Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
alluvial fans, big or small, and then provided many good points of crossing for the
long path on the east side of the Taihang Mountains. One could then walk northward
along this long road, get over one crossing site after another, and fi nally come to the
most diffi cult point for crossing which was situated on a large river. This is the exact
place of the ancient ferry-place on the Yongding River. Crossing the river at this
point, one would set foot into the Beijing Plain. So this point of crossing was actu-
ally the gateway to the Beijing Plain. When he reached the north end of the plain,
one would encounter a range of mountains lying to the north and northeast of the
plain, which hindered him from going further northward into the mountainous
regions (Fig.
1.1
).
As a Chinese old saying goes, “there is always a way for people in great straits.”
In the mountains situated to both the northwest and the northeast of the Beijing
Plain there were two passes. The one located to the northwest is called Nankou Pass
(South Mouth Pass). If one entered the mountains by way of the Nankou Pass and
went through a long valley, he would come to a place called the Badaling Hill, a part
of the Great Wall which is near to Beijing and now frequently visited by tourists. If
one got over the gently sloping Badaling Hill and went further northwestward, he
would pass through a vast basin area among the mountains and fi nally get to the
Inner Mongolian Plateau.
The entrance to the northeastern mountains is called Gubeikou Pass. Starting
from Gubeikou Pass and going northeastward in the mountains, one would cross a
chain of hills in undulation and fi nally reach the Northeast China Plain.
Besides, there is another way leading to Northeast China. If one started from the
Beijing Plain and went onward in an eastern direction along the southern edge of the
Yan Mountains, he would come to the juncture of the mountain and the sea, which
is now well-known as Shanhaiguan Pass (Mountain-Sea Pass). Getting out of
Shanhaiguan Pass and walking northeastward along the coastal corridor, one could
come to the plain located in the lower reaches of the Liao River.
From the above-mentioned facts, we can see that when one got across the ancient
ferry on the Yongding River in the old times, he could take three different ways
onward. Then here arises a very interesting question: Where was the actual juncture
of this ancient road?
Under normal circumstances, the juncture of this road should be at this crossing
site itself. As a ferry-place, the point of crossing was in effect a hub of communica-
tions. With the development of social economy and the ever-increasing exchange of
commodities, such kind of the crossing site would provide favourable conditions for
the growth and expansion of cities. This is not rare in the history concerning the
development of cities in the world. One of the typical examples is the growth of
the city of London which was built on the basis of an ancient crossing place on the
Thames. If such an inference was reasonable, then the ancient city of Beijing should
have fi rst risen on the basis of the ancient ferry-place on the Yongding River. But it
was not the case. The ancient city of Beijing did not fi rst start there. Instead of a city,
a big stone bridge made its appearance there in 1192. In some Western historical
documents, this big stone bridge was called “Marco Polo Bridge”, for Marco Polo,
the famous traveller from Venice was the fi rst well-known guest from the West who
