Early Chinese Cartography - Han Dynasty Maps

Han Dynasty Maps

The Han Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 汉朝; traditional Chinese: 漢朝; pinyin: Hàn Cháo; Wade–Giles: Han Ch'ao; 206 BC–220 AD) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was ruled by the prominent family known as the Liu clan. The reign of the Han Dynasty, lasting over 401 years, is commonly considered within China to be one of the greatest periods in the history of China. To this day, the ethnic majority of China still refer to themselves as the "Han people".

So far, the exact evidence of map is dated back from Han Dynasty, that is 168 BC ago. And from that time, there already had very exquisite map in ancient China. The three maps on the silk found at Mawangdui tumulus dated to the 2nd century BC in the Han Dynasty. These three maps are a topography map of Changsha region, a military map of southern Changsha and a prefecture map.

The research of three maps indicate that China already had a very exact cartography skills in Han Dynasty. Although there have not map name, legend, scale and any other explanation, in the military map there already displayed the Hunan, Guangdong and Guangxi region and depict the political boundary between the Han Dynasty and Nanyue, where the region covered from 111°E to 112°30′E, and from 23°N to 26°N. And the map scale is about 1:180000.

At the time of its discovery, they were the oldest maps discovered in China until 1986, when Qin Dynasty maps dating to the 4th century BC were found.