Citation:
WAN Xiang. Land of Passage: China's Frontiers and Carl Ritter's Invention of the Silk Road Concept[J]. Academic Monthly, 2025, 57(1): 202-216.
Land of Passage: China's Frontiers and Carl Ritter's Invention of the Silk Road Concept
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Abstract
A detailed analysis of the magnum opus of the German geographer Carl Ritter (1779-1859), Die Erdkunde, reveals that the concept of the Silk Road was deliberately designed and created by the very father of modern geography, and the invention of this concept was closely related to Europe's understanding of China's frontiers. Analysis of the first edition of Die Erdkunde (1817-1818) indicates that Carl Ritter provided a comprehensive compilation of materials for the discussion of the Silk Road, providing the literary foundation for creating this concept; the closely interlocking characteristics between the continents of Europe and Asia are the theoretical origins of the concept of the Silk Road; the key description of the "Land of Passage" on China's frontiers provides the source of empirical knowledge for the concept of the Silk Road; and the compound titles summarizing communications between the East and the West, such as "Banians' Road", "Seres Road", and "China Road" derived from the "Land of Passage" on China's frontiers, eventually constitute the prototype of the Silk Road.
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