Title

The Localization of Western World Maps in the Late Ming and Early Qing: On Xiong Mingyu’s Kunyu Wangguo Quantu and Xiong Renlin’s Yudi Quantu

Author

Hsu, Kuang-tai

Genre

Article

Pages

319-358

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

the localization of western world maps, Matteo Ricci, Xiong Mingyu, Kunyu Wangguo Quantu, Xiong Renlin, Yudi Quantu

Abstract

The localization of western world maps in the late Ming and early Qing can be divided into two distinct levels and directions. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) initiated the first level and direction in his effort to persuade Chinese literati to engage with new types of knowledge. On the basis of western cosmological and map-making traditions, Ricci produced several world maps in which he moved China to the center, and moreover included western knowledge of cosmology, astronomy, and the calendar. Chinese literati attracted by Ricci’s world map(s) were responsible for creating the second level and direction in the localization of western world maps in China, even though they had no intention of learning western map-making traditions. Limited by the physical dimensions of Chinese books, they produced small world maps. For instance, there are two such maps, the Kunyu Wangguo Quantu 坤輿萬國全圖and the Yudi Quantu 輿地全圖, found in Xiong Mingyu 熊明遇’s Gezhi Cao《格致草》and Xiong Renlin 熊人霖’s Diwei《地緯》respectively, which were edited by Xiong Zhixue 熊志學and published in 1648. Xiong Mingyu accepted the Aristotelian twosphere model of the cosmos, believing that the shape of the Earth was spherical rather than square, and that China was not at its center. In 1626, in order to negate Zhu Xi 朱熹’s view of the world and to show how ships could circumnavigate the surface of the earth, Xiong Mingyu presented a small version of the Kunyu Wangguo Quantu in which he moved China from its central location to the eastern margins. Xiong Renlin modified this map to create the Yudi Quantu, which showed the five continental lands surrounded by oceans.