A Natural History of Chongli

Liu Huajie

Peking University Press

September 2021

128.00 （CNY）

The author of this book has made dozens of field trips to Chongli in which he photographed the local flora， surveyed the local geology， recorded the local people’s customs and traditions， searched for relics and ruins， and explored its history extensively. From the point of view of a seasoned naturalist， this book portrays a realistic and three-dimensional Chongli with abundant graphic and literary material for the readers. It is also presented as a precious gift for Chongli and the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Liu Huajie

Liu Huajie is a professor at the Department of Philosophy at Peking University， a board member of the China Wild Plant Conservation Association， an advocate of natural science culture， a plant lover， and a former chief expert of a major project at the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences. His works have been selected twice by the State Administration of Press， Publication， Radio， Film and Television Administration as one of the “50 Favorite Books of the Public”. He has been awarded many accolades， including the Wenjin Book Award， the Chinese Excellent Publication Award， the China Good Book Award，" Outstanding Popular Science Works from the Chinese Science Writers Association， the Wu Dayou Science Popularization Book Award’s Silver Bookmark， and the Dapeng Nature Good Book Award.

Chongli is a district of Zhangjiakou City in Hebei Province， northwest of Beijing. Chongli District is located in the northeast of downtown Zhangjiakou， bordered by Xuanhua District to the south， Wanquan District and Zhangbei County to the west and north respectively， Chicheng County to the east， and Guyuan County to the northeast corner.

Despite its proximity to Beijing， most Beijingers have had practically no knowledge of Chongli for a long time， and few people nationwide know about Chongli either.

Chongli is a mountainous area in northwest Hebei Province， located in the eastern part of the Yinshan Mountains， at the junction of the Damaqun Mountain branch and the Yanshan Mountain ranges. From Beijing to Chongli， the elevation rises incrementally， with two distinct “steps”： Beijing to Yanqing makes the first step， and Yanqing to Chongli is the second.

Generally speaking， Chongli is located in the north of the North China Plain and south of the Mongolian Plateau （the inland plateau of East Asia）， where there are several segments of the Great Wall. The Great Wall segment around Juyongguan， Badaling， and Dayingpan near Beijing is considered the first segment. The second segment （in some cases considered the third） is located around West Taiping Mountain， East Taiping Mountain （Yu’er Mountain）， Toudaobian， Erdaobian， Sandaobian， Shuijingtun， Heitugou， Changgouzi， Yushiliang， Sidaoliang， Qipanliang， Hualindong， Laohugou， and Great Wall Ridge near Zhangjiakou. Segments of the Great Wall can be found in the western part of Chongli District in both the north-south and east-west directions. Strictly speaking， this is a “Great Wall belt”， that is， many segments of the Great Wall left behind from various periods are widely distributed in a belt-like area.

Historically， there is the saying of “Going Westward” （Zou Xi Kou）. The narrow sense of west refers to “Shahukou” in Shanxi， while the corresponding term “Going Eastward” （Chuang Dong Kou），" refers to Zhangjiakou in Hebei. “Going Westward” can be traced back to the middle of the Ming Dynasty， while “Going Eastward” happened a little later in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The purpose of “Going Westward” was to make a living and survive， whereas people traveled eastward mainly in an attempt to pursue a career and achieve themselves （Liu Zhenying， 2018： 18--25）. For a long time， foreigners have known Zhangjiakou as Kalgan or Kalga， which literally means gate or border. Specifically， this “gate” is represented by Xijingmen （West Border Gate） and Dajingmen （Main Border Gate） on the Great Wall segment in the north of Zhangjiakou， which marks the southern starting point of “Zhangku Boulevard” in a broad sense. The western area of Chongli District encompasses a part of “Zhangku Boulevard”， which is the Steppe Route （used mainly to transport tea）. When it comes to its name， “Zhang” naturally refers to Zhangjiakou， while “Ku” refers to Kulun （now known as Ulaanbaatar）.

