the Atlas offers more accurate comparisons between past and present, demonstrating strong scientific rigor and ease of reference.
4. Historical territorial boundaries, administrative divisions, and place names have changed significantly, often undergoing multiple modifications within the same regime. Most official histories (Geographic Records) generally lack strict temporal limits, frequently confusing the administrative divisions of different years within the same dynasty, sometimes spanning decades or even centuries. The Atlas, whether in its general maps or regional maps, establishes standard reference years (with shorter periods for cases where exact years cannot be determined) to depict the territorial boundaries and administrative divisions of the same era. For longer-lasting dynasties, multiple general maps are used to show the geopolitical situations of different eras.
5. The compilers of the Atlas conducted in-depth thematic research on natural elements like rivers, lakes, and coastlines, which have historically undergone significant changes. They incorporated the latest research findings to correct many traditional misconceptions, such as the evolution of the Yunmeng Lake, Dongting Lake, Xiangyang Lake, Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Hai River. This provides a positive contribution to understanding the laws of environmental change and long-term national land planning. The Atlas stands as a major achievement in the integration of natural and social sciences. It not only summarizes the scientific progress of past historical geography research and historical cartography but also lays the foundation for future compilations of specialized maps and comprehensive maps reflecting the geographical elements and dynamic changes of historical periods.