Eric Choi Chi Hong
Chief of Cultural Action Division of Recreation and Culture Department of the Provisional Municipal Council of Macao
February 2001
Nowadays we use the map the most frequently when travelling, which guides us to a destination when we are in a strange land. However, it is far more than a guide of travellers in terms of its functions and connotation.
A map is made according to certain rules and with designated marks, it is a miniature of the natural and humane phenomena presented on a plane drawing. Modern maps are characterised by its visual, measurability and overview convenience. By measuring a map, one can obtain quantitative data on a fixed location.
The use of maps dates back to 4500 years ago when people began to make original graphic records of their surroundings in different ways. At that time maps were drawn on ceramic wafers, papyrus, copperplates, branches of coconut trees, stone, hides, etc. The oldest maps in existence were those drawn on ceramic wafers by Babylonians in 25th – 23rd centuries B. C.
According to legend, the nine big tripods were cast in the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st – 16th centuries B. C.) on which there were mountains, rivers, woods, animals of different regions. Although there is no material evidence to prove this, it is believable that there were maps showing mountains, rivers, and etc. in the Xia Dynasty or even in an earlier age.
In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century B. C.), according to the book “Shangshu – Luohao”, Zhou Gong once gave a map together with the result of divination to the Zhou Cheng Huang (the Emperor) at the time when the Luoyang City was under construction. According to the book “Zhouguan” completed in the Period of Warring States, which mentions the Zhou System, there were official positions such as Dasitu, Zhifang, etc. in charge of different maps.
The oldest map found in China is the “Zhao Yu Map” of Zhongzhan King Wen during the Period of Warring States between the 5th and 13th years of Wen’s rule (c. 323 - 315 B. C.) for the construction plan of the King, the queen and the wives tombs.
Almost at the same time, at the other end of the earth, Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276 - 194 B. C.), a geographer and astronomer known as the Father of Geography, laid down the basic foundation of mathematical geography. On the basis of the theory of Aristoteles (384 – 322 B. C.) that the earth is a sphere, he went one step further to argue that the earth is a spheroid and worked out its perimeter as 39600 km with a tolerance of less than 200 km. This figure is essential for making a precise map of the world. His map of the world in Volume 3 of his book “Geography” is the first one drawn with the application of graticule, showing comparatively high precision.
Eratosthenes concluded that the Atlantic and the Indian oceans are open into each other after comparing their tides and ebbs. That means people can round Africa and reach the Orient by sea. Believing in this theory, Vasco da Gama (c. 1469 – 1524), and a Portuguese navigator, successfully landed in India by sea in late 15th century, which was the proloque of the great geographic discovery.
In 1973, three maps made of jade were unearthed at the Han dynasty tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan: Relief Map, Garrison Map and Manor Map which proves that in the Western Han Dynasty (206 – 8 B.C.), the mapping technology in China reached a high standard.
Pei Xiu, who design maps in the Western Jin Dynasty (224 – 227 A. D.), put forward six principles of map-making in the book “Yugong Diyutu Xu” after summing up the experience of his predecessors, laying a theoretical foundation for the making of traditional Chinese maps. The six principles boil down to three factors: scale, direction and distance, which are discussed in modern map cartography. Those principles were the most brilliant exposition to map cartography in ancient China.
The objects unearthed at Mawangdui show that achievements in mapping technology were made at that time or earlier. With a sound technical foundation, the six principles pointed out, for the first time in the history of map cartography, the importance of scale and direction and called for higher precision in map making. Real ancient Chinese maps that have been preserved are very few. According to some limited material, few maps were made with the application of graticule. With the influence of the art of painting, pictograms were still used in maps in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Moreover, the greatest drawback of the traditional Chinese maps was the perception of the earth being a plane instead of sphere. The number and variety of maps were greater in the Ming Dynasty and Western map cartography was introduced during the reign of Wan Li (1573 – 1619), which was still not able to overcome the limitations of the traditional theory of planimetric cartography. Unlike European countries, social demand and cultural traditions contributed to the failure in the development of modern map cartography in China, which is based on large-scale mapping.
It is easy to find that maps were made to serve political and military purposes as mentioned in the books about maps in the Qin Dynasty. In “Guanzi – Ditu”, the first Chinese book about maps, it is said that a commander must study the map first in order to know the location of the mountains, valleys, rivers, lands and hills. The condition of the woods forests lengths, roads and sizes of the towns. The book elaborates the nature of the maps and their relation with military affairs.
