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.