• Acta Via Serica
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.1-22
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• 2018

The concept of the "Seidenstrassen" (Silk Road) was created by the German geographer F. von Richthofen (1833-1905) in 1877. The "Seidenstrassen" means communication between China and the Roman cultural area. To prove the route of dissemination of silk, Richthofen not only focused on geographical substantiality, based on the routes of the Chinese Zhang Qian and the Roman Ptolemy, but also on etymological, historical, and religious sources. In fact, his Silk Road concept has the trade of silk as well as the humanistic ideas of cultural exchange. It is worth noting that in his book China, Richthofen presented the Silk Road as a space-time concept that considers the length of space as well as the length of time by highlighting humanistic examples that came into modern times through the Sea Route. Later, the English term "Silk Road" appeared in 1938, the Japanese term "シルクロ-ド" (sirukurodo) in 1939, and the Korean term "실크로드" (silkrodeu) in 1952.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Sericultural Science Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.15-15
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• 2003

독일의 지리학자 Ferdinand F.Von Richthofen(1833-1905)의 $\boxDr$China$\boxUl$ (1877)에서 비단길(Seidenstrassen-영역 silk road) -동서 교통의 역사를 개관하고서 중국과 서툴키스탄 및 북서 인도와의 silk 무역을 매개한 중앙아시아 경유의 길을 일렀음. 리히트호펜에서 한걸음 나아가, 1910년 독일 지리학자 알벨트헬만 (Albert Herrmann)은 한 대(BC 114 - AD 127의 견의 최대의 판로의 하나가 시리아였음을, 들어, 내륙 아시아 및 이란을 경우 중국에 이르른 통로를 추가함. (직후 시리아의 팔미라 분묘에서 다수의 한면 발견) (중략)

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.105-117
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• 2016

The Silk Road named by Ferdinand von Richthofen was not designated as a specific route. A lot of East-West trade routes had already existed across the continent and the geographical scope and definition of the Silk Road is still expanding. In particular, the claim that the Eastern end of the Silk Road reaches Gyeongju is an example of this expansion. Burial treasures from tombs on the Korean Peninsula have already been identified as products from the Sassanian Dynasty of Persia, and various archaeological and epical evidences support this finding. However, the specific route where these exchanges were made, around the 6th-8th centuries, has yet to be identified. Maritime as well as inland routes can easily be hypothesized. The Silk Road was largely activated by the Yam postal system with the expansion of the Mongol Empire. It not only served as an effective pathway for the Yuan to rule over the Goryeo, but also connected the Eastern end of the Silk Road to Gyeongju. This can explain the situation since the 13th century. Therefore, this paper claims that the Yeokcham system had been operating on the Korean Peninsula since the Unified Silla Kingdom, the previous period of Goryeo, or perhaps even before then. The Yeokcham should thus be regarded as a prototype of the Mongolian Yam, and the Korean peninsula should be recognized as another route which contributed specifically to the development of the Silk Road, not just as a user or a beneficiary.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.739-759
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• 2016

C. Gottsche(1855-1909), the Deutsch geologist, was invited by $M{\ddot{o}}llendorff$ who was the viceminister of foreign affairs in Korea, and travelled through the inland of Korean peninsula in 1884. He covered 2,550km in 138 days. After that journey, he wrote three academic papers about the geography and geology of Korea with the data of that field trip. Those paper bear considerable significance in that they included the first approaches to Korean geography and geology by a field-scientist with a modern academic training. Unlike other two papers focusing on the geology or the minerals, "The Geography of Korea(${\ddot{U}}ber$ Land und Leute in Korea(1886))" has its own value as a historical document, because it shows how the contempory Korea actually appeared to the eye of a $19^{th}$ western field-scientist. As this has not been introduced in Korean acdemic journals yet, this study might contribute to the understanding of how westerners regarded Korea in the end of 19th century.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.701-724
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• 2003

Since the late 19th century, the location and characteristics of Lop-Nor lake have been a major theme of debates among the scholars(Prejevalsky, Richthofen, Kozlov, Hedin, Huntington, Stein, Chen etc.) who have been interested in Inner Asia. In the 1980s the problem to find the exact location and characteristics of Lop-Nor lake was finally solved by the investigation group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Ironically, it was possible to find the solution by drying up of the lake due to the change of land use and the expansion of irrigation system in Tarim basin. Specially the excessive development of this area for agricultural use by the Xinjiang Production-Construction Army Corps since 1949 must have influenced on drying up of Lop-Nor lake. Furthermore it can be observed to be the very similar situation to Lop-Nor lake in many areas of Chinese Inner Asia Frontier. According to this finding, it may be proposed that human factors played an important role in the changes of Lop-Nor lake over the previous years too. This study can give an insight on the ecological interpretation of Inner Asian history and the environmental interpretation of the rising nationalism in this area.