Articles by Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Vera
![Research paper thumbnail of "The First Map of China Printed in Europe [Ortelius 1584] Reconsidered: Confusions of its Authorship and the Influence of the Chinese Cartography " .](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/59679380/thumbnails/1.jpg)
PORTUGAL AND EAST ASIA V: VISUAL AND TEXTUAL REPRESENTATIONS IN EXCHANGS, BETWEEN EUROPE AND EAST ASIA, eds. Catherine Jami and Luis Saraiva, Singapore – London: World Scientific, 2018
The earliest printed map of China in the European cartographical tradition is found in the 1584
e... more The earliest printed map of China in the European cartographical tradition is found in the 1584
edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first world atlas in a modern sense (1st ed. 1570)
by Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598). Ortelius ascribed the map of China to a ‘Ludouicus Georgius’,
now generally believed to be a Latinised name of the Portuguese cartographer Luis Jorge
de Barbuda (fl. 1575–1599) in the service Philip II of Spain (1527–1598, r. 1556–1598).
In the first part of this paper I shall trace the history of the authorship identification,
revealing transmitted errors and confusions, which resulted from misreading of primary
sources and secondary literature. Attention to the provenance of the map of China in the
Theatrum was first called by E.W. Dahlgren [1911], who took notice of a letter about it,
written to Ortelius by Benito Arias Montano (1527–1598) on the 28th of February 1576.
Armando Cortesão [1935, 1960] identified the map’s author with a Portuguese cartographer
Luis Jorge (Luys Jorge, Luys Gorge, Luis Georgio, since 1596 registered as Luis Jorge de
Barbuda), having meticulously collected data about him scattered among different written
sources (letters, royal cédulas, collective declarations). Most of the references to Luis
Jorge de Barbuda in scholarly literature are still based on the seminal study by Cortesão,
however, direct references tend to diminish. Giving full credit to the arguments of Cortesão
in favour of his identification, I shall discuss some of its weak points. I argue that, despite
being highly plausible, it cannot be taken ‘without reservation’ and should be marked in
reference studies as a reconstructed identification.
In the second part I shall discuss two related structural features of the map: its
orientation with the West on top and the location in the West of a huge Lake (Lacus).
Having recalled practical and cosmographical reasons for the western orientation in the
European and Chinese cartographical traditions, I shall try to demonstrate that the western
orientation of the investigated map of China originates from portolan-style world maps.
At the same time, I shall provide evidence of borrowing the lake image from the Chinese
cartography. Both of these features have not yet been considered in scholarly literature
from the proposed perspective. Especially interesting is their combination, as an example of
fusion of cartographical traditions.
In this paper I advance arguments against studies of plants listed in the Shanhai jing山海經 (Itiner... more In this paper I advance arguments against studies of plants listed in the Shanhai jing山海經 (Itineraries of mountains and seas, compiled about the 1st century BC) in terms of materia medica or systematic botany. I propose to consider them instead as an integral part of an ideal organisation of terrestrial space conveyed by this early Chinese work – a spiritual landscape. The latter belongs to a so-called ‘totalistic’ conception, simultaneously embracing cosmological, religious, political, topographical and other dimensions, which cannot be disaggregated, as they are part of a single, complexly interrelated whole. The main distortion to be avoided is to regard its features, for instance the healing plants, independently from other dimensions, and in terms of typologically different or modernistic conceptual frameworks.
![Research paper thumbnail of “A History of a Spatial Relationship: Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River Source from Chinese Cosmography through to Western Cartography.” Circumscribere [International Journal for the History of Science] 11 (2012), pp. 1-31](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/43211398/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River belong to the general knowledge one has about Chinese cosmog... more Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River belong to the general knowledge one has about Chinese cosmography and geography. Kunlun is a cosmic mountain typologically similar and sometimes identified with Mount Meru and at the same time, the name of a long mountain range in the Western part of China. The Yellow River that crosses its territory from the West to the East has long been the symbol of the Chinese state. I argue that Kunlun mountain range and the Yellow River source below it, as they appear in modern Western maps, are cartographic images imported from Chinese cosmography and cartography. In this paper I try to trace this long and complex process. Kunlun Mountain is characterised by an outstandingly broad range of identifications with real mountains. I suggest that this diversity originates from its shifting cosmological " positions " that varied between specific spatial conceptions or depended on political and ideological needs that differed both between written sources and historical periods. I propose to test this hypothesis by exploring the concept of Kunlun as a location of the Yellow River source. I shall examine the first occurrences of Kunlun as the Yellow River source in early Chinese texts and depictions of Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River source in Chinese maps. Finally, I shall show how and which cartographic images of the Yellow River source and Kunlun Mountain were transferred to Western cartography.
EarlyHanhistoriography,asrepresentedbythetwofirstimperialhistories,theShiji史記1 and the Hanshu 漢書,... more EarlyHanhistoriography,asrepresentedbythetwofirstimperialhistories,theShiji史記1 and the Hanshu 漢書,2 paid special attention to the Yellow River. The “Treatises” on waterways of the Shiji and the Hanshu – the “Hequ shu” 河渠書 (“Treatise on the [Yellow] River and [its] Canals”, ch. 29) and the “Gouxu zhi” 溝洫志 (“Treatise on Irrigation Ditches and Trenches”, ch. 29) – focus on the configuration of its course and canals. The location of its source is the central issue of the “Memoirs” ([lie]zhuan [列]傳) on the western regions of the Chinese Empire, the “Dawan liezhuan”大宛列傳 (“Memoir on Dawan,” ch. 123) of the Shiji, the “Zhang Qian, Li Guangli zhuan” 張騫李廣利傳 (“Memoir on Zhang Qian and Li Guangli,” ch. 61), and the “Xiyu zhuan” 西域傳 (“Memoir on the Western Region,” ch. 96) of the Hanshu. No other river or any other landmark received such close attention in the official histories.
The reason for the singling out of the Yellow River and the preoccupation with the “true” location of its source seems evident – the Yellow River was the main artery of the unified Empire, serving as its symbol. The necessity to manage the Yellow River for agricultural pro- duction and avoiding floods was one of the factors that under-pinned political unification.
This paper explores the representations of the Yellow River source discussed in early Han historiography. The aim is to determine which conceptions of the Yellow River source are distinguished in the two first official histories, how these conceptions are evaluated and which eventually became officially recognised.
The Rong Cheng shi manuscript is the largest text among the so-called Shanghai Museum manuscripts... more The Rong Cheng shi manuscript is the largest text among the so-called Shanghai Museum manuscripts on bamboo slips (Shang bo cang jian 上博藏簡) considered to be of Chu 楚provenance and dated to the mid through the late 4th century BC. Since the slips were looted from a Chu tomb, precise place and date of this find are unknown. It is, however, commonly accepted that the manuscripts originate from a Chu aristocratic tomb closed shortly before the Chu court was obliged to leave the capital at Ying 郢(Hubei area) in 278 BC.
The Rong Cheng shi manuscript is published in the second volume (2002) of the Shanghai guji chubanshe edition of the manuscripts – 上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書 (Shanghai bowuguan cang Zhanguo Chu zhushu – Chu bamboo strips of the Warring States period from the Shanghai Museum), chief-editor Ma Chengyuan 馬承源. Large-scale coloured photographs of numbered slips of the Rong Cheng shi are provided on pp. 91-146, with a transcription and commentary by Li Ling 李零on pp. 247-293. Li Ling’s sequence of slips and comments are reproduced and elaborated on by Qiu Dexiu 邱德修. Different transcriptions of some characters and also different sequences of some slips have been proposed by other Chinese scholars, for instance, in a series of papