中国古代世界地图主要成就与特色初探

A preliminary study on the main achievements and the characteristics of Chinese ancient map of the world

世界地图的编辑出版一直被认为是文明国家的标志之一。在《中国近代地图志》世界地图篇的编写基础上,首先系统地梳理了明清两代近600年间(公元1368-1911年)的25余种代表性世界地图,着重地分析了这些世界地图的历史背景,探讨了明清世界地图特色、贡献和作用。主要结论为:1中国古代文明与经济水平长期领先于世界,自然成就了先于西方完成世界地图之创举;2受制于多个皇权实施"闭关锁国"保守政策,中国古代世界地图呈现出集中于5个相对开放繁荣时段轨迹,即"自主传统、中西融合、康乾盛世、自主创新和近代化发展"时段;3中国古代世界地图具有5个鲜明的成就与特色,即"先于西方成图、资料积累丰富、传统制图优势、图文并茂模式、中西融合先河";4诠释了中国古代世界地图在传播世界地理知识与推动社会进步中的重要作用。总之,中国古代世界地图具有重要的史料价值和现实意义。

Compiling and publishing world maps is regarded as one of the symbols of the progress of a nation. After the Silk Road opened during the Han Dynasty, Buddhist scriptures were introduced to Western countries） during the Tang Dynasty. China＇s outstanding maritime activities began in the Song Dynasty, and then ancient China＇s Four Great Inventions （the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing） spread to the West. This led to exchanges between Chinese and foreigners, and helped amass a wealth of Chinese and foreign geographical and mapping data. In the third century AD, the ＂Hawn biography＂ put forward six theories and methods of cartography. Its continuous legacy and improvement of the map of China until the Yuan Dynasty demonstrated that traditional mapping theories and methods had improved and tended to be mature. The data used in this study cover the Ming and Qing dynasties and spans nearly 600 years （AD 1368-1911）, including more than 25 kinds of typical world maps. This paper analyzes the historical backgrounds of world maps, with the discussion of their features, contributions, and roles. The main conclusions can be drawn as follows. （1） Ancient Chinese civilization and its economic power took the lead in the world for a long period, prior to the Western creation of a complete world map. （2） Under the more conservative policies of the ＂closed＂ imperial power in the Ming and Qing dynasties, world maps showed a focus on five relatively open boom time trajectories. （3） Five distinct traits and achievements characterize ancient Chinese world maps--ahead of the West to complete world map, abundant accumulation of data, advantages of traditional cartography, illustrated models, and the first fusion of Chinese and Western approaches. （4） Different periods of world maps provide new contents that speaks to the spread of world geographic ＆ history knowledge and etc., and plays an important role in promoting social progress, which shows that ancient Chinese world maps have important historical value and practical significance.