History of Chinese Transportation

Author: Bai Shouyi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2009-06-01
Features: The book is divided into five parts: Transportation in the Pre-Qin Era, Transportation in the Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties, Transportation in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, and Modern Chinese Transportation. 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 Chinese transportation throughout the dynasties" and one that "has had significant academic impact." It is also credited with formally establishing transportation history as a distinct subfield of study. In Shiji by Sima Qian and Hanshu by Ban Gu, the section on "transportation" was not treated as a standalone chapter. The bibliographic work Qilue by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin did not include a category for "transportation." The Continuation of the History of the Jin Dynasty by Sima Bi created the Annals of Vehicles and Attire, which included content on vehicles but failed to reflect the true state of transportation. Throughout the traditional Chinese knowledge system, "transportation history" was scattered among descriptions of systems like "vehicles and attire," incomplete and obscure. It was not until The Draft of the History of the Qing Dynasty that a separate Annals of Transportation was established, categorizing railways, steamships, telegraphs, and postal services. Before the publication of this book, Wang Zhuo's History of Transportation (Commercial Press, 1923) was published in three volumes with over 60,000 words, and Yuan Deyi's Brief History of Transportation (Beijing Transportation Press and Changsha Railway Association, 1928) also contained very limited content. Wang Zhuo, Yuan Deyi, and Bai Shouyi pioneered the new field of "transportation history," demonstrating that "historians had broadened their perspectives and introduced innovative ideas."