A well-known geographer and thinker of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Wei Yuan, also known as Mo Shen, was born in 1794 in today's Hunan Province of Central China and died in 1857 in today's Hangzhou of East China's Zhejiang Province.

A very talented man, Wei passed the highest imperial civil service examination as a palace graduate during the reign (1821-1850) of Emperor Dao Guang of the Qing Dynasty and from then on worked as a magistrate of a prefecture.

During his lifetime, Wei witnessed the sharp transformation of modern China and actively participated in saving and enriching the nation with enormous passion. It was him who put forward the idea of "Surpassing foreigners by learning from them."

Wei was also a prolific writer, whose works includes Shu Gu Wei, Shi Gu Wei, Mo Piao, Sheng Wu Ji, Hai Guo Tu Zhi, and so on. Of all his works, Hai Guo Tu Zhi was the most influential as well as his masterpiece as a geographer.

Based on Si Zhou Zhi by Li Zexu, a patriot and reformer in the Qing Dynasty, the book boasted rich contents, recording the geography, history, economy, politics, and scientific technologies of different countries around the world, with maps of the world, continents, and countries attached in the end. Wei also introduced his thoughts on resisting invasion and empowering a nation.

The book was intended to awaken the then Chinese people to improve the national strength and resist the foreign invasion by learning from the foreigners. Later, the book was introduced to Japan, becoming an important referential material for fight against the Western colonists.

Hai Guo Tu Zhi and Ying Huan Zhi Lue, finished at the same time by Xu Jifan, were the earliest geographical books compiled by Chinese scholars.

Author: Jessie