Shanhai Yudi Quantu

Template:Chinese The Shanhai Yudi Quantu (Template:Zh, "Complete Terrestrial Map") is a Ming dynasty Chinese map published in 1609 in the leishu encyclopedia Sancai Tuhui.

Influences

File:Shanhai Yudi Quantu translation.jpg

The map with translations in English from Roderich Ptak's "The Sino-European Map".

The Shanhai Yudi Quantu is known to have been highly influenced by the Jesuit missions in China, starting with the work of Matteo Ricci. Matteo Ricci himself had two of his own maps entitled Shanhai Yudi Quantu: one engraved by Wu Zhongming (, Wú Zhōngmíng) and dated 1600 and another engraved by Guo Zizhang (, Gūo Zĭzhāng) and dated 1604.

Description

Asia

The Asian continent is marked phonetically 亞細亞 (Modern Pinyin Yàxìyà, Middle Chinese Aseja). This is the area of the map where most information can be found, and has been subdivided here by regions:

East Asia

File:Sancai Tuhui East Asia.jpg

Detail of East Asia.

Numerous areas and islands are named in this part of the world:

• The Great Ming Empire (, Dà Míngguó)
• Japan (, Rìběn)
• Goryeo Korea (, Gāolì)
• The Jurchen Manchurians (, Rǚzhí)
• "Five Cities" near Sungari (, Wǔ Chéng)
• Liaodong (, Liáodōng)
• Daning, a military region (, Dà Níng)
• Tartary, north of Liaodong (, Dádá)
• "Dogland", a land of dog-headed men in eastern Siberia (, Gǒugúo)
• "Coral Tree Island" (, Shānhúshù Dǎo)
• Ryukyu Islands (, Liúqiú)
• Siberia (, Běijíjiè, lit. "Arctic Region")

The seas beside East Asia are the South China Sea (, lit. "Great Ming Sea") and the "Lesser Eastern Ocean" (, Xiǎo Dōng Yáng). To the north is the "Ice Sea" (, Bīng Hǎi).

West Asia

• Gobi Desert (, lit. "The Sandy Wastes", which has become the Chinese word for "Desert")
• Kham Tibetans (, Xī Fān, lit. "The Western Barbarians")
• Muslims (, Huíhuí)
• Western Regions (, Xīyù)
• Qinghai (, Xīngsù Hǎi, lit. "Starry Sea" or , Běi Gāo Hǎi, lit. "Northern High Sea")
• The Kunlun Range (, Kūnlún)

South Asia

File:Sancai Tuhui South Asia.jpg

Detail of Southern Asia.

• Annam in Vietnam (, lit. "The Pacified South")
• Champa (, Zhànchéng)
• Hainan (, Hǎinán)
• Srivijaya (, Modern Pinyin Sānfóqí, Middle Chinese Sambiutjay)
• India (, Yīngdìyà)
• Western India (, Xī Tiānzhú)

Two seas are shown: the Bay of Bengal (, Pánggélà Hǎi) and "Lesser Western Ocean" (, Xiǎo Xī Yáng).

Java is shown in two pieces Template:Ndash Major (, Dà Zhǎowā) and Minor (, Xiǎo Zhǎowā) Template:Ndash far into the "Southwest" () and "Southern" () Seas near the Antarctic.

Europe

File:Sancai Tuhui Europe.jpg

Depiction of Europe in the Shanhai Yudi Quantu.

Europe is marked phonetically as (Modern Pinyin Ōuluóbā, Middle Chinese Oulapa).

• France (, Fólǎngchá)
• "More than thirty countries" (, sānshí yú gúo)
• Greenland (, Wòlándìyà from Latin 'Groenlandia')

Europe is surrounded by the "Greater Western Ocean" (, Dà Xī Yáng, a body of water formerly located east of Rome and conflated with the Indian Ocean but now appropriately placed in the Atlantic), the Mediterranean (, Dìzhōng Hǎi), and the Black Sea (, Tài Hǎi, lit. "Great Sea").

North America

North America is marked as "" (Modern Pinyin Běi Yàmèilìjiā, Middle Chinese Pok Amoklika). The only location is marked phonetically and is unknown:

• "Angwayma" (, Yàwàimā)

Another two unknown locations are on an island to America's northeast, possibly the inhabited southwest coast of Greenland:

• "Cold River" (, Hán Hé)
• "Fragrant Peak" (, Xiāngfēng)

The Gulf of California is marked as the "Eastern Red Sea" (, Dōng Hóng Hǎi) and the "Ice Sea" continues across the north.

South America

South America is marked as "" (Modern Pinyin Nán Yàmèilìjiā, Middle Chinese Nom Amoklika).

• "Land of the Cannibals" (, Shírén Guó)
• Rio de la Plata (, Yín Hé)

Surrounding it are the Atlantic Ocean (marked as "Oceano" , Hézhéyànuò Cāng) to the northeast, the "Sea of Peru" (, Bólù Hǎi) to the west, and the "Greater Eastern Ocean" (, Dà Dōng Yáng).

Libya

File:Sancai Tuhui Africa.jpg

Portion of the map depicting Africa.

Following classical geography, the continent of Africa is marked phonetically as "Libya" (, Lìwèiyà).

• Atlas Mountains (described as , Tiānxià cǐ shān zhìgāo, "The highest mountain under Heaven")

Africa is surrounded by several seas. From the north, clockwise: the Mediterranean; the "Lesser Western Ocean" (, Xiǎo Xī Yáng) in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea; the Red Sea, called the "Western Red Sea" (, Xī Hóng Hǎi) to distinguish it from the Gulf of California); the western Indian Ocean, called the "Arabian Sea" (, Modern Pinyin Yàlàpí Hǎi, Middle Chinese Alapbie Hoy); the Gulf of Guinea, called the "Libyan Sea" (, Lìwèiyà Hǎi); and the Atlantic Ocean (again marked as "Oceano" , Hézhéyànuò Cāng).

Magallania

The still-uncertain Terra Australis Template:Ndash today Australia, Antarctica, New Zealand, and other islands Template:Ndash is marked phonetically as (Modern Pinyin Mèiwǎlàníjiā, Middle Chinese Mokngwalapneka). This transliterates the name "Magallanica", a name given to the prospective continent at the time in honor of Ferdinand Magellan, who had crossed past Tierra del Fuego and shown the southern continent (hypothesized since Ptolemy) to be separate from South America.

The map notes how little is known about this continent Template:Ndash "Few have reached these southern regions. Things are not explored yet" () Template:Ndash but also includes more placenames in it than in Africa, America, or Europe:

• "White Peak" (, Bái Fēng)
• "Great River" (, Dà Jiāng)
• Tierra del Fuego (, Huǒdì lit. "Place of Fire")
• Antarctica (, Nánjíjiè, lit. "Antarctic Region")
• New Guinea (, Xīn Rùnì)
• "Place of Parrots" (, generally taken as Australia from a later name but originally referring to a location south of Africa, possibly Madagascar)

Legacy

File:Korean map 1800s.jpg

A Korean map from the 1800s, entitled "Map of Heaven and Earth" ().

A large number of maps were derived from the Shanhai Yudi Quantu, many of them are found today in Japanese and Korean archives, but their history is generally difficult to reconstruct.

See also

• Chinese geography
• Cheonhado
• Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, Matteo Ricci's map