Many Chinese people learn the geography of their country by using a map of China, which has become an "enlightenment learning material" for them to understand the country. So how was the first map of China drawn using scientific methods?
Western advanced mapping techniques were introduced to China when Matteo Ricci entered the country and showed a map of the world. From the 1720s to the 1820s the Emperor Kangxi expanded China’s territory by defeating all rebels and resisting the Russian invasion. To gain a deeper understanding of the territories under his reign, Emperor Kangxi had the idea of drawing maps of his empire. Due to the lack of detailed and accurate maps during the negotiation process of the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Tsarist Russia, China became passive. That all the more convinced the Emperor of the need for accurate maps.
At the suggestion of the French missionary Dominique Parrenin, Emperor Kangxi ordered the drawing of maps of China in 1708. The measuring methods adopted were astronomical observation and astronomical triangular measurement. The drawing method was trapezoidal projection. The scale of the maps was one to the 400,000th. The project was mainly conducted by missionaries from France, Austria, and Portugal with Chinese staff providing assistance. The missionary members on the project were Jean Baptiste Regis (French), Joachim Bouvet (French), Joseph-Francois–Marie-Anne de Moyriac de Mailla (French), Pierre Jartoux (French), Xavier Fridelli (Austria), Fabre Bonjour(French), Pierre-Vincent de Tartre (French), Joannes Fr. Cardoso (Portugal), Rom. Hinderer (French), and Jean-François Gerbillon, S.J. (French). The Chinese team were scholars such as He Guodong, Sozhu, Bai Yingxuan, Gong E, and Ming Antu.
The French Jesuit Parrenin led the international team. From 1708 to 1715, they left their footprints throughout the regions of Canton, Manchuria, Mongolia, Uyghur region (Hami), Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hu Nan and Hu Bei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan. They carried out a major survey of China's geography. They carefully measured everything and everywhere, including even Mount Everest! This is a historical account of Parrenin’s contribution: "Parrenin visited the most places. He did most of the work. At the initial stage of the project he traveled the entire northwest plain. Then he went to the southern region, travelling in the mountains of Yunnan primitive tribes. He left to us his great geographic achievements."
In 1717, China's first map of China using science technology – "Kangxi Emperor's Map of China" was published. It was the very first map of China that used modern longitude and latitude grids and a projection method with a latitude difference of 8 degrees in a row, a total of eight rows. Forty-one copper plates were used. Apart from some areas of the Uyghur region (not part of Kangxi Emperor’s reign by then), the map details Tibet and Mongolia's far west. There are 32 provincial and regional maps. The territory includes Manchuria’s Kuye Island (Sakhalin Island), Taiwan to the south-east, Lake Baikal to the north, Hainan Island to the south, Yili River to the northwest, and the west of Liecheng to the southwest.
Kangxi Emperor's Map clearly presented the ancient Chinese Empire for the first time so that a vast number of people for the first time knew the detailed territory of their motherland. Many scholars pointed out that the Qing Dynasty laid the map of modern China. In addition to exploring a new land, a detailed map shows clearly the sovereign territory of a country. That is one of the factors that cannot be ignored. Therefore, the contribution of Jesuits such as Parrenin and Chinese scholars is epoch-making.
- Translated by Charlie Li
第一张以科学知识绘制的中国地图是如何诞生的？
很多人都是通过中国地图学习祖国的地理知识，中国地图也成为了国人了解中国的“启蒙教材”之一。那么第一张以科学知识绘制的中国地图是如何诞生的呢？
自从利玛窦入华，向国人展现世界地图时，西方先进的地图绘制技术就进入了中国。而到了康熙年间，清圣祖东征西讨，平定了各地叛乱，抵御了沙俄的入侵，拓展了中国的疆域。为了更加深入地了解统治的疆域，康熙皇帝有了绘制地图的想法。此外，由于在与沙皇俄国签订《尼布楚条约》时，中方因为缺乏详细地图，谈判中多少陷入了被动，这更激发了康熙绘制的决心。
在传教士法国巴多明的建议下，1708年，康熙皇帝下令编绘中国地图，以天文观测与星象三角测量方式进行，采用梯形投影法绘制，比例为四十万分之一。而这项工作主要由来华传教士负责，并有中国助手协助。团队共包括：雷孝思、白晋、冯秉正、杜德美、费隐、山遥瞻、汤尚贤、麦大成、德玛诺、张诚等来自法国、奥地利、葡萄牙的传教士以及何国栋、索柱﹑白映棠﹑贡额﹑明安图等等中国各族的学者参与。
法国耶稣会士雷孝思带着中外人员组成的团队，从1708年开始，经过七年多时间，足迹踏遍了直隶、东北、蒙古、新疆（哈密）、陕西、山东、河南、江南、浙江、福建、江西、两湖、广东、广西、四川、贵州、云南等地，对中国地理进行了一次大勘测。无论是白山黑水、热带雨林、沿海诸岛甚至珠穆朗玛峰，都进行了仔细的绘制。史载：“雷孝思亲历之地最多、最广，所做工作最多，工程开始便周游、亲历了塞外平原，其后足迹远至南疆，往来于云南野人山中，曾将他伟大的测绘成绩遗留、展示给我们。”
