A Chinese-Based World Map Depicts Europe Between 1157 and 1166

When we think of Sino-European relations, we think of the Silk Road or today’s heated politics in Europe. But as today’s world has shown us, reality is much more complicated. In today’s paper, once more Dr Wang has a unique view on the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu《坤舆 万国全图》or Complete Geographical Map of All the Kingdoms of the World published by Matteo Ricci in 1602 in China. Here, she argues that this map shows a glimpse of the complicated European political landscape between 1157 and1166 which overlaps with the Southern Song Dynasty. Furthermore, she argues that a Sino-European relationship goes back long before the Common Era.

Abstract

This paper reports that a Chinese-based world map ‒ the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu《坤舆 万国全图》or Complete Geographical Map of All the Kingdoms of the World published by Matteo Ricci in 1602 in China ‒ depicts Europe in the period between 1157 and 1166, during the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋; 1127-1279), and that a network of trade routes ‒ the Maritime Silk Road routes connecting China and Europe ‒ existed already before Christ. The findings are based on: 1) a comparison of key geographical features in the European portion of the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu with major European and Arabic maps from Antiquity to the sixteenth century; 2) a comprehensive examination of the geographical and historical information of each named European kingdom, principality, duchy, republic, state, confederation, province, county, region, autonomous or semi- autonomous region, city/town, peninsula, island, ocean, sea, lake and river depicted on the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu; 3) a historical record of China-Byzantine interactions during the rule of the Emperor Shenzong (神宗; 1048-1085) of the Northern Song Dynasty (北宋; 960-1127); 4) archaeological findings from the “Nanhai One (南海一号)” shipwreck dated around the 1160s of the Southern Song Dynasty and discovered in the South China Sea in 1987; and 5) the latest archaeological surveys made by T. C. Bell in Ireland and the United Kingdom, revealing that the Chinese had actually operated in Western Europe as early as 2850 B. C., and suggesting the existence of the Sino-Europe maritime routes almost 5000 years ago.

Keywords: China, Europe, Kunyu Wanguo Quantu, Nanhai One, Maritime Silk Road, Song Dynasty

Full text will be included in a forthcoming book, entitled “Chinese Global Exploration in the Pre-Columbian Era: Evidence from an Ancient World Map (World Scientific, Summer 2023).

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