COLLECTION NAME:
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Record
Author:
Anonymous
Date:
1800
Short Title:
Title: Haikou Quantu 海口全圖 [Complete Map of Sea Ports].
Type:
Title Page
Obj Height cm:
30
Obj Width cm:
90
Full Title:
(Title page to) Haikou Quantu 海口全圖 [Complete Map of Sea Ports]. Wanguo tu & Wukou Yanhai Shuilu Quantu 萬國圖 & 五口沿海水路全圖 [Map of 10,000 Countries & Complete Map of the Five Coastal Estuaries].
List No:
15039.002
Series No:
2
Publication Author:
Anonymous
Pub Date:
1800
Pub Title:
Haikou Quantu 海口全圖 [Complete Map of Sea Ports]. Wanguo tu & Wukou Yanhai Shuilu Quantu 萬國圖 & 五口沿海水路全圖 [Map of 10,000 Countries & Complete Map of the Five Coastal Estuaries].
Pub Note:
"A fine hand-coloured manuscript map painted on paper with numerous annotations in Chinese. Map measuring 665x30cm, mounted on paper as a handscroll, empty pink mica-flecked frontispiece (detached), housed in a 20th century wooden box. Occasional light creasing, a few very minor marginal tears, but otherwise in very good condition. Some English annotation written in pencil. Three red seals of the map production supervisor (新三益號監製) along the upper edge. N.p., n.d. [but early 19th century]. This rare manuscript military map follows the pattern established during the 18th century: It opens with a map of the eastern hemisphere, showing Europe incl. Germany (Huangqi 黄祁), Denmark (Linyin吝因 - the stingy one!), Holland (Helan 荷兰), France (Folangxi 佛兰西), England (Yingjili 英机黎) & Portugal (Putaoya 葡萄牙), Africa, Arabia, India, Russia, China, Japan, and South East Asia. Further south is Australia (Dashishan 大石山, Great Stone Mountain) with a note on the left stating that “on the northern shore of this place ‘Great Stone Mountain’ you can anchor boats” (此處大 石山向北塢內可泊船) and to its right is another un-named continent (“no traces of humans can be found” 人迹不到處). Of the Arctic Ocean, it is said: “For six months in the year this sea is without water and for six months the day has no evening.”. The concept of an eastern hemisphere is clearly based on Western cartography, however, the map as such is based on a Chinese Geography entitled Hai guo wen jian lu (海國聞見錄) by Chen Lunjiong (?-1751, Admiral of the Guangdong Navy) first published in 1744. Throughout the 18th century Chen was instrumental in stepping up the construction of fortifications in strategically important locations along the coast and this map documents his lasting influence. The Eastern Hemisphere is followed by a long continuous coastal chart stretching from the Manchu capital Mukden (now Shenyang) down to Vietnam: It provides details of geographical features like mountains, islands, reefs, sandbanks, and harbours. It indicates the location of coastal towns and villages, defensive structures and numerous military garrisons (identified with a little red flag). The scroll takes you from Shengjing to Tianjin, across Shandong Peninsula with the capital Peking at the top, down the Yellow River estuary, the Yangtze River estuary, the Qiantang estuary, Ningbo (Zhejiang), Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Macau, Hainan, Dongsha, Xisha, and Vietnam. Macao is given special prominence with three walls guarding the Portuguese settlement. At the very end of the scroll the following comment is written in the top right corner: “Siam is an ancient red land, during the Ming dynasty Siam and the Lavo kingdom united as a dynasty and were given tribute status.” (暹羅國即古坴明姑 合暹與羅斛為一本朝因之受封朝貢). It is interesting to note that during the Qing dynasty Chinese Costal charts were not drawn to a specific scale. The further you move away from the capital the smaller the scale, i.e. the distance from Macao to Taiwan appears to be relatively longer than from Peking to Taiwan. Furthermore, the map does not follow a standardised grid system but simply follows the coastline regardless of whether it goes from North to South, or East to West. All the features and topographical details are rendered with precision and the characters are written in regular kaishu script used by official scribes. The outer green silk brocade was used for documents relating to naval defence during the Qing dynasty and thus the purpose of the map is of a military nature. This coastal chart is undated but due to the fact that character for “ning” (寧 part of the personal name of the Daoguang Emperor) is not a taboo, leads us to assume that the map was made during the Jiaqing period, i.e. before 1820. No mention is made of the English presence in Hong Kong." (Maggs Bros., 2022)
Pub List No:
15039.000
Pub Type:
Manuscript Map
Pub Height cm:
33
Pub Width cm:
9
Image No:
15039002.jp2
Authors:
Anonymous
![Title: Haikou Quantu 海口全圖 [Complete Map of Sea Ports].](https://media.davidrumsey.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RUMSEY~8~1/195/15039002.jpg)