Geography occupies a pivotal position in ancient social development and social governance. Great achievements have been made in many branches of science, and geography has played various social functions in China’s socio-economic development.
Wang Qianjin said that ancient Chinese conducted a large number of expeditions, which played a role equivalent to geographical surveys. Zheng He was the first person to systematically investigate karst landforms, recognized the development characteristics of landforms and analyzed the causes of such landforms. Xiake Xuake's re-amined the source of the Yangtze River and corrected the original misunderstanding.