1717年，我国第一张采用科学技术绘制的中国地图——《康熙皇舆全览图》终于出版问世。该图在中国地图史上第一次采用现代经纬网和投影法，以经纬网分幅，以纬差8度为一排，共分八排，总共制铜版四十一块。除新疆一些地方尚未归属满清外（乾隆时期归属，地图绘制了这部分），地图详绘西藏和蒙古极西地方，分省图和地区图增至32幅，其范围东北至库页岛（萨哈林岛），东南至台湾，北至贝加尔湖，南至海南岛，西北至伊犁河，西南至列城以西。
《康熙皇舆全览图》让中国古代王朝第一次拥有明确的统治疆域，让广大国人首次知道了祖国详细的领土。不少学者指出，清朝奠定了现代中国的版图，这除了满清开疆拓土外，有了详细的地图，明确了主权领土的归属，也是其中一个不可忽视的原因。因此雷孝思等耶稣会士以及中国助手的付出，是具有划时代意义的。
Many Chinese people learn the geography of their country by using a map of China, which has become an "enlightenment learning material" for them to understand the country. So how was the first map of China drawn using scientific methods?
Western advanced mapping techniques were introduced to China when Matteo Ricci entered the country and showed a map of the world. From the 1720s to the 1820s the Emperor Kangxi expanded China’s territory by defeating all rebels and resisting the Russian invasion. To gain a deeper understanding of the territories under his reign, Emperor Kangxi had the idea of drawing maps of his empire. Due to the lack of detailed and accurate maps during the negotiation process of the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Tsarist Russia, China became passive. That all the more convinced the Emperor of the need for accurate maps.
At the suggestion of the French missionary Dominique Parrenin, Emperor Kangxi ordered the drawing of maps of China in 1708. The measuring methods adopted were astronomical observation and astronomical triangular measurement. The drawing method was trapezoidal projection. The scale of the maps was one to the 400,000th. The project was mainly conducted by missionaries from France, Austria, and Portugal with Chinese staff providing assistance. The missionary members on the project were Jean Baptiste Regis (French), Joachim Bouvet (French), Joseph-Francois–Marie-Anne de Moyriac de Mailla (French), Pierre Jartoux (French), Xavier Fridelli (Austria), Fabre Bonjour(French), Pierre-Vincent de Tartre (French), Joannes Fr. Cardoso (Portugal), Rom. Hinderer (French), and Jean-François Gerbillon, S.J. (French). The Chinese team were scholars such as He Guodong, Sozhu, Bai Yingxuan, Gong E, and Ming Antu.
The French Jesuit Parrenin led the international team. From 1708 to 1715, they left their footprints throughout the regions of Canton, Manchuria, Mongolia, Uyghur region (Hami), Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hu Nan and Hu Bei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan. They carried out a major survey of China's geography. They carefully measured everything and everywhere, including even Mount Everest! This is a historical account of Parrenin’s contribution: "Parrenin visited the most places. He did most of the work. At the initial stage of the project he traveled the entire northwest plain. Then he went to the southern region, travelling in the mountains of Yunnan primitive tribes. He left to us his great geographic achievements."
In 1717, China's first map of China using science technology – "Kangxi Emperor's Map of China" was published. It was the very first map of China that used modern longitude and latitude grids and a projection method with a latitude difference of 8 degrees in a row, a total of eight rows. Forty-one copper plates were used. Apart from some areas of the Uyghur region (not part of Kangxi Emperor’s reign by then), the map details Tibet and Mongolia's far west. There are 32 provincial and regional maps. The territory includes Manchuria’s Kuye Island (Sakhalin Island), Taiwan to the south-east, Lake Baikal to the north, Hainan Island to the south, Yili River to the northwest, and the west of Liecheng to the southwest.
Kangxi Emperor's Map clearly presented the ancient Chinese Empire for the first time so that a vast number of people for the first time knew the detailed territory of their motherland. Many scholars pointed out that the Qing Dynasty laid the map of modern China. In addition to exploring a new land, a detailed map shows clearly the sovereign territory of a country. That is one of the factors that cannot be ignored. Therefore, the contribution of Jesuits such as Parrenin and Chinese scholars is epoch-making.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Story of the First Map of China Drawn by Western Missionaries, Chinese Scholars
