本文阐述我国清代中期思想家、地理学家魏源的思想及共《海国图志》的特点及历史意义。

Wei Yuan(1794-1857),was an famous ideologist and geographer in Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)．He was known for for his adrocation of "Studing confucian classics for the purpose ofapplication".Wei Yuan was also a great patriot,who was a commander in some compaignsginsagainst British invadors during the opium war(1840-1842).As an ideologist,he was fully conscious that China＇s weakness lay in the backwandnessin science and technology,so he put forth a principle "learning the mordern science and tech-nology form the enemy in order to subdue it,and under guidabce of this ideology",he wortea book entitled "Records and maps of the world" This is one of the earliest geography booksever written by Chinese scholars,which covers the would history,world geography,scienceand technology.Wei Yuan＇s works and ideology had a considerable influnce on nineteen centurythoughts.The westernization movement,which took place 20 years later,was partly theresult of it.