On March 18, 2018 (February 2, 2018 in the lunar calendar), Li Xihofen, the author of the concept of the "Silk Road", passed away. Richhofen (1833 - 1905) was a German geographer and geologist. From 1868 to 1872, he conducted seven expeditions to China. He was the founder of modern China geology and was the first to propose the concept of "Silk Road." Li Xihofen and his family took a group photo wearing China clothes. Today, the Silk Road has been widely recognized around the world. So, who put forward such an important concept? How was the ancient Silk Road, which existed for thousands of years and gradually declined,"rediscovered"? A passage by the famous explorer Sven Hedin may give the answer. He wrote in his book "Silk Road" published in the 1930s:"The name 'Silk Road' was not first used in China literature. This very illustrative name may have been first proposed by Professor Baron Richhofen. He used the term 'Silk Road'-Silk Road-in a famous book about China and demonstrated it; The 'Maritime Silk Road' is also mentioned on a map." The Li Schhofen mentioned in the article, whose full name is Ferdinand von Li Schhofen, was Hedin's teacher, a world-famous geographer, geologist, and pioneer in modern geological research in China. His research on the Silk Road opened a door for the world to understand China. It can be said that Richthofen is the father of the concept of the "Silk Road". When he came to China to "discover business opportunities" in 1833, Liechhofen was born into an aristocratic family in the Karlsruh district of Baden-Württemberg, Prussia (now Poland). He has loved geography since he was a child. After receiving a doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1856, he devoted himself to geological surveys. In 1860, as a geologist, he accompanied the Prussian mission to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and other places, and also visited China Taiwan. As a result, he developed a strong interest in China. Since then, he discovered a gold mine in California through professional research and was favored by American bankers. Therefore, when he proposed to inspect China, the Bank of California decided to sponsor it. In fact, Bank of California's sponsorship has a different purpose-they hope Richhofen will find business opportunities in China. At that time, China was surrounded by great powers, and everyone wanted to take a bite of this "Tang Priest meat." The Opium War broke out in 1840, and the Second Opium War broke out in 1856. Both Opium Wars ended in the failure of the Qing government, followed by the signing of a series of unequal treaties, ceding territory, and making reparations. China is in chaos, and foreign capital is rushing to enter during this period. In 1868, Li Schhofen went to China for the first time to conduct a systematic inspection. It is said that in order to make his name more down-to-earth, he specially changed the surname on his passport to "Li" in an attempt to "become relatives" with the once powerful Li Hongzhang. Liechhofen found that in China investigations, sometimes his life was in danger: he could be entertained in many places where big-nosed Westerners had never visited; but in places where Westerners frequently visited, he was called a "foreign devil", arousing resentment among local people. Once, when he inspected the Boshan coalfield in Shandong Province, he aroused dissatisfaction among the miners and had to hide in the house of a rich landlord to survive. A German postcard describing the German army's capture of Jiaozhou Bay. This military plan repeatedly refers to Richthofen's conclusions. Indirectly prompting Germany to send troops to Jiaozhou Bay. From 1868 to 1872, Richhofen conducted seven inspections to China. The first two inspections were in late 1868 and early 1869 respectively, both lasting more than a month, and the scope of activities was basically in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. During the first inspection, Li Xihofen conducted a detailed survey of Zhoushan, Zhejiang. He believed: "Zhoushan is close to the Yangtze River Delta and the rich Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Germany should find a foothold there and achieve results similar to Hong Kong or Macau." The third inspection was longer than the previous two. From March to July 1869, it lasted a total of four months, and the survey also went north to Shandong and Liaoning. During this inspection, Li Xihuofen focused on investigating gold, coal and iron mines in Shandong, Liaodong Peninsula, Kailuan, Jingdong (now Tangshan, Hebei) and other places. During the inspection, he got up at 4 a.m. every day and did not return to his room to rest until 6 p.m. After dinner, I began to draw pictures, write a diary, and organize the minerals collected during the day. He was shocked by the development of Shandong's coal mining industry."In an hour, I counted 65 small cars carrying coal... This is 20 miles away from Boshan, and those villages are already engaged in industry." In 1885, based mainly on this survey, he published "Map of Eastern Shandong", which detailed the rich mineral resources in the Jiaozhou Bay area. Richthofen's investigation report made Germany realize the importance of the Jiaozhou Bay area. In 1897, Germany sent troops to occupy Jiaozhou Bay on the pretext of the killing of preachers and designated Shandong as its sphere of influence. When German Navy Commander Tirpitz submitted to Kaiser Wilhelm I for approval of the military plan, he quoted Richhofen's inspection conclusions many times. From September 1869 to May 1870, Li Xihofen conducted two more mineral inspections: first he conducted research in Jiangxi and Zhejiang, and in Gaoling Mountain in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, he explored ceramic raw material soil and named the soil after the Latin translation of "Gaolin". The name of Gaolin is spread abroad; After that, he conducted mineral resources inspections in six provinces of Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Shanxi, and Hebei, which was his fifth inspection. During this inspection, he also recorded the daily mining work of the local people. He described Shanxi's coal mine production as follows: "For example, in Datong Prefecture, the mines penetrate into 250 feet (1 foot is about 0.3 meters) of strata, and some mines are spiral: the coal seam is as thick as 30 feet, producing very high-quality coal. In Datong, the coal (about 200 kilograms) carried by a mule can be sold for 200 wen. Each miner