In Zhou Dynasty, the territory of the nation was called “bantu” (domain) that means domicile and map (See “Zhouli – Tianguan”). In the book “Hanfeizi – Wudu”, Hanfei (280 – 233 B. C.) compares the map to the territory: if you give out the map, you give out the country. In 227 B. C., Jingke presented a map of Yandukang (today known as the area of Yi Xian, Zhuo Xian and Gu’an in Henan Province) to Qin Shi Huang (the Emperor) and attempted to assassinate him. This event indicates that maps were important to political and military affairs at that time. In the following dynasties, in order to enforce the administration, the central governments required the states to submit their maps with which, they were able to produce an overall map. It is interesting that in Chinese, the word “Tu” (map) means “plot” or “gain” when used as a verb. As it goes in the book “Zhan Guo Ce – Qin Ce Si”, “If the states of Han and Wei surrender, the whole nation can be gained.” It is easy to understand the close relationship between the map and the ambitious politicians.
After the 17th century, European countries attained great social and economic development after undergoing the industrial revolution. In order to explore sea routes for trading and expand their colonies, they needed not only nautical maps but also relief maps to exploit land and mineral resources and serve military purpose. A great number of Chinese maps made by Western countries came into being at that time, which accelerated the cultural exchange between the West and East. These maps that completely changed our views on the world and it is these maps that reflects the high price we paid for our slow response to changes in time.
One has to go higher to see farther. It is generally assumed that one must be at a very high point to overlook the earth when drawing a map. A map made in different times not only recorded people’s knowledge of the world in their respective times but also recorded the moments when they were completed. Browsing among maps of different times is like making a journey in space-time — they are not only guides for travellers but also guides that lead us to a promising future through a road of rapid changes and challenges.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Story of the Map
Story of the Map
TAKEN FROM MACAU GOVERNMENT SITE
Eric Choi Chi Hong
Chief of Cultural Action Division of Recreation and Culture Department of the Provisional Municipal Council of Macao
February 2001
Nowadays we use the map the most frequently when travelling, which guides us to a destination when we are in a strange land. However, it is far more than a guide of travellers in terms of its functions and connotation.
A map is made according to certain rules and with designated marks, it is a miniature of the natural and humane phenomena presented on a plane drawing. Modern maps are characterised by its visual, measurability and overview convenience. By measuring a map, one can obtain quantitative data on a fixed location.
The use of maps dates back to 4500 years ago when people began to make original graphic records of their surroundings in different ways. At that time maps were drawn on ceramic wafers, papyrus, copperplates, branches of coconut trees, stone, hides, etc. The oldest maps in existence were those drawn on ceramic wafers by Babylonians in 25th – 23rd centuries B. C.
According to legend, the nine big tripods were cast in the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st – 16th centuries B. C.) on which there were mountains, rivers, woods, animals of different regions. Although there is no material evidence to prove this, it is believable that there were maps showing mountains, rivers, and etc. in the Xia Dynasty or even in an earlier age.
In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century B. C.), according to the book “Shangshu – Luohao”, Zhou Gong once gave a map together with the result of divination to the Zhou Cheng Huang (the Emperor) at the time when the Luoyang City was under construction. According to the book “Zhouguan” completed in the Period of Warring States, which mentions the Zhou System, there were official positions such as Dasitu, Zhifang, etc. in charge of different maps.
The oldest map found in China is the “Zhao Yu Map” of Zhongzhan King Wen during the Period of Warring States between the 5th and 13th years of Wen’s rule (c. 323 - 315 B. C.) for the construction plan of the King, the queen and the wives tombs.
Almost at the same time, at the other end of the earth, Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276 - 194 B. C.), a geographer and astronomer known as the Father of Geography, laid down the basic foundation of mathematical geography. On the basis of the theory of Aristoteles (384 – 322 B. C.) that the earth is a sphere, he went one step further to argue that the earth is a spheroid and worked out its perimeter as 39600 km with a tolerance of less than 200 km. This figure is essential for making a precise map of the world. His map of the world in Volume 3 of his book “Geography” is the first one drawn with the application of graticule, showing comparatively high precision.
Eratosthenes concluded that the Atlantic and the Indian oceans are open into each other after comparing their tides and ebbs. That means people can round Africa and reach the Orient by sea. Believing in this theory, Vasco da Gama (c. 1469 – 1524), and a Portuguese navigator, successfully landed in India by sea in late 15th century, which was the proloque of the great geographic discovery.
In 1973, three maps made of jade were unearthed at the Han dynasty tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan: Relief Map, Garrison Map and Manor Map which proves that in the Western Han Dynasty (206 – 8 B.C.), the mapping technology in China reached a high standard.
