Hou Renzhi (1911-)

Hou Renzhi was singularly influential in shaping the modern study of geography in China, leading its transformation from a tradition of chronicling to a systematic approach. Hou built his reputation by publishing important work on historical Beijing, the historical archaeology of the Huang Ho River basin, and classical Chinese geographical thought. His historically based geographical contribution to the development of the modern city of Beijing included redevelopment of irrigation and water conservation systems and planning for Tiananmen Square.

Hou was born in Hebei Province and holds a BA in history (1936) and an MA in historical geography (1938) from Yenching University, predecessor institution to Peking (now Beijing) University. Hou was an instructor at Yenching and elsewhere during the Japanese occupation of China, before joining H. C. Darby in 1946 to study historical geography at Liverpool University. He completed his doctorate in 1949 and returned to Yenching University just days before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

He was appointed professor and chair of the department of geology and geography with the reorganization of Yenching as Peking University in 1952, and from 1962 to 1966, he served as deputy director of studies at Beijing University (a position akin to vice provost for academic affairs). During the Cultural Revolution in China and the years following it, from 1966 to 1978, regular teaching at the university was suspended. The Red Guards criticized Hou, placed him under house arrest, and beat him, and he spent 1969 through 1971 in a Jiangzi Province labor camp. When Hou was able to resume his research, he undertook pioneering fieldwork on historical archaeology and the historical geography of China's deserts while continuing work on Beijing's historical geography.

Appointed professor and chair in the newly separate department of geography in 1978, Hou led the rejuvenation of the program and the university. From 1983 to 1987, he directed the historical geography research group at Beijing University and then became director of doctoral studies. In 1980, Hou was visiting professor at [Page 1444]the University of British Columbia, the next year a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Illinois, and in 1984 a Luce Fellow in urban planning at Cornell University. Hou was also a member of the International Geographical Union Commission on the History of Geographical Thought (1984–1992). For some 30 years, he served as vice chair of the Chinese Society of Geography. Hou is a long-time member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and he was still engaged intellectually with geography as of the writing of this biographical essay.

Among his many honors, Liverpool University granted Hou an Honorary Doctorate of Science in 1984. In 1988, Beijing University honored him for his then six decades of service by publishing a collected volume of his works covering diverse topics such as regional historical geography, historical urban geography, desert history, and the history of geographical thought. The American Geographical Society honored Hou in 1999 with the George Davidson Medal for exceptional research contributions to geography.