Brief introduction of geographical celebrity Huang Bingwei

[Date: March 3, 27 Source: Author]

Editor's note: Professor Huang Bingwei, academician of China Academy of Sciences, honorary chairman of China Geographical Society and honorary director of Institute of Geography of China Academy of Sciences, is a famous geographer in China. He is also a member of the Romanian Academy of Sciences, a member of the American Geographical Society, an honorary correspondent of the Royal Geographical Society and a consultant of the International Mountain Society. He was awarded the Special Honor Award of the International Geographical Union in 1996 and the Heliang Heli Science and Progress Award in 1997. His research results have had a far-reaching impact at home and abroad. In order to commemorate Mr. Huang's outstanding contribution to geography in China, Professor Niu Wenyuan, Mr. Huang's first graduate student, is specially invited to write this article.

When I was young, I read the Biography of Mr. Wuliu. For those who are "quiet and quiet, don't care about honor and profit" or even "don't care about poverty and wealth", I always yearn for it and silently regard it as a model of life. And long, lucky enough to be under Professor Huang Bingwei, after more than 3 years, his knowledge, demeanor, morality, articles, so that the shadow that has been worshipped in my mind, gradually activated, gradually clear, and more and more prominent.

Mr. Huang Bingwei was born in Huizhou, Guangdong Province on February 1st, 1913. The 192s was a humiliating time for the Chinese nation. Warlords scuffle, foreign powers invade, people's livelihood is increasingly languishing, and mountains and rivers are at stake. A young boy who has just appeared is intelligent, early and wise, full of justice, and his immature mind bears heavy pressure prematurely, leaving an indelible mark on his life. Guangdong is the birthplace of revolution in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, where all kinds of ideas gather. Huizhou is adjacent to Hong Kong. Ethnic elites such as Liao Zhongkai, Deng Yanda and Ye Ting were born and raised in Huizhou, and together with the general public, they played a strong voice of that era. At the age of eight, although he doesn't know much about the world, he also receives the heavy word "sense of responsibility". In the school, he listened to the teacher read aloud, "Emperor Huaxia is about to be a slave; I can't help crying and can't help myself. A little longer, the feat of the Northern Expedition of the National Revolutionary Army and the grand song of "overthrowing warlords and removing powers" have made him very excited. Although nearly 7 years have passed, whenever I recall it, I can still recount the past, one by one.

Mr. Huang Bingwei entered a private school before he was 12 years old, and learned a lot of the essence of ancient China culture, especially the influence he received at his uncle's house, which influenced him all his life. His uncle followed Kang Youwei in his early years, advocating reform and reform, and the Reform Movement of 1898 was a complete failure, so he lived in seclusion in his hometown, lived in love with mountains and rivers, and was old in nymphs. As an upright man, he hates the darkness of society and is unwilling to sink to the earth. He often teaches his nephew many righteous works to express his feelings of "not being a prince, doing noble things" and "forgetting gains and losses, so as to die". The mixture of these cultures cannot but have a great influence on Huang Bingwei's world outlook. After more than half a century, when Mr. Huang summed it up, he wrote with deep feelings: "The thoughts of hermits have both positive factors and negative contents. It is a good medicine for those who seek fame and fortune; It may have a negative effect on utilitarianism for the motherland and mankind. For the motherland and for mankind, sometimes we may have to follow Yi Yin's example and make progress in governance and chaos. ..... The influence of seclusion thought has also had a lot of influence on my geographical work for more than 6 years. "

Mr. Huang Bingwei has been known as a filial piety in the village since childhood. Due to the decline of his family, he deeply felt the worry that food and clothing were not enough. When he was about to choose a career, although he knew that he could find an "iron rice bowl" with a high salary by working in institutions under foreign control (such as the post office and customs), he resolutely gave up the wealth he had enjoyed under the wings of foreigners. Just at that time, he learned from newspapers that all kinds of foreigners explored in China and went deep into the hinterland of northwest and southwest, but China people themselves were able to participate in these expeditions, but they were few and far between. In his opinion, this anti-customer phenomenon is really a shame for Chinese people. In the readme (1992), he said: "It's Xin Xi's gold medal. He was bold and unrestrained. In two years, he jumped five levels and was admitted to the Science Foundation of Sun Yat-sen University. " Then, in the decision of studying chemistry or geography as a lifelong study, although he could not understand the connotation of modern geography, he felt that the descendants of the Chinese nation could not make in-depth research on the beautiful mountains and rivers of the motherland, so he walked into the door of geography without hesitation. As an excellent student, he resolutely became attached to geography, which has both the feelings of devotees and the tragic feelings of warriors. Only when personal injustice is linked with the rise and fall of the country, it often creates a persistent life. Since he devoted himself to the study of geography in Sun Yat-sen University at the age of 17, he has been working in this garden until the day before his death.