Pei Xiu, who design maps in the Western Jin Dynasty (224 – 227 A. D.), put forward six principles of map-making in the book “Yugong Diyutu Xu” after summing up the experience of his predecessors, laying a theoretical foundation for the making of traditional Chinese maps. The six principles boil down to three factors: scale, direction and distance, which are discussed in modern map cartography. Those principles were the most brilliant exposition to map cartography in ancient China.
The objects unearthed at Mawangdui show that achievements in mapping technology were made at that time or earlier. With a sound technical foundation, the six principles pointed out, for the first time in the history of map cartography, the importance of scale and direction and called for higher precision in map making. Real ancient Chinese maps that have been preserved are very few. According to some limited material, few maps were made with the application of graticule. With the influence of the art of painting, pictograms were still used in maps in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Moreover, the greatest drawback of the traditional Chinese maps was the perception of the earth being a plane instead of sphere. The number and variety of maps were greater in the Ming Dynasty and Western map cartography was introduced during the reign of Wan Li (1573 – 1619), which was still not able to overcome the limitations of the traditional theory of planimetric cartography. Unlike European countries, social demand and cultural traditions contributed to the failure in the development of modern map cartography in China, which is based on large-scale mapping.
It is easy to find that maps were made to serve political and military purposes as mentioned in the books about maps in the Qin Dynasty. In “Guanzi – Ditu”, the first Chinese book about maps, it is said that a commander must study the map first in order to know the location of the mountains, valleys, rivers, lands and hills. The condition of the woods forests lengths, roads and sizes of the towns. The book elaborates the nature of the maps and their relation with military affairs.
In Zhou Dynasty, the territory of the nation was called “bantu” (domain) that means domicile and map (See “Zhouli – Tianguan”). In the book “Hanfeizi – Wudu”, Hanfei (280 – 233 B. C.) compares the map to the territory: if you give out the map, you give out the country. In 227 B. C., Jingke presented a map of Yandukang (today known as the area of Yi Xian, Zhuo Xian and Gu’an in Henan Province) to Qin Shi Huang (the Emperor) and attempted to assassinate him. This event indicates that maps were important to political and military affairs at that time. In the following dynasties, in order to enforce the administration, the central governments required the states to submit their maps with which, they were able to produce an overall map. It is interesting that in Chinese, the word “Tu” (map) means “plot” or “gain” when used as a verb. As it goes in the book “Zhan Guo Ce – Qin Ce Si”, “If the states of Han and Wei surrender, the whole nation can be gained.” It is easy to understand the close relationship between the map and the ambitious politicians.
After the 17th century, European countries attained great social and economic development after undergoing the industrial revolution. In order to explore sea routes for trading and expand their colonies, they needed not only nautical maps but also relief maps to exploit land and mineral resources and serve military purpose. A great number of Chinese maps made by Western countries came into being at that time, which accelerated the cultural exchange between the West and East. These maps that completely changed our views on the world and it is these maps that reflects the high price we paid for our slow response to changes in time.
One has to go higher to see farther. It is generally assumed that one must be at a very high point to overlook the earth when drawing a map. A map made in different times not only recorded people’s knowledge of the world in their respective times but also recorded the moments when they were completed. Browsing among maps of different times is like making a journey in space-time — they are not only guides for travellers but also guides that lead us to a promising future through a road of rapid changes and challenges.
Eric Choi Chi Hong
Chief of Cultural Action Division of Recreation and Culture Department of the Provisional Municipal Council of Macao
February 2001
Nowadays we use the map the most frequently when travelling, which guides us to a destination when we are in a strange land. However, it is far more than a guide of travellers in terms of its functions and connotation.
A map is made according to certain rules and with designated marks, it is a miniature of the natural and humane phenomena presented on a plane drawing. Modern maps are characterised by its visual, measurability and overview convenience. By measuring a map, one can obtain quantitative data on a fixed location.
The use of maps dates back to 4500 years ago when people began to make original graphic records of their surroundings in different ways. At that time maps were drawn on ceramic wafers, papyrus, copperplates, branches of coconut trees, stone, hides, etc. The oldest maps in existence were those drawn on ceramic wafers by Babylonians in 25th – 23rd centuries B. C.
According to legend, the nine big tripods were cast in the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st – 16th centuries B. C.) on which there were mountains, rivers, woods, animals of different regions. Although there is no material evidence to prove this, it is believable that there were maps showing mountains, rivers, and etc. in the Xia Dynasty or even in an earlier age.
In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century B. C.), according to the book “Shangshu – Luohao”, Zhou Gong once gave a map together with the result of divination to the Zhou Cheng Huang (the Emperor) at the time when the Luoyang City was under construction. According to the book “Zhouguan” completed in the Period of Warring States, which mentions the Zhou System, there were official positions such as Dasitu, Zhifang, etc. in charge of different maps.
