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Source Description

A Chinese view of the world is provided by this unusual woodcut and hand-colored map. The two vignettes depict the world in the European context of two hemispheres. The hemisphere in the upper left, titled Hai guo wen jian lu si hai zong tu and showing the eastern hemisphere, is based on a map in Chen Lunjiong's Hai guo wen jian lu, published in 1730. The hemisphere in the upper right, titled Nei ban shan hai tian wen quan tu and showing the world centered on the Pacific Ocean, is derived from Matteo Ricci's Kunyu wanguo quan tu. The map at the bottom, titled Yu di quan tu, is based on a map drawn by Huang Zongxi in 1673. The primary emphasis is China, but Europe and the British Isles are represented as a very thin sliver of uncolored land and islands in the upper left corner. The seventeen provinces of China dominate the main section of the map. They are outlined and colored, with cities, towns, and villages indicated by woodcut stamps of their names. Rivers, mountains, the Great Wall of China and the Gobi Desert are also depicted using simple pictorial symbols. As is typical for world maps from non-European cultures, distant lands are depicted as mysterious and exotic. For example, a note on Brazil identifies it as the "land of the cannibals." A late 19th-century commentator has translated into English several of the Chinese labels and added annotations. For example, a note in the lower right margin refers to a rebellion in "Yung Ngan," in reference to Yang ngan county in Guangxi Province (marked "9" on map), where the Taiping Rebellion started in 1850.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
x633f9803
label
[Universal map of China]
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
x633f9803
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
[Universal map of China]
description
A Chinese view of the world is provided by this unusual woodcut and hand-colored map. The two vignettes depict the world in the European context of two hemispheres. The hemisphere in the upper left, titled Hai guo wen jian lu si hai zong tu and showing the eastern hemisphere, is based on a map in Chen Lunjiong's Hai guo wen jian lu, published in 1730. The hemisphere in the upper right, titled Nei ban shan hai tian wen quan tu and showing the world centered on the Pacific Ocean, is derived from Matteo Ricci's Kunyu wanguo quan tu. The map at the bottom, titled Yu di quan tu, is based on a map drawn by Huang Zongxi in 1673. The primary emphasis is China, but Europe and the British Isles are represented as a very thin sliver of uncolored land and islands in the upper left corner. The seventeen provinces of China dominate the main section of the map. They are outlined and colored, with cities, towns, and villages indicated by woodcut stamps of their names. Rivers, mountains, the Great Wall of China and the Gobi Desert are also depicted using simple pictorial symbols. As is typical for world maps from non-European cultures, distant lands are depicted as mysterious and exotic. For example, a note on Brazil identifies it as the "land of the cannibals." A late 19th-century commentator has translated into English several of the Chinese labels and added annotations. For example, a note in the lower right margin refers to a rebellion in "Yung Ngan," in reference to Yang ngan county in Guangxi Province (marked "9" on map), where the Taiping Rebellion started in 1850.
date
["[ca. 1850]"]
year
1850
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
Chinese
identifierLocal
05_04_000042
creators
Ma, Junliang, active 18th century-19th century
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
World maps
China--Maps
subjectsGeographic
Asia
China
World
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
China
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
S.l
publisher
s.n.
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
41688024w
schema:latitude
35
schema:longitude
105
extent
1 map : col. ; 133 x 72 cm.
notes
Title supplied by cataloger.
Early 19th-century reproduction of a woodblock print map originally printed in the 1790s.
Relief shown pictorially.
Includes text, list of provinces with numbers of cities, towns and villages, and two hemispheres.
Map of the eastern hemisphere in upper left, titled Hai guo wen jian lu si hai zong tu, is based on a map in Chen Lunjiong's Hai guo wen jian lu, published in 1730.
Hemisphere in upper right showing the world centered on the Pacific Ocean, titled Nei ban shan hai tian wen quan tu, is derived from Matteo Ricci's Kunyu wanguo quan tu.
Main map based on map of China drawn by Huang Lizhou in 1673.
Text block in upper left signed Jianshan (courtesy name of Junliang Ma); text block in upper right signed Ma Junliang of Shimen, Zhejiang province.
Exhibited in “Faces and Places,” at the Boston Public Library, Boston, MA, October 2003 - September 2004. MB (BRL)
hasTranscription
no
dcId
x633f9803
type
map
Single page context