China/Macau: Cartography, Circulation, Description
François Gipouloux (CNRS) fera une communication intitulée “Late Ming Chinese Cartography: Economic and Geopolitical Dimensions” dans le cadre du colloque China/Macau: Cartography, Circulation, Description.
Abstract
There are two strands in Chinese cartography: one relies on mathematical grids to delineate a precise vision of the territory; the other is a combination of literary, religious, and administrative information. Not long after Matteo Ricci’s 坤輿萬國全圖 Kūnyú Wànguó Quántú, the Selden map of China (referred to in Chinese as the 東西洋航海圖, dongxiyang hanghai tu, nautical chart of the eastern and western seas), drawn during the first half of 17th century, reveals an outward-looking, highly commercialised empire. The focal point of the Selden map is the South China Sea. For the first time, a map focuses not on the continental landmass of China, but on a maritime space in which China appears at the periphery. A seafaring chart’s logic is very different from the symbolic geography expressed in other Ming charts. However, late Ming cartography does reveal unique features of Chinese sovereignty over the oceans. This paper will explore the following issues: What kind of relationship with the sea world does this new cartography illustrate? How did commercialisation reshape the land-sea nexus in late Ming China? What is the legal nature of maritime boundaries? What does the question of sovereignty over maritime regions mean for a predominantly continental empire? How can the Selden map help us pinpoint China’s place in a debate that has shaped the geopolitics of the oceans: the Selden/Grotius controversy? How do maritime systems deal with complex, multi-tiered political structures, which are composed of empires, nation states, and cosmopolitan cities?
Date
10-12 octobre 2016
Lieu
Lisbonne, Macao Scientific and Cutural Institute
Télécharger le programme complet.
OpenEdition vous propose de citer ce billet de la manière suivante :
Aurélia Martin (3 octobre 2016). China/Macau: Cartography, Circulation, Description. Carnets du Centre Chine (CNRS/EHESS). Consulté le 10 décembre 2025 à l’adresse https://doi.org/10.58079/mfr9

