I employ Python with its geopandas and matplotlib packages, alongside the GUI software QGIS, to manipulate spatial data and create maps. The following are some sample maps I created for dissertation research.

Communist Movement in Henan (1943-46) and Yuxi Incident(1945) Map Series

Map 1

The map below is titled "Western Henan Base Area, 1944-45". It shows the Yuxi(western Henna) Communist Base Area Established by the Communists in the wake of the military collapse suffered by the KMT in 1944.

Source: Zhonggong Henan shengwei dangshi gongzuo weiyuanhui 中共河南省委党史工作委员会 [Party History Committee of CCP Henan Provincial Committee], ed., Henan (Yuxi) kangri genjudi 河南(豫西)抗日根据地 [Henan (Western Henan) anti-Japanese base area](Zhengzhou: Henan renmin chubanshe, 1988), 11, 22-23, 40, 73-87; CHGIS Version: 6, (Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies of Harvard University and the Center for Historical Geographical Studies at Fudan University, 2016), accessed May 10, 2022, https://chgis.fas.harvard.edu/data/chgis/v6/.

Map 2

The Map below is titled "The Number and Distribution of the Local CCP Members, 1944." It shows the configuration of Communist membership right before the establishment of Yuxi Base Area. 

Source: Zhonggong Henan shengwei dangshi gongzuo weiyuanhui, Henan (yuxi) kangri genjudi, 51.

Map 3

Map 4

The Map titled 'Mianchi's Location, Geographic Features, and Rencun Ward' illustrates key geological features and locations of several crucial townships targeted for peasant mobilization in Mianchi County during the CCP-KMT civil war in 1947. 

Sources for Maps 3 & 4: Harvard Map Collection, Harvard College Library, "AMS China: Lo-yang Region (Raster Image)," [GeoTIFF], 2005, accessed November 5, 2022, https://hgl.harvard.edu/catalog/harvard-ams7810-s250-u54-ni49-7; Shaozhi Lu, ed., Jiancheng Du, trans., Shushen Guo and Xiaoyi He, annot., "Mianchi xian quantu" 渑池县全图 [Mianchi County Map] in Minguo shiqi nian Mianchi xianzhi (yizhu ben) shangjuan 民国十七年渑池县志(译注本) 上卷 [Mianchi County Gazetteer (Annotated Edition) Volume One] (Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe. 2011), 39; Guojia Jichu Dili Xinxi Zhongxin 国家基础地理信息中心 [National Geomatics Center of China]. "1:100 Wan Quanguo Jichu Dili Shujuku" 1:100万全国基础地理数据库 [1:100 Million National Basic Geographic Database], 2019, accessed November 5, 2022, https://www.webmap.cn/commres.do?method=result100W.

AMS Series maps were compiled and printed by the AMS, US Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s and 1960s based on maps prepared by their predecessors during the 1940s and maps printed by the Japanese military in the same period. Specifically, the map of the Luoyang region was based on two maps: China Proper, NE, 1:250,000, AMS, Sheet I-49-K, 1945 and North China, 1:100,000, Japanese North China General Staff, 1942-44. To date, the AMS Series L500 is the best historical map available for the Republican era. It is accurate and comprehensive, and best reflects the historical reality of the 1940s. For instance, the legend of the map notes many villages and residential areas were walled in this region, a curial historical feature of the western Henan landscape. The railway, roads, market towns, and the majority of residential areas on Map 1 are based on the AMS map. The second source is the maps in Minguo shiqi nian Mianchi xianzhi (yizhu ben) shangjuan - the Local Gazetteer for Mianchi originally compiled in 1928. It has lower accuracy and far fewer details. The third source is "1:100 Wan Quanguo Jichu Dili Shujuku", the most recent geospatial data. It is the most accurate and refined dataset. However, it obviously contains the least historical features. The locations of Changcun, Sumen, Liuguo, and Fucun are estimated by cross-referencing all three spatial sources above. The rest geo-features are solely based on the AMS Series L500.

Map 5