China History of geography

an western han dynasty (202 bc – 9 ad) silk map found in tomb 3 of mawangdui han tombs site, depicting kingdom of changsha , kingdom of nanyue in southern china (note: south direction oriented @ top, north @ bottom).



the yu ji tu, or map of tracks of yu gong, carved stone in 1137, located in stele forest of xian. 3 feet (0.91 m) squared map features graduated scale of 100 li each rectangular grid. china s coastline , river systems defined , precisely pinpointed on map. yu refers yu great, chinese deity , author of yu gong, geographic chapter of book of documents, dating 5th century bc whence map derived.

in china, earliest known geographical chinese writing dates 5th century bc, during beginning of warring states period (481 bc – 221 bc). work yu gong ( tribute of yu ) chapter of shu jing or book of documents, describes traditional 9 provinces of ancient china, kinds of soil, characteristic products , economic goods, tributary goods, trades , vocations, state revenues , agricultural systems, , various rivers , lakes listed , placed accordingly. 9 provinces @ time of geographical work relatively small in size compared of modern china book s descriptions pertaining areas of yellow river, lower valleys of yangtze , plain between them shandong peninsula , west northern parts of wei , han rivers along southern parts of modern-day shanxi province.

in ancient geographical treatise, influence later chinese geographers , cartographers, chinese used mythological figure of yu great describe known earth (of chinese). apart appearance of yu, however, work devoid of magic, fantasy, chinese folklore, or legend. although chinese geographical writing in time of herodotus , strabo of lesser quality , contained less systematic approach, change 3rd century onwards, chinese methods of documenting geography became more complex found in europe, state of affairs persist until 13th century.

the earliest extant maps found in archeological sites of china date 4th century bc , made in ancient state of qin. earliest known reference application of geometric grid , mathematically graduated scale map contained in writings of cartographer pei xiu (224–271). 1st century ad onwards, official chinese historical texts contained geographical section, enormous compilation of changes in place-names , local administrative divisions controlled ruling dynasty, descriptions of mountain ranges, river systems, taxable products, etc. ancient chinese historian ban gu (32–92) started trend of gazetteer in china, became prominent in southern , northern dynasties period , sui dynasty. local gazetteers feature wealth of geographic information, although cartographic aspects not highly professional maps created professional cartographers.

from time of 5th century bc shu jing forward, chinese geographical writing provided more concrete information , less legendary element. example can seen in 4th chapter of huainanzi (book of master of huainan), compiled under editorship of prince liu in 139 bc during han dynasty (202 bc – 202 ad). chapter gave general descriptions of topography in systematic fashion, given visual aids use of maps (di tu) due efforts of liu , associate zuo wu. in chang chu s hua yang guo chi (historical geography of szechuan) of 347, not rivers, trade routes, , various tribes described, wrote of ba jun tu jing ( map of szechuan ), had been made earlier in 150. shui jing (waterways classic) written anonymously in 3rd century during 3 kingdoms era (attributed guo pu), , gave description of 137 rivers found throughout china. in 6th century, book expanded forty times original size geographers li daoyuan, given new title of shui jing zhu (the waterways classic commented).

in later periods of song dynasty (960–1279) , ming dynasty (1368–1644), there more systematic , professional approaches geographic literature. song dynasty poet, scholar, , government official fan chengda (1126–1193) wrote geographical treatise known gui hai yu heng chi. focused on topography of land, along agricultural, economic , commercial products of each region in china s southern provinces. polymath chinese scientist shen kuo (1031–1095) devoted significant amount of written work geography, hypothesis of land formation (geomorphology) due evidence of marine fossils found far inland, along bamboo fossils found underground in region far bamboo suitable grow. 14th century yuan dynasty geographer na-xin wrote treatise of archeological topography of regions north of yellow river, in book shuo fang gu ji. ming dynasty geographer xu xiake (1587–1641) traveled throughout provinces of china (often on foot) write enormous geographical , topographical treatise, documenting various details of travels, such locations of small gorges, or mineral beds such mica schists. xu s work largely systematic, providing accurate details of measurement, , work (translated later ding wenjiang) read more 20th-century field surveyor 17th-century scholar.

the chinese concerned documenting geographical information of foreign regions far outside of china. although chinese had been writing of civilizations of middle east, india, , central asia since traveler zhang qian (2nd century bc), later chinese provide more concrete , valid information on topography , geographical aspects of foreign regions. tang dynasty (618–907) chinese diplomat wang xuance traveled magadha (modern northeastern india) during 7th century. afterwards wrote book zhang tian-zhu guo tu (illustrated accounts of central india), included wealth of geographical information. chinese geographers such jia dan (730–805) wrote accurate descriptions of places far abroad. in work written between 785 , 805, described sea route going mouth of persian gulf, , medieval iranians (whom called people of luo-he-yi country, i.e. persia) had erected ornamental pillars in sea acted lighthouse beacons ships might go astray. confirming jia s reports lighthouses in persian gulf, arabic writers century after jia wrote of same structures, writers such al-mas udi , al-muqaddasi. later song dynasty ambassador xu jing wrote accounts of voyage , travel throughout korea in work of 1124, xuan-he feng shi gao li tu jing (illustrated record of embassy korea in xuan-he reign period). geography of medieval cambodia (the khmer empire) documented in book zhen-la feng tu ji of 1297, written zhou daguan.