Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 77 ›› Issue (7): 1565-1585.doi: 10.11821/dlxb202207001

• Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research •     Next Articles

The expedition and scientific investigation activities on the Tibetan Plateau before 1949

CHEN Fahu(), WANG Yajun, DING Lin, YAO Tandong   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Environment and Resources (TPESER), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
  • Received:2022-02-16 Revised:2022-06-14 Online:2022-07-25 Published:2022-09-13
  • Supported by:
    The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research(2019QZKK0601)

Abstract:

This paper reviewed the main expedition and scientific investigation activities on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) before 1949. The history of scientific investigations on the TP can be divided into four stages: (1) The investigations in ancient times were mainly sporadic records of geographical phenomena in some parts of the TP by Chinese monks and Western Christian missionaries. (2) In the late Qing Dynasty, foreign and Chinese scholars and explorers, mainly Westerners, carried out preliminary scientific investigations. (3) 1912-1949, Chinese scholars began to take part in sino-foreign investigation teams to explore the TP. (4) Chinese scholars led scientific investigations in some regions during the Period of the Republic of China. The expedition on the TP mainly focused on geographical description, data collection, and single-subject investigation and research before the Qing Dynasty, which changed to the measurement of geographical elements with simple scientific instruments and in-depth research on a certain topic (such as vegetation) in some regions during the Period of the Republic of China. A remarkable feature of the investigations by Chinese scholars on the TP during the Period of the Republic of China was that they changed from cooperation with Western scientists in joint scientific investigations to independent investigation of geography, geomorphology, geology, meteorology, climate and plants. Some achievements by Chinese researchers have spread worldwide, which expanded the domestic and international understanding of the TP.

Key words: Tibetan Plateau, expedition and scientific investigation, ancient times, Qing Dynasty, 1912-1949, before 1949