13Story

23 June 2010

Ceramics for export and domestic use

Routes of Exchange

* The Roots of Silk Road     * The Silk Road and the Nomads     * The Silk Road and China    * Inscriptions    * Diplomatic documents    * Maps    * Dunhuang along the Silk Road     * Early Christian communities in Asia: Nestorianism

 

Maps The earliest known map of Asia is the “Kangnido,” made in 1402 in Korea at the beginning of the Joseon period. The original no longer exists, but there is a replica that dates from 1470. The contours of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and India are clearly discernable, but China and Korea take up a disproportionately large surface area. Cartography continued to advance in Korea during the Joseon period (1392-1910). In the “Complete Map of the Eastern State,” Donggukdaejido, Jeong Sang-gi (1678-1752) used a new scale that improved the reproduction considerably. As a geographer he had discovered the “100 ri measuring stick,” which considerably influenced the compilation of the later map of Korea, Daedongyeojijundo. This map from 1861 was designed by Kim Jeon-ho so that it cold be folded in a series of identical rectangles that each comprised 80 ri from west to east. Each surface was printed from a separate wooden block, which made the price attractive to the public. The map was portable, foldable and handy. Japan brought out other novelties in this period, such as a world map and a map of Japan framed by a border of blue and white Arita porcelain.

  

 

Click on the pictures to enlarge and read the label

 
 

 

 

 

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