In addition, through geographical exploration and discoveries from the late 15th to the 18th century, some highly academic geographical works emerged. The Cosmology of Minster, Germany, was published in 1544 and is considered an early representative work of the Great Geographical Discoveries; Valennius’s General Geography in Germany for the first time distinguishes the field of geography into two major parts: specialized and general. The former describes regional characteristics, while the latter reveals global laws.
After the emergence of capitalism in late Ming Dynasty China, field investigations and theoretical explorations were also carried out during the same period. For example, Xu Xiake’s “Xu Xiake’s Travels” already had many discussions on the causes. However, ancient Chinese geographical writings were mostly descriptive and lacked research on the overall laws of the Earth’s surface, which is also one of the reasons for the backwardness of modern Chinese geography.
From the 1520s to the 1720s, there was a Renaissance in Western Europe, and art and science flourished, enabling scholars to summarize certain laws of nature and human activities. At that time, geographical exploration and discoveries provided philosophers and scientists with rich specific materials on nature, humanity, and their relationship; Meanwhile, the emerging geographical materialism has had an immeasurable impact on the development of geography. The climate determinism proposed by the French philosopher Montesquieu in the 17th century and the dualism proposed by the German philosopher I. Kant in the 18th century have both become the methodological foundations of modern geography.
In short, from the 15th to the 18th century, geography was in a period of transition from ancient times to modern times. Western geography took more than three centuries to prepare for technological innovation, data accumulation, and the establishment of the philosophical foundation of geographical materialism, creating a prerequisite for the establishment of modern geography in Europe and America. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, China also began to explore the overall laws of the earth’s surface. However, due to the lack of innovation in technological means, insufficient accumulation of scientific data, and especially the rulers still advocating the theory of destiny, new geography could not rise.
