英文摘要 |
The job of Hydrographic office is to survey and map hydrographic features, and then use hydrological data to publish marine chart and sailing directions. Starting from the eighteenth century, several Western nations established their own hydrographic offices. The major reason was that having self-made chart helped to demarcate maritime territorial boundaries, deploy naval fleets and arms, resolve diplomatic dispute of fishing rights, and fulfill rights and duties of neutral powers in maritime war. So it is important for a nation to develop hydrological work, especially for Republican China. However, China did not have its own hydrographic office until the Hydrographic Department of the Chinese Navy was established in 1921. This is the first office that enabled China to survey and map hydrographic features by itself. But so far, the Hydrographic Department of the Chinese Navy has not drawn much scholarly attention. To study the Hydrographic Department of the Chinese Navy, this article focuses on the founding background, planning, developing and the outcome of its work in the early stage. This article utilizes materials from two main archives: the Diplomatic Archives collected in the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica, and the R.O.C Army Archives collected in the National Archives Administration. This article aims to serve as a preliminary study of the Hydrographic Department of the Chinese Navy. |