China's modern geography didn't start early. The Department of Geography of Sun Yat-sen University is one of the pioneer bases for systematically teaching western geographical thoughts. In 1929, the Department of Geography of CUHK hired Professor Wilhelm Klotner from Germany, the "hometown of modern geography", as the head of the department, and then hired Professor Wilvergang Biansha to take over as the head of the department. At the same time, it also invited several other professors who were prestigious in the international geography field at that time to transplant the western geography system. As we all know, Germany is the birthplace of modern geography. A large number of brilliant masters, such as Humboldt and Ritter, have amazed many researchers in the history of geography and praised them as "lofty mountains in the history of science". Mr. Huang Bingwei engaged in the study of scientific geography in this system, and suddenly entered the forefront of contemporary geography, and rooted himself in the deep fertile soil of China.

Showing the scientific geography in front of Yu Xiansheng is not only a highly comprehensive discipline, but also a highly difficult one. If you are not careful, you will either be caught in a mud pit piled up by the floating, or you will be caught in a confused situation where you can only see the trees but not the forest. It is definitely not the "chic" that ordinary people come when they despise geography and despise geography. Therefore, there are not many people who can truly understand the true meaning of geography. Moreover, it usually takes a lifetime or even several generations to understand its connotation and extension after the multiple twists and turns of "confusion-sobriety, and then confusion-sobriety", and to appreciate the phoenix-like surprise: it turns out that geography is such a colorful world.

In the geography department of Sun Yat-sen University, he was absorbed in the lectures, he read eagerly, he searched hard and gradually realized that to understand the laws of geography, we must rely on the discovery of geographical facts, the comparison of geographical contents and the development of geographical experiments; You have to accumulate knowledge of various branches of geography; We should also learn from the successful experience of neighboring disciplines to understand the synthesis of geography, which is tantamount to cooking without rice. During his school years, he took or attended many courses in geology and biology, and dabbled in mineralogy, paleontology and zoology. Because of doubts about some viewpoints of the German professor, he taught himself simple advanced mathematics. From learning climatology, I think of the importance of geographical positioning experimental research; He once had a preference for geomorphology, which pushed him to master the knowledge of geotectonics, internal forces and pedology; He studied the "three classes and six orders" in human geography, developed a strong interest in settlement geography, and then had a clear understanding of population statistics and human effects. In order to master more first-hand information, he paid special attention to field trips. At that time, there was a field trip every two weeks in the Department of Geography of CUHK. Mr. Huang Bingwei was physically weak, and he went to Baiyun Mountain for the first time with German professor Creletner. Before he went far, he was exhausted, his face was blue, and he had a long rest before he could continue. However, he was killed and went in. After a year of training, he "has been able to take risks and never learn from others". It is through rigorous intelligence training and physical training that during his four-year college life, he not only broadened his knowledge structure, but also gained a strong physique, which laid a solid foundation for engaging in geography research. He himself said, "After four years of study, I know that geography and physical geography are buildings to be built. The grass was first discovered, the materials were incomplete, and the clouds were falling, which still needs to be created hard. "

His graduation thesis "Terrain between West Lake and Copper Lake in Huizhou" was highly appraised by Professor Bian Sha with 97 points because of its detailed investigation, thorough reasoning and accurate analysis, and the conclusion was correct, ranking first in the whole hospital in four years. Won the gold medal of Excellence and Rockefeller foundation scholarship awarded by the school.

The comprehensive recognition of geographical areas, the objective arrangement of geographical structure, the differentiation law of geographical space and the oscillation rhythm of geographical processes have always been the basic goals pursued by geography. China, as an important geographical power in the world, is located on the east side of Eurasia, the largest land on the earth, and on the west side of the Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean on the earth. It happens to be sandwiched between the "two active zones" on the earth, and its natural environment is very complicated. It is not easy to correctly understand the geographical characteristics and regional differentiation characteristics of China, which requires a solid geographical theoretical foundation, detailed and organized information and correctness. Mr. Huang Bingwei's innate talent and hard work made him qualified for this arduous task. Whether studying at school or working in the society, he always carries this complicated "cross" and keeps moving forward.

In 1934, Mr. Huang Bingwei was recommended by Professor He Yanxuan and Professor Bian Sha to enter the Beiping Geological Survey Institute with the best performance among the current graduates in the School of Science of Sun Yat-sen University. Richthofen, a famous German scholar, once believed that the southern coast of China was sinking and the northern coast was rising after inspecting China, which made Chinese and foreign scientists believe it all the time. Young Huang Bingwei challenged this world-class authority on the basis of his own investigation and comparison in many aspects, and thought this conclusion was wrong. Mr Weng Wenhao, one of the pioneers of geosciences in China, encouraged the young scientist to make an investigation on coastal landforms in Shandong. So he went to Shandong, and made strict observation records on Beipi near Rongcheng, several parallel sandbanks along Rizhao coast, and small mountain-crossing gorge on Zhifu island, and finally concluded that the coast of Shandong was not rising but indulging. The report of the first investigation was published in the Natural Science Quarterly of Sun Yat-sen University, and Professor Hong Siqi immediately published a book review in Ta Kung Pao, which was full of praise and encouragement, and was deeply proud of the insights of China scholars on major issues.

