Maps in Ancient China, A Classical Legend
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There is a classical Chinese legend called “He Bo Xian Tu” about the ancient map. It is said that in the time of “Dayu’s Taming of the Floods” (roughly during the Xia Dynasty), a river god gave Dayu a stone with a flood map etched upon its surface. Dayu used this map to hold back the flooding that threatened to devastate the rural agriculture. Another account attributes Dayu's deeds as a marvelous feat of engineering.
In general, the development of early Chinese cartography experienced three phrases: primitive map, classical map, and survey map. The primitive maps were simple maps, still steeped in myth and legend. It wasn't until the Han Dynasty that classical maps began to emerge.
Read more about this topic: Early Chinese Cartography
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