Physiographic macroregions of China
Physiographic macroregions of China is a term suggested by an American anthropologist G. William Skinner as a subdivision of China Proper into nine areas according to the drainage basins of the major rivers and other travel-constraining geomorphological features. They are distinct in terms of environment, economic resources, culture and more or less interdependent histories with often unsynchronized developmental macrocycles.{{cite book |first1=Joseph |last1=Needham |first2=Francesca |last2=Bray |author3=Huang Hsing-Tsung |first4=Christian |last4=Daniels |first5=Nicholas K. |last5=Menzies |year=1984 |title=Science and Civilisation in China |isbn=0-521-63262-5}} They were described in Skinner's landmark essays in The City in Late Imperial China.{{citation |editor-first=G. William |editor-last=Skinner |year=1977 |title=The City in Late Imperial China |publisher=Stanford University Press}}
19th century
Skinner and his school maintain that prior to modernization, transportation was largely constrained by terrain and the physiographic macroregions are a close approximation for the socioeconomic macroregions of 19th-century China. The macroregions are defined by Skinner as follows:{{citation |url = http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~chgis/data/chgis/downloads/v4/datasets/PhysiographicMacroregions_Note.doc |title=A note regarding the Physiographic and Socioeconomic Macroregions of China |first1=G. William |last1=Skinner |first2=Mark |last2=Henderson |last3 = Yue |first3 = Zumou }}
- 10 Northeast China, 东北区
- 20 North China, 华北区
- 30 Northwest China 西北区
- Wei-Fen Basins 渭汾流域分区
- Upper Yellow River Basin 黄河上游分区
- Gansu Corridor 河西(甘肃)走廊分区
- 40 Upper Yangtze 长江上游区
- 50 Middle Yangtze 长江中游区
- Middle Yangtze proper 长江中游分区
- Gan Basin 赣江流域分区
- Yuan Basin 沅江流域分区
- Upper Han Basin 汉江上游分区
- 60 Lower Yangtze 长江下游区
- 70 Southeast Coast 东南沿海区 (approximately Fujian, eastern part of Guangdong, southern part of Zhejiang, and Taiwan)
- Ou-Ling River Basins 瓯灵流域分区
- Min River Basin 闽江流域分区
- Zhang-Quan 漳泉分区 (Zhangzhou plus Quanzhou)
- Han Basin 韩江流域分区
- Taiwan 台湾分区
- 80 Lingnan 岭南区, which may be translated as "South of Mountains". It includes the Southern coast and nearly coincides with the two entities: province of Guangdong and Guangxi autonomous region, together traditionally called "Two Guang provinces", or Liangguang.{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Marks |year=1997 |title = Tigers, Rice, Silk, and Silt: Environment and Economy in Late Imperial South China |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-59177-5 }}
- 90 Yungui 云贵区; covers most of Yunnan Province and larger part of Guizhou Province and corresponds to the Yungui Plateau.
Modern provinces of Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai and a larger part of Inner Mongolia are not considered by Skinner's scheme.
20th century
According to Skinner's analysis, the 20th century China excluding Inner Asia has 9 socioeconomic macroregions with cores not changed from the physiographic ones of the 19th century, but with changed territorial extents.
See also
- Regions of China
- Administrative divisions of China
- Geography of China#History
- Regional Religious System - an approach to the study of Chinese religion based on Skinner's research
External links
- [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~chgis/ China Historical GIS Project]
- [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~chgis/data/chgis/downloads/v4/datasets/v4_PhysiogMacro_pgn.html GIS Shapefile format]