Contested tradition: The canonicity of historical geography in China, 1921–1961

This article investigates the pluralistic traditions of the historical geography discipline in China based on primary sources and published biographies. It contends that historical geography was established as a subdiscipline of geography by geographers in the Republic of China (1912–1949), while historians constructed their version of historical geography as an appendage of history. Following the establishment of Communist China in 1949, and driven by Soviet influence, the contested nature of geography, and state-making, the canonical narratives of historical geography in Communist China obscured the role that geographers had played. This article rediscovers alternative traditions and rewrites the disciplinary history by revealing the scientific imperatives, political mandates, and personal influences that shaped the canonical narratives.