Thanks to satellites, we can now position ourselves globally. But many people wonder how maps of the ancient world were drawn without satellites? In fact, a famous world map appeared as early as the Ming Dynasty, which is very close to today's world map.
This map is the famous "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu", which is the earliest surviving world map in China and the first world map with Americas. The authors are Taifuji Shaoqing, Li Zhizao, and the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci.
The uniqueness of this map is that it is based on a map of the Western world, but with China as the center, contrary to the European-centric pattern of the time, with China as the center. From the world as much as possible. This also set a precedent for China to draw a map of the world.
During the Qianlong Emperor's reign, due to the needs of the state's blockade policy, he ordered the burning of the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu. Finally, during the Opium Wars, the Qing rulers didn't even know where Britain was. Is it still far from the Qing Dynasty?
This map shows the geography of China in great detail. In addition to describing other countries, Li Zhizao also includes a large amount of geographical information about China, with detailed annotations of Chinese provinces and important cities. The map also marks China's major mountains, rivers, the Yellow, Yangtze and other rivers, detailing their sources and the provinces through which they flow.
Four continents and five oceans are reflected at the same time. Each ocean has 9 sailing ships, 15 species of marine animals such as whales, sharks and sea lions, and 8 species of land animals of the Antarctic continent such as rhinos, elephants, lions and ostriches.
Without satellite positioning, maps can roughly reflect global geography, which can be said to be a wonder of the world.
There are seven original editions of "Li Zhizao's Kunyu Wanguo Quantu", all of which are preserved abroad. They are preserved in the Vatican Library of the Holy See (two parts), Kyoto University in Japan, Miyagi Prefectural Library in Japan, Cabinet Library in Japan, the former Clementi Institute and the Observatory of the University of Bologna in Italy.
Only one copy of the Imperial Atlas of 1608 remains, now in the Nanjing Museum, and is also a national treasure of the municipal government. It was not until April 16, 2019 that the painting left Nanjing for the first time and appeared in the first special exhibition of the Zhejiang Art Museum, "Vivid Vision: The Spirit of Zhejiang in the Age of Exploration". 10th anniversary.
"Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" is a physical example of "learning from the West and learning from the East" and the exchange of information between China and the West. As the first China-centered map of the world, Kunyu Wanguo Quantu draws and connects China and the West, showing the country's prosperity and strength.