here goes down the well 20 times a day, mining 25 kilograms of coal each time. The daily output can reach 500 tons, and the annual output is estimated to be 14,000 tons. "It was from the beginning of this trip that Liechhofen wrote a letter to the Shanghai European and American Chamber of Commerce to report on the situation. Later, his relevant letters were compiled into" Liechhofen's China Travel Report "(also translated as" Collection of Letters of Baron Liechhofen "). After the investigation, Li Xihofen returned to Shanghai. Soon after, due to the Tianjin case, he had to seek refuge in Japan. From June to August 1871, Li Xihofen conducted his sixth inspection in China, focusing on Zhejiang, Anhui and other provinces. The purpose was to "investigate the natural conditions and economic relationship between the Qiantang River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin." Liechhofen's seventh expedition began in October 1871 and ended in May 1872. It was his longest expedition to China. The survey areas are mainly Xuanhua and Zhangjiakou in Zhili (now Hebei), Datong, Wutai Mountain, Taiyuan in Shanxi and Xi'an in Shaanxi, as well as some areas in Sichuan. This time, he conducted detailed exploration and records of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and gained a lot. After four years before and after the seven exploration surveys, Li Xihofen inspected 14 provinces in China. Its long time, wide scope, and detailed records of mineral deposits, geology, etc. exploration and investigation in China were second to none at that time. His investigation and research reports also had a great impact at that time. His "Richhofen China Travel Report" was printed twice in Shanghai. His reports on China's resources also provided information to many aggressive invaders. Mr. Lu Xun once commented that he was "not a weak geologist, but in his eyes and footprints, there was an infinite and vigorous army." Since then, scholars who came to China under the banner of "exploration" and "scientific research" were "the embodiment of Jerite Hofen (i.e., Richhofen)" and reminded China to pay attention. In the Silk Road map in Liechhofen's book "China", the red line is the Silk Road route marked by him. He spent the rest of his life writing "China". In 1872, Liechhofen returned to China and successively served as president of the International Geographical Society in Berlin, president of the University of Berlin, professor of geology at the University of Bonn, professor of geography at the University of Leipzig, etc., and spent most of his life writing "China-Personal Travel and the Results of Research Based on it"(hereinafter referred to as "China"). In fact, this five-volume masterpiece took 35 years to be published. Li Xihofen personally wrote and completed only the first and second volumes during his lifetime. The last three volumes were mainly compiled and compiled by his students based on his lifetime data. In the first volume of "China" published in 1877, Richhofen first proposed the concept of "Silk Road" and marked it on the map. This word didn't come up with his forehead, but was related to his habit of focusing on studying traffic routes. In every survey, in addition to recording minerals, he also paid special attention to the roads used to transport these products. Therefore, every time he went to a place, he must first describe the land and water transportation conditions of each place, and record the towns and commercial routes formed based on this transportation. This formed the main line of his report. By paying attention to China's transportation routes, studying the trade routes in China's history, and combining Western records on the "Silk Country", Richhofen gradually improved the historical context of the Silk Road. He discovered that as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, China's silk traveled through today's Xinjiang to Central Asia and then to Europe. At that time, Europeans called silk "and called China" Siris ", or the" Silk Country." After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, especially after Zhang Qian "dug out" the Western Regions, the frequency of the word "silk" appearing in Western documents greatly increased: the ancient Greek geographer Marinas recorded a trade route starting from the Euphrates River crossing and heading east to the "State of Seris"; the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who lived in the 1st to 2nd centuries, recorded this trade route in his "Geographical Annals"; Matteo Ricci, a missionary who came to China in the Ming Dynasty, also wrote: "I have no doubt that this is the country known as the Silk Country"; In the 19th century, Henry Jull, a British geographer famous for his study of "The Travels of Marco Polo," published the book "China and the Road to China-A Compilation of Medieval Records about China." The name of the "Silk Road" was imminent. Based on the research of these predecessors, Liechhofen first proposed the "Silk Road" in the book "China." However, he was still cautious in using the word. In his concept, the "Silk Road" only referred to the Eurasian trade channel in the Han Dynasty, and even referred to the Eurasian traffic road from 128 BC to 150 AD. Later, German historian Herman extended Richhofen's views in his book "The Ancient Silk Road between China and Syria" published in 1910. In 1936, Sven Hedin, a student of Li Xihofen, simply published a book directly under the name "Silk Road". From then on, the name "Silk Road" gradually became accepted by the public and quickly spread. In 1905, Li Xihofen passed away. He was remembered by China and the world for his research on China geology. In 1933, the famous geologist Weng Wenhao once wrote: "The solid foundation of China's geology was laid by the German man Liethofen... Because of Li's achievements, we saved ten years of working time." It can be seen that in the geological community of modern China, Liechhofen played a pivotal position. History shines with charming brilliance between chance and inevitability. In the troubled times, Li Xihofen came to China and walked in this ancient Eastern country for four years. His records and words became important materials for the West to understand China at that time, and are also valuable documents for us to understand China at that time today. The "Silk Road" he rediscovered and proposed has become one of the most familiar geographical terms to China people today. He recorded China based on his walking and named the Silk Road.