Cartographic Technological Development in Ming, Qing Dynasty and Modern China
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Ma, C.; 2Li, R.; 3Qiao, W.
1WUHAN UNIVERSITY Email: 122344814@qq.com
2WUHAN UNIVERSITY Email: 122344814@qq.com
3WUHAN UNIVERSITY Email: 122344814@qq.com
Abstract
Today, with map applications becoming more and more popular, people are no longer satisfied with representing 2D-map by using abstract symbol simply. Cartographers explore drawing method of 3D-map and virtual map which have similarities with modern pictorial map. So the research of Cartographic technology profoundly promotes the development of modern cartography. This article presents an overview of Cartographic technology in Ming, Qing Dynasty and the period of republic of China, and analyzes the development of the technology in these three periods. Maps in Ming Dynasty usually referred to the map of predecessors and local chronicles and data. Some large scale maps of specific area were adopted traditional Chinese mapping method which took no consideration of earth curvature. For example, to express populated habitation, people often used inerratic rectangular hieroglyphic rampart symbol to show the general geographical position, and drew tower signs over the rampart with the city name marked in the rectangular. People adopted ink color or dark green to express mountain range, and draw tree-liked symbols in it. Single line was utilized to make mountain range vivid in engraved map, while double lines indicated river in the map. And people used various width to express the major tributary and flow direction. In some large-scale maps, mapmakers draw water ripples between the two lines which symboled river. In the Qing Dynasty, the Emperor Kangxi carries out the task of drawing measured map for the first time in China, which made significant contribution to the “The Emperor Map”. Besides drawing square meter, mapmakers unprecedentedly adopted map projection, a brand-new method of drawing map. For example, sinusoidal equivalent projections are utilized to portray “The Emperor Map”. After that, map projection gradually replaced other outmoded mapping methods. During the period of the republic of China, people used measuring data to print map on paper, which was served for war-use. At this time, the map was drew with the method of map projection, with latitude and longitude or a rectangle to frame, whose content was expressed by a symbol system with illustrations to sign . During this period, we had topographic maps of each province by surveying in the number of 1 to 10000 scale. The content of maps included residents, roads, drainage and landscapes and other elements. The residents were expressed by plane figures; Roads were classified for state roads, provincial highway, county roads, village roads and paths; Rivers were expressed with double lines or single, and we used thin lines to depict coastlines of lakes and sea. And the map symbols and surface decoration were still not uniformed, generally quoting some corresponding map symbols and notes formats from Japan. People in 1914 had witnessed the first official edition of topographic map schema. In addition to some mapping activities organized by government, some private map press emerged with the development of capitalism, which grew rapidly in this period, and made a certain contribution to prepare and publish all kinds of small scale maps. The "Shen Bao" map represents the level of scientific mapping of that time. In general, influenced by ancient theory "round heaven and square earth", our ancestors believed that the earth was flat, so when drawing a map, people considered the surface in the drawing area as a plane to measure. As a result, Chinese traditional maps were mostly from a forward-looking perspective, and a few with a bird's eye view as well. Besides, due to the thought of "round heaven and square earth", people never took earth curvature into consideration when drawing an ancient map, which resulted in failure in inventing the mapping method of projection. Consequently, maps depicted small regions were often with a higher precision. And for the large-scale ones, the central regions of a map was more accurate than the margin.
Keywords
Cartographic technology; Cartographic representation; Ancient map