THE MATHEMATIC BASIS OF ANCIENT MAPS IN CHINA AND ITS GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE-DIMENSIONAL REPRESENTATION

A.N. Min

Institute of Surveying and Mapping, Engineering information University, Zhengzhou, China

anminzz@126.com

 

Geographical space is the environment for human being living, with 3 dimensions. The map is representation of the relative locations in space region. Although the man lives in 3D geographical space, it is a difficult and complex process to describe the space well. When the author studied the ancient maps in China, she found that the evolution of the mathematic basis of ancient maps in China exhibited dramatic similarity of the development of cognizing the geographical space-dimension. In this paper, the author investigated mathematic basis of some typical ancient maps in China, such as “Jiu Ding Tu” and “Shan Hai Jing Tu” in Xia Dynasty, “Wu Fu Tu” in Fighting Dynasty, “Ju Xing Wang Ge Tu” in Han Dynasty, and “Ji Li Hua Fang Tu” in NanBei Dynasty, analyzed the course of recognizing the geographical space-dimension in ancient China, combining with correlative mathematical methods. The research showed that the mathematic basis of “Jiu Ding Tu” and “Shan Hai Jing Tu” in Xia Dynasty was characteristic of 1 dimension, “Wu Fu Tu” in Fighting Dynasty depicted coarse 2 dimensions, and “Ju Xing Wang Ge Tu” in Han Dynasty described accurate 2- dimensional space, and “Ji Li Hua Fang Tu” represented 3-dimensional space. Therefore, when the ancient mapping in China was instructed by the theory of “Ji Li Hua Fang”, the ancient Chinese was able to cognize and draw the 3D geographical space correctly. That was why the theory of “Ji Li Hua Fang” could last more than 1 000 years in China.