“This Belt of River”

Visual Representation of the Yellow River as Local Expression in Early Qing Local Gazetteers

Abstract

The differing presence of the Yellow River across different regions in north China has shaped how local communities perceived and represented the river. This study uses local gazetteers produced in the early decades of the Qing to explore how people’s life experiences of the river affected its visual representations. In local gazetteers, whereas textual accounts usually conform to rules of compilation, such as following a universal format, common categories, and use of classical knowledge, visual representations provide a more direct and effective way of presenting the uniqueness of a place. In early Qing local gazetteers, perceptions of the Yellow River varied significantly at the local level and were manifest in different visual strategies to portray the river. The conscious selection of visual styles not only reveals diverse local experiences, but also lends visual force to the stories told in the text.

一段河水一方人：清初方志中當地人所體驗的黃河

黃河在中國北方的不同地域有著不同的存在形態。它們影響和塑造了地方社會對黃河的不同看法和呈現方式。本文從清初的地方志出發，討論不同地方的生活經驗如何造就了方志中對黃河的不同視覺呈現。地方志中，文本往往受到編修體例的諸多限制，如需要符合統一格式，特定門類，援用經典。而視覺呈現—圖—則能以更直接、有效的方式揭示一個地方的特殊性。清初地方志中，（沿岸）各地對黃河的看法存在巨大的地域差異。這些差異體現在描繪黃河的不同視覺技巧中。繪圖方式的選擇不僅揭示了不同的地方體驗，也為地方志文本中講述的故事增加了視覺説服力。