傳統的中國歷史地理學與沿革地理關係密切，與人地關係相關的概念是中國歷史地理學的理論基礎，在中國歷史地理學從沿革地理轉變到現代歷史地理學的過程中，禹貢學會扮演一個重要的角色。20世紀下半葉，中國歷史地理學有了很大的發展，除了國家疆域和行政區劃變遷，其他研究主題包括時間上的地理變遷、過去地理的重建、及歷史地圖。中國歷史地理學是自發的，但是也受到西方的影響。不過，中國歷史地理學仍然是很描述的，在理論的研究上，落後西方。多數中國歷史地理學者原來是歷史學者，所以，他們比較對變遷的研究有興趣，而對空間變異的興趣較少。有證據顯示中國歷史地理學的研究已經成熟。
The traditional Chinese historical geography is closely related to yange dili. Concepts related to man-land relations are the underlying theories. The Yugong Society played a key role in the transformation of the Chinese historical geography from yange dili to modern historical geography. In the second half of the twentieth century, Chinese historical geographers made substantial contributions. In addition to the changes of national territories and administrative units, other main themes include the geographical change through time, the reconstruction of past geographies, and historical maps. The Chinese historical geography is indigenous, but with Western influence. Nevertheless, the Chinese historical geography is still very much descriptive and lags behind the West in theoretical research. Most Chinese historical geographers are originally trained historians. Hence they are more interested in studies of changes through time than in researches of spatial variations. Evidences indicate that the Chinese historical geography is coming of age.
