A part of the diary of Liu Zhaoxun (柳兆薫) of Wujiang (呉江) county in Jiangsu province was published about ten years ago. Liu Zhaoxun himself was not involved in any particular historical event, but was only a landlord. He was no more than an ordinary member of the gentry born in a family that had had several Shengyuan (生員)-class figures. The reason why his diary got published was that it included his direct observation of the Taiping Revolution, the most important event in 19th century China. We have to note here the style of his description in the diary. It records his brief but comprehensive observation of such facts as the weather, family, friends, the movement of Taiping army, correspondence from the Qing government, and the events of the Arrow War. This paper attempts to make the most of the characteristics of such a diary, by picking out all the place names in it, analyzing them, and clarifing the living space of Liu Zhaoxun. According to the data, Liu Zhaoxun went to other villages once every three days on an average and tried to collect informatoin on other regions. On the whole, he had direct and indirect contacts with other villages frequently. However, as far as his sphere of activity is concerned, he rarely went over the county border and at times was not able to cover even the whole county. His sphere of activity can be divided into two parts, each of a different nature. One can be called the outer part, which is connected with Liu Zhaoxun individually and exclusively and changes flexibly in accordance with the situation. The other is an inner part which reflects on Liu Zhaoxun's life in many ways and does not change much over time. This inner part includes four towns and the related settlement. It is difficult to come to a general conclusion from data obtained from a diary of an individual of a particular class in a certain area. But if we could, to some extent, universalize the fact that people's spheres of activity at certain times extend over a wide range like several towns and that range changes flexibly in accordance with the situation, we could reexamine the image of Old China, which researchers consider in terms of specific organizations, whether village or lineage, the fundamental group and its organic links with other organizations. It was only natural that an individual have some kind of connection with village, lineage, and town; however, the adjustment between these relationships, after all, could only be dealt with individually according to the situation.
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