How did Europeans draw maps of China in the past?

China and Europe are located at the east and west ends of Eurasia, with endless deserts and rolling mountains in the middle. At first, they didn't know each other existed. Later, through the word of mouth of nomadic people living in the hinterland of Eurasia and the exchange of goods in indirect trade, Europe was able to get an initial understanding of China, which was mixed with many myths and legends. By the 15 and 16 centuries, with the arrival of the great voyage era and the arrival of missionaries in China, Europe's understanding of China was gradually clear and in-depth. On the map, the map of China drawn by the west is more and more accurate.

Scholars agree that there are three milestones in the history of China mapping in early modern Europe: one is Luis Jorge de Babuda's "China Descriptio"; One is the Atlas of New China in Martino Martini; One is a map of China drawn by Jean-Baptiste burgui Nong Dainville according to the survey results of the Kangxi Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty.

Map of New China in Barbuda

The map of New China in Barbuda is the first single map of China drawn in western history. On the maps drawn by the West in the past, China was often drawn on the maps of Asia or East Asia, and was not drawn as an independent geographical unit. The map came out in 1584, and was included in the World Atlas of Lyus for the first time, which had a great influence in the west and became the benchmark for China and westerners to draw maps of China in the next 70 years. The map of Barbados is undoubtedly of great significance in the history of western map drawing. Therefore, Professor He of Fudan University said, "This is the cornerstone for Europeans to draw a map of China."

The new map of China and its information in version 0/584 of Barbuda/KLOC.

As we can see, this is a horizontal map of China, and its orientation shows the trend of up-west, down-east, left-south and right-north. China is surrounded by mountains, with the Great Wall in the north and mountains in the west. China is such a semi-closed environment. On the map, Barbuda marked two thirteen provinces in Beijing and some counties in the Ming Dynasty. There are two levels of place names, and the place names of two thirteen provinces and cities in Beijing are expressed in two Roman fonts. Complex water systems and lakes such as Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake and Xingsuhai are also drawn on the map. In this picture, a lake named "Lax" is painted in the west of China, which is actually the source of the Yellow River-"Xinghai" on some maps in the Ming Dynasty. Obviously, Babuda referred to the data of the Ming Dynasty at that time. However, there are also some imaginary contents in Babuda's paintings, such as wind carriages.

Jodokus Hondius's 1606 version of "Map of China" only adjusted its orientation, but most of its contents inherited the map of Barbados.

Barbuda has never been to China, but he has drawn a map of China through the direct information obtained from the communication between China and the West since the era of great navigation, which has provided westerners with accurate and imaginative knowledge of China geography. This map, which combines old and new knowledge, reflects the transition of westerners' understanding of China from imagination to reality, so it is one of the landmark works in the history of western mapping of China. It was not until more than 70 years later that Martino Martini's new edition of Atlas of China was published that its influence in Europe tended to decline.

John Speed's 1626 edition of Map of the Kingdom of China not only inherits the map of Barbados, but also enriches the content on the map, and introduces some customs and habits of China or East Asia more.

New China map of Martino Martini.

Martino Martini, an Italian Jesuit missionary, was sent by the Holy See to preach in East Asia and arrived in Macau on 1642. During his stay in China, he traveled widely and experienced the Ding Ge in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Later, I consulted Luo Hongxian's Guangtu and other materials, and combined with my personal travel, I published the New Map of China. The New Atlas of China was first published in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1655, and it is the first China Atlas in Europe. This atlas includes 15 provincial maps of China, 1 general maps of China and 1 Japanese maps. At the same time, it provides information about China's city, population, customs and other aspects, which can be called China's comprehensive geographical works. On the general map of China, the outline of the southeast coast is very accurate, and the shape of the Yellow River has been presented. The outer edge of the northwest border of China is a strip desert, and the Great Wall is regarded as the northern border. Although the Ming and Qing Dynasties were crowned with revolution, this picture reflects the outline of the territory of the Ming Dynasty. The outline of the map of each province is close to the present, and the decorative paintings in the title box also reflect the characteristics of the province. For example, Zhili in the north depicts the emperor, while Huguang province depicts farmers working in the fields. Each provincial map is provided with a wide description, involving the evolution and organizational system, local customs, climate conditions, product population and so on of China, showing China to the European system in an all-round way.

Like Martino Martini, he has a sketch of China.

The new map of the Chinese Empire in the Latin version of Martino Martini's Map of New China (1655).

Mindeiro Hongxian Guangtu? General geographic map, first edition.

In Martino Martini's "New Map of China", the images of the emperor, the queen and the farmer working in the fields were drawn in the title boxes of the maps of "North Zhili" and "Huguang", which reflected the characteristics of the two places and showed that the cartographers had a deeper understanding of the situation in China provinces at that time.

At this point, the mystery of China was finally unveiled, and Europeans found that China was not a peanut paradise written by Kyle Poirot, but a cultural world different from Europe. The new edition of Atlas of China reflects the western understanding of China's in-depth observation. Once published, it caused great repercussions and was translated into many languages. Therefore, Martino Martini is also praised by the west as the "father of geography in China". In fact, Martino Martini's Atlas has always been the authoritative reference book on China and its geography in European geographies, until the Frenchman Downville published his Map of China.

Johannes Van Loon's Description of the Empire Nova, 1660 edition.

The map of China in Donville

Donner was a famous French cartographer and geographer in the18th century, and was once appointed as the chief geographer of the French royal family. Because of this special status, Donner came into contact with all kinds of materials sent back to France by French missionaries or businessmen from all over the world, and he used these materials to draw maps of all over the world. Among them, he used the measured data of French Jesuits in China during the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty to draw a highly accurate map of China. These maps of China were first published as illustrations in "Quan Zhi of Chinese Empire" published by Duhede in 1735. Later, they were published separately in the form of atlases, named as "Nouvel Atlas de la Chine in China".

The General Map of China in the New Atlas of China published by Donville 1737.

Compared with the previous maps of China, the map of China in Downville has a much more detailed understanding of the interior of China. Since it came out, it has been regarded as the standard information source about the geography of China and its neighboring areas in the West, and it was not until the19th century that it was replaced by other more accurate maps. According to the survey data, the accuracy of China map of Donville is very close to that of modern maps. It is the product of the most advanced astronomical observation and triangulation technology at that time, and it is the representative achievement of western surveying and mapping towards modern science. At this point, China is presented to Europeans in the most accurate form.

Europeans observed the sky map in the16th century, and the latitude and longitude of the earth can be measured by astronomical measurement.

/kloc-map workshops in Europe in the 0/7th century.

Looking at China depicted on the western maps of Europe in modern times, we will find that the deeper the communication between China and the West, the clearer and more detailed the map drawn by China in the west. The cognition of China in the west has gone through a long process from imagination to scientific rationality, and the maps of Barbuda, Martino Martini and Downville constitute three important links in this process.