The rugged mountainous landscape surrounding the historic city of Nanjing, known as Jiankang during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279), has long intrigued historians and geographers alike. A groundbreaking study recently published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications sheds unprecedented light on how mountains in this region were perceived, recorded, and mapped nearly a millennium ago. By meticulously re-examining ancient texts and integrating modern geographical techniques, the research team reveals striking discrepancies between historical cognitive maps and the actual physical terrain, offering fresh perspectives on the geographic knowledge and cartographic practices of the Southern Song era.
This in-depth investigation centers on the Gazetteer of Jiankang in the Jingding Period, an authoritative yet imperfect primary source from the Southern Song, enriched with supplementary materials such as various gazetteers and historical maps from multiple Chinese dynasties. The research team’s mission was to verify the exact locations of all mountains narrated in these local gazetteers, unraveling centuries of place-name transformations and geographical ambiguities. This meticulous cross-era approach addresses a crucial challenge: the historical records themselves often contain spatial inaccuracies, influenced by the geographers’ cognitive frameworks and the limitations of their mapping techniques.
A monumental achievement of this research was the identification of 108 individual mountains and hills within Shangyuan and Jiangning Counties as they existed during the Southern Song Dynasty. Remarkably, most of these mountains have lost their original names or have been forgotten in contemporary geographical nomenclature. To overcome this gap, the team employed a sophisticated methodology combining historical textual analysis with modern topographic base maps, enabling them to reconcile historical place names with existing geographic features. This hybrid approach overcame the significant hurdle of using Southern Song geographic descriptions—originally based on road distances and subjective measurements—as reliable location markers.
Their findings delve into the spatial distribution and clustering of mountain ranges around the ancient city. The mountains were not randomly placed but formed six distinct distribution belts split into two layers. The inner trio of belts hugged the city closely, interacting with urban life through diverse relationships such as mountains occupied by the city, mountains divided by thoroughfares, and mountains serving as scenic viewpoints. Conversely, the outer three belts trended along the Yangtze River’s direction, exhibiting weaker connections to the city’s social and cultural hub. This layered, belt-like structuring of mountains illuminates how geography influenced the historical cognition of place, contributing to societal interpretations and interactions with the landscape.
Distance from the city emerged as the primary determinant shaping how these mountains were cognitively mapped and integrated into local identity. Mountain heights and proximity to the Yangtze River further influenced perceptions, revealing a complex combination of spatial awareness and symbolic significance. Moreover, the study’s detailed linguistic analysis of mountain names uncovered a fascinating cultural pattern: many mountain names derived directly from their physical characteristics, while a significant proportion honored historical figures or recorded memorable events. Such naming practices reflect the dynamic interplay between the physical environment and humanistic cultural expressions in Song Dynasty society.
Crucially, this research exposes systemic deviations and errors in the positional cognition of mountains as captured by local gazetteer compilers themselves. These discrepancies become particularly pronounced for mountains located farther from the prefectural city center, highlighting the limitations inherent in traditional surveying and cartographic methodologies of the time. The compilers relied heavily on measuring distances along roads rather than as-the-crow-flies geographical positioning, a practice whose accuracy varied substantially depending on route choice. Such route-dependent measurements compromised the reliability of the gazetteers for precise geographic localization.
Adding further complexity, the selection of different reference points and objects in map compilations introduced additional distortions. The researchers identified significant divergence in how local gazetteer authors interpreted or understood landforms, especially when representing more remote areas. These subjective perceptions influenced the recorded spatial relationships on maps, which were further complicated by variations in terrain interpretations across generations and textual traditions. This insight underscores the layered nature of historical geography as a fusion of empirical observation, cultural context, and cartographic convention.
On a theoretical level, this study carries significant implications for both domestic Chinese scholarship and the international research community. Within China, the study formally recognizes and diagnoses the longstanding problem that mountain location records in classical gazetteers cannot be straightforwardly equated with actual physical positions. The research method proposed—a combination of robust historical source triangulation with contemporary geographic validation—offers a scalable and systematic model to address this problem across different regions and historical periods.
Internationally, the study highlights a vital caution for scholars worldwide, particularly those with a natural science background working with historical environmental reconstructions. It reminds researchers that gazetteers and historical geographic records must be critically assessed and potentially corrected before serving as foundational data for modeling ancient landscapes. This step is fundamental to avoid perpetuating distortions arising from cognitive biases, measurement methods, and cartographic conventions embedded in historical sources.
The practical significance of this work extends beyond academic circles. By retrieving and restoring historical mountain names, the study contributes meaningfully to preserving China’s intangible cultural heritage, specifically the legacy of place names that embody local memory and identity. Moreover, the newly redrawn historical map of the mountainous core area of Jiankang can inform modern urban planning and landscape conservation efforts, providing a rich context for environmental protection and cultural tourism development.
The research opens promising avenues for spatial-humanistic studies rooted in the mountainous geography of historic Nanjing. By creating a geographically accurate framework, historians, literary scholars, and cultural researchers can more effectively connect significant historical events, literary works, and tourism narratives to their authentic physical settings. This approach enables multidimensional exploration of how mountains functioned as loci of spiritual meaning, defense, habitation, and symbolism within Song Dynasty urban and cultural life.
Despite its robust methodology and insightful outcomes, the study acknowledges certain limitations. Its focus on the core Nanjing area naturally confines the sample size and scope of findings. The authors express hope that future scholars will apply similar investigative frameworks to broader geographical contexts, thereby amplifying the generalizability and universality of the conclusions reached. Such expanded research could further elucidate patterns of cognitive geography formation and cartographic knowledge evolution throughout historic China and beyond.
This pioneering work exemplifies how interdisciplinary scholarship—integrating historical geography, linguistics, cartography, and cultural studies—can unravel complex past landscapes. It reminds us that perceiving the environment is an inherently human process colored by distance, culture, and technology, often diverging from physical reality. Correcting and understanding these divergences is essential both for rigorous historical scholarship and for informed stewardship of cultural landscapes in the present and future.
In conclusion, this research on the mountain geography of Jiankang during the Southern Song Dynasty not only redefines our understanding of historical Chinese cartography but also establishes a replicable methodology for reconciling cognitive geography with physical geography in diverse historical contexts. By combining the precision of modern mapping with the richness of ancient textual records, it bridges temporal divides to reveal how humanity’s spatial knowledge evolves—sometimes imperfectly but always with profound cultural significance.
Subject of Research: Mountain geography and historical cognition in the core area of Jiankang (Nanjing) during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279) in China.
Article Title: The identification between cognition and reality: the mountain geography of Nanjing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279) in China.
Article References:
Zhang, W., Lei, Z., Song, R. et al. The identification between cognition and reality: the mountain geography of Nanjing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279) in China. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1176 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05538-9
Image Credits: AI Generated