The oldest map found in China is the “Zhao Yu Map” of Zhongzhan King Wen during the Period of Warring States between the 5th and 13th years of Wen’s rule (c. 323 - 315 B. C.) for the construction plan of the King, the queen and the wives tombs.
Almost at the same time, at the other end of the earth, Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276 - 194 B. C.), a geographer and astronomer known as the Father of Geography, laid down the basic foundation of mathematical geography. On the basis of the theory of Aristoteles (384 – 322 B. C.) that the earth is a sphere, he went one step further to argue that the earth is a spheroid and worked out its perimeter as 39600 km with a tolerance of less than 200 km. This figure is essential for making a precise map of the world. His map of the world in Volume 3 of his book “Geography” is the first one drawn with the application of graticule, showing comparatively high precision.
Eratosthenes concluded that the Atlantic and the Indian oceans are open into each other after comparing their tides and ebbs. That means people can round Africa and reach the Orient by sea. Believing in this theory, Vasco da Gama (c. 1469 – 1524), and a Portuguese navigator, successfully landed in India by sea in late 15th century, which was the proloque of the great geographic discovery.
In 1973, three maps made of jade were unearthed at the Han dynasty tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan: Relief Map, Garrison Map and Manor Map which proves that in the Western Han Dynasty (206 – 8 B.C.), the mapping technology in China reached a high standard.
Pei Xiu, who design maps in the Western Jin Dynasty (224 – 227 A. D.), put forward six principles of map-making in the book “Yugong Diyutu Xu” after summing up the experience of his predecessors, laying a theoretical foundation for the making of traditional Chinese maps. The six principles boil down to three factors: scale, direction and distance, which are discussed in modern map cartography. Those principles were the most brilliant exposition to map cartography in ancient China.
The objects unearthed at Mawangdui show that achievements in mapping technology were made at that time or earlier. With a sound technical foundation, the six principles pointed out, for the first time in the history of map cartography, the importance of scale and direction and called for higher precision in map making. Real ancient Chinese maps that have been preserved are very few. According to some limited material, few maps were made with the application of graticule. With the influence of the art of painting, pictograms were still used in maps in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Moreover, the greatest drawback of the traditional Chinese maps was the perception of the earth being a plane instead of sphere. The number and variety of maps were greater in the Ming Dynasty and Western map cartography was introduced during the reign of Wan Li (1573 – 1619), which was still not able to overcome the limitations of the traditional theory of planimetric cartography. Unlike European countries, social demand and cultural traditions contributed to the failure in the development of modern map cartography in China, which is based on large-scale mapping.
It is easy to find that maps were made to serve political and military purposes as mentioned in the books about maps in the Qin Dynasty. In “Guanzi – Ditu”, the first Chinese book about maps, it is said that a commander must study the map first in order to know the location of the mountains, valleys, rivers, lands and hills. The condition of the woods forests lengths, roads and sizes of the towns. The book elaborates the nature of the maps and their relation with military affairs.
In Zhou Dynasty, the territory of the nation was called “bantu” (domain) that means domicile and map (See “Zhouli – Tianguan”). In the book “Hanfeizi – Wudu”, Hanfei (280 – 233 B. C.) compares the map to the territory: if you give out the map, you give out the country. In 227 B. C., Jingke presented a map of Yandukang (today known as the area of Yi Xian, Zhuo Xian and Gu’an in Henan Province) to Qin Shi Huang (the Emperor) and attempted to assassinate him. This event indicates that maps were important to political and military affairs at that time. In the following dynasties, in order to enforce the administration, the central governments required the states to submit their maps with which, they were able to produce an overall map. It is interesting that in Chinese, the word “Tu” (map) means “plot” or “gain” when used as a verb. As it goes in the book “Zhan Guo Ce – Qin Ce Si”, “If the states of Han and Wei surrender, the whole nation can be gained.” It is easy to understand the close relationship between the map and the ambitious politicians.
After the 17th century, European countries attained great social and economic development after undergoing the industrial revolution. In order to explore sea routes for trading and expand their colonies, they needed not only nautical maps but also relief maps to exploit land and mineral resources and serve military purpose. A great number of Chinese maps made by Western countries came into being at that time, which accelerated the cultural exchange between the West and East. These maps that completely changed our views on the world and it is these maps that reflects the high price we paid for our slow response to changes in time.
One has to go higher to see farther. It is generally assumed that one must be at a very high point to overlook the earth when drawing a map. A map made in different times not only recorded people’s knowledge of the world in their respective times but also recorded the moments when they were completed. Browsing among maps of different times is like making a journey in space-time — they are not only guides for travellers but also guides that lead us to a promising future through a road of rapid changes and challenges.