Mr. Huang Bingwei's thinking is clear, and his logic is obvious. For example, his handwriting is huge, and he thinks that he is not good at rhetoric, and he thinks that "writing instead of speaking" is self-promising. Generally speaking, the truth in the world is the same. If you are eloquent, if you don't have real talent and practical learning, you can only grandstanding and win an empty stomach. Although Mr. Huang believes that his eloquence is not good, the listener is still very rewarding because of his real content and simple truth. At an annual meeting in geological society of china, when discussing the North China coast with Glip, he stated his views, which attracted the approval of Mr. Ding Wenjiang, director-general of Academia Sinica at that time. As one of the leading geoscientists at that time, Mr. Ding, who co-edited with Weng Wenhao and Ceng Shiying, has not been published for a long time. He is preparing to compile a long edition of China geography and write a brief edition of China geography in senior high school. I heard Huang Bingwei's speech at the meeting and asked Mr. Huang to participate in the work the next day. This is indeed a meaningful cultural project. As we all know, in the mid-193s, there were not only few geographical data that could be really used, but also the details were very different, and the caliber was different in terms of region and time, so it was difficult to compare them. Huang Bingwei knew that the task was arduous, but he was fearless and promised generously. He came to Nanjing in the autumn of 1935 and began another tortuous journey. At that time, he was only 22 years old.

The first step in compiling the geography of China is to make a serious investigation of Nanling. In our country, the traditional view is to treat Nanling as a "clear geographical boundary", and there are poems such as "a plum blossom on the ridge, the south branch is warm and the north branch is cold" as evidence. In all kinds of geographical writings at home and abroad, they are also inherited and used to it. According to the understanding at that time, the geographical boundary of the northern half of China is relatively clear, and there is basically no much controversy; There are many problems in the southern half. Mr. Ding Wenjiang pointed out that Nanling is the most important problem, and he asked Huang Bingwei to solve it on the spot. Huang Bingwei, who has always been conscientious in his work, spent nearly half a year traveling around Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi and other provinces, and made a detailed comparative analysis. He found that judging from landform alone is not enough to get the answer to the question, but must be related to climate, soil, vegetation and other natural factors before he can comprehensively judge the nature of geographical areas. The final conclusion is that Nanling is only a watershed, not a mountain range, and should not be regarded as a natural geographical boundary. In this way, he started from the actual investigation and stepped into the road of comprehensive analysis of the geographical characteristics of China.

Only two-thirds of the monograph "Geography of China" (called "Long Edition" by Mr. Ding Wenjiang) has been completed, which means it is worthy of the Anti-Japanese War. Books were boxed, institutions moved, and field work could not be carried out. The writing of "Long Edition" was forced to drop out of school, and only one letter of national geography in senior high school was completed. In some of the preserved manuscripts, the small print is dense, and although it has been repeatedly attacked by soldiers, the handwriting is still legible on the yellowed paper. In that manuscript, there are abundant references, and the theory, materials, structure, articles and even words and sentences are all very particular. Take the Outline of Plant Geography of China written in Nanjing in 1936 as an example, with 136 pages and more than 35, words, the flora of China, human activities and natural plants, the flora of China and the utilization of domestic plants are discussed respectively. On the basis of full consideration of previous studies, China was divided into 26 flora for the first time and explained one by one. Up to now, I still deeply feel its academic value. This volume especially discusses the interference and destruction of natural vegetation by human beings. The book reads: "When every value is noisy, the official residence will inevitably be destroyed; After the chaos, the refugees gradually returned to their hometown, and their living and gathering became more and more complicated, so they must build rooms to meet the needs; The government may build a large-scale project to make it beautiful, so it will need more wood, which will make the former forest become a bald ridge. " Because the analysis of this volume is pertinent, Mr. Zhang Qiyun once published the plant division part in the Journal of History and Geography, which was highly praised by the academic circles.

while compiling the geography of China, Mr. Huang Bingwei has always regarded the correct division of China's natural geographical areas as one of his goals, which is by no means an overnight achievement. As early as his student days, Mr. Huang developed the habit of reading widely and had a valuable pioneering learning spirit. Taking this enterprising spirit as the warp and the organic connection between disciplines as the weft, it has woven the basic network of his understanding of geography, which is imbued with his characteristics of diligence and enterprising. In his whole research work, a series of modern geographical connotations, such as comprehensive viewpoint, comparative method, causal connection, practical significance and applied value, have been well reflected.

"There is a way to learn from the mountains, but there is no limit to learning from the sea." This is a favorite motto of Mr. Huang, which is full of