While most of us are thinking of summer holidays at the beach as summer approaches, Dr Wang has been busy studying the Chinese portion of the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu 《坤輿萬國全圖/坤舆万国全图》(abbreviated as KWQ) or Complete Geographical Map of All the Kingdoms of the World. This time she unveils further proof that the map is of Chinese origin, and that the era of the map is 1433, based on the Ming-Jurchen-Joseon border condition in 1433 as revealed by the KWQ. We hope you enjoy the abstract of this chapter.
The full text is going to be included in a forthcoming book entitled Chinese explored Asia long before the Europeans, An Ancient World Map Tells All (World Scientific, 2025).
Abstract
In this chapter, I investigate an ancient world map ‒ Kunyu Wanguo Quantu 《坤輿萬國全圖/坤舆万国全图》(abbreviated as KWQ) or Complete Geographical Map of All the Kingdoms of the World ‒ to determine the era revealed by the political landscape of the China portion on this map (abbreviated as the China-KWQ). Kunyu Wanguo Quantu was published by Matteo Ricci in 1602 in China.
In Chapter 2, I have shown that (1) the Joseon (朝鮮/朝鲜) portion of this map (abbreviated as the Korea-KWQ) shows that the kingdom’s northern border was established in 1433 by Sejong of Joseon (朝鮮世宗/朝鲜世宗) with the Jurchen people; the year 1433 was long before the first Europeans landed on the Korean mainland; and (2) the China-KWQ shows that the Nurgan Regional Military Commission (奴兒干都指揮使司/奴儿干都指挥使司) on the Jurchen land was last inspected by the Ming Eunuch Yishiha in 1433 before the Commission was formally abandoned. Combining these two historical facts suggests that both the Joseon land and the China portions of Kunyu Wanguo Quantu reveal a political landscape in 1433.
After a thorough analysis of the locations and histories of the total 132 geographical items and four annotations depicted on the China-KWQ, the results firmly support that the map is of Chinese origin, and the political landscape reveals China precisely in 1433.
Keywords: China, Joseon, Jurchen, Korea, Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, Matteo Ricci
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[…] For more information on Dr. Wang’s research on Pre-Columbian America’s geographical representation on Kunyu Wanguo Quantu 《坤舆万国全图》, we invite…
I AGREE
Hi, Dr Wang is publishing a new book all about this titled “Chinese Global Exploration in the Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence…
Can you tell us more about this? I’d want to find out more details.
great submit, very informative. I ponder why the other specialists of this sector don’t understand this. You must continue your…
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