Customer Reviews

China in Ancient and Modern Maps

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This exciting recent publication is a compilation of Chinese maps from the archives of the Beijing Library and many Chinese libraries and museums, as well as the British Museum. The fine pictures of the maps show that the ancient Chinese not only made the world's first maps, but they also had laid a foundation for mapping techniques far ahead of other existing civilizations.

The first map entry in the book dated around 300 BC was a bronze-plate map inlaid with gold and silver threads from Hebei. It was unearthed from the mausoleum of King Xi of Zhongshan between 1974-78. The second entry in the book was a set of seven Qin kingdom maps dated around 299 BC made of lines drawn on pinewood boards. They were unearthed in 1986 in Tianshui Fangmatan at Gansu showing villages, hills, streams, valleys and passes. Other early maps were those of the Western Han Dynasty, including a topographic map in silk, a military map in silk, an astronomic map in woodcut, and a city map carved in brick.

The development of Chinese cartography can be divided into four stages; viz. Primary map stage before 476 BC, Territory map stage from 475 BC to 265 AD, the stage of Mapping by Girding from 265 to 1600 AD and the stage of Field mapping by latitude and longitude measurements. The beautiful pictures of the Chinese maps from the second stage onwards, with interesting explanations, make this book worthwhile to read and to keep. This is a book for both the lay-man and the expert.