To the north of Chongli is a world of “grass” while to the south is a world of “crops”. The former has long been a zone of nomadic activities， while the latter has been a zone of settlement for farming communities （the term “nation” is deliberately avoided; see Ma Rong， 2017）. In a sense， Chinese civilization over the past few millennia has been the product of the collision， dispute， and fusion of the two elements “grass” and “crops” （Boeing， 2019; Lattimore， 2008）. China has always been a country of multi-ethnic symbiosis rather than a “nation-state” where a single ethnic group is overwhelmingly dominant. The Han Chinese， though abundant， are actually “a mixed group”. The history of the Han people is originally the history of the integration of Yi and Xia. The Han people， their language， and their culture also resulted from the mixture of Yi and Xia people （Yihua， 2012）. The Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system and established a Sinocentric world system in Asia with tributary trade relations as the core （Ni Yuping， 2020： 224）， but soon came into conflict with the colonial expansionist policies of Western capitalist countries. Chongli was unique in that it was located in the “fractal zone” of the junction， always in the midst of receiving and seeing off visitors and was itself a “melting pot”.

The ethnic composition of Chongli’s population mainly consists of Han Chinese， followed by Mongolian， Manchu， Hui， Tibetan， and Korean. The Chongli Chronography offers limited records of its historical people， having only listed nine positive historical figures， five of whom died before the age of 26; and two negative figures.

Natural disasters in Chongli mostly consist of rainstorms， hailstorms， and droughts. Windy weather is mostly concentrated in April and May. The sunrise and sunset in Chongli occur at one extreme in mid-June， with sunrise happening as early as 4：46 and sunset as late as 19：54， and at the other extreme in early January， with sunrise at 7：46 and sunset at 17：06.

Regarding the weather in Chongli， we can quote a Chongli dialect version of the song “Prelude to Water Melody” （Shuidiao Getou， a traditional Chinese melody）： “It’s not raining， it’s stirring the wind. Black thunder flashing in the sky scared people. The spring air is warm， the summer days are hot， and the three ninths （coldest winter days） are cold. The night is dark as a black hole， while the fog is so dense that it covers the sky like paper. Raindrops can be fine like hair or thick as a string， wetting the ground instantly with little or lots of rain. The snow grows into a white wind， and it gets freezing at 30 below zero. Wait till the spring comes， and cattle will finally be seen everywhere.”（edited by Zhu Yueping， 2011： 246--247） Are you at a loss？ Don’t worry！ With a few trips to Chongli， you will get it once you have a better understanding of the “l(fā)ocal culture”.

When I first came to Chongli over a decade ago， I was mainly interested in the plants and did not care much about the local history and humanities. Even when I came back here later for skiing and summer vacation， I didn’t pay much attention to the local people or events. There was a very important reason that I didn’t tell explicitly， and it was the fact that Chongli was too backwards at the time， and I felt that only the wild plants were worthy of my appreciation. However， my views changed a few years later. With a little more exposure， I realized that many of the events covered in my secondary school history textbooks happened in this part of Zhangjiakou.

In contrast， I used to imagine that they happened in much more distant places than I could ever experience in person. Once I made that realization， I went on to search for more reading materials and then went to the library to read about its history. Eventually， I fell in love with this land on which people and nature lived in harmony. Looking back， I was being very naive at first， and the natural history I practiced was not thorough enough. I now realize that I shouldn’t neglect the people and events of a place， considering that great naturalists such as Gilbert White， Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung， and Alfred Russel Wallace also focused on these aspects.

Ever since then， I have felt different about visiting Chongli to contemplate the flora. As the people and events in history became somewhat connected with the present vegetation， I was able to appreciate it in more dimensions. Nevertheless， I wouldn’t simply recount what I see and hear in a complimentary tone; instead， I examined the phenomena with a critical， reflective eye as much as possible， always with benevolent intent and purposes as I wish for the timeless harmony and sustainable development of this place. “Contemplate flowers in spring， have a getaway in summer， appreciate the scenic views in autumn， and enjoy skiing in winter.”

These phrases were already written in the third volume of Chongli Cultural History back in 2011. I have also spoken of “skiing in one season and appreciating flowers in the remaining three seasons.” In fact， I now see that there is no need to make such a distinction. For those who like plants， any season of the year is appropriate for their observation， so is the case to enjoy the scenery.