The earliest map of China in the Map Department of the Library of Congress is1/kloc-0 carved in 36 years19th century concubine map rubbings. This map of stone carving was originally placed in Qishan County School, Fengxiang Prefecture, west of Xi 'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province 120, depicting the transportation of tributes in the area ruled by King Dayu of Xia Dynasty, which is said to have happened in 2205 BC.
The author of this map is unknown. Carved in the Song Dynasty, it was drawn according to Pei Xiu's planning method, but it was revised with reference to the structure of the map of China and foreign countries drawn by Jia Dan, a geographer in the Tang Dynasty in 802. Pei Xiu's precise expression and skillful use of plane drawing make his contribution comparable to that of Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria Library in the 2nd century ... Ptolemy's contribution to astronomy and geography laid the foundation for modern western geography and cartography.
Brief introduction of Yuji Tu
The length and width of the map of the ruins are all over one meter, and the drawing method of the plan is adopted in the map. Each side is folded into a hundred miles, 7 1 horizontally and 73/vertically, totaling * * * 5 1 10 square meter. Among them, the water system and coast are especially close to the shape of today's map. This painting is very rich in content. There are 380 administrative districts, nearly 80 rivers have names, more than 70 mountains have names and five lakes have names.
According to the pictures, there are still some place names in the Tang Dynasty, which can be inferred from the part of Yugong Kyushu in Jia Dan's Haihua Yitu, so they are called maps. This map provides valuable information for studying the history of cartography in China, and its historical value and scientific significance are highly valued by future generations. Joseph Needham, an authoritative British scholar who studies the history of science and technology in China, called this map "the most outstanding map in the world at that time and the greatest achievement of cartographers in the Song Dynasty" in the History of Science and Technology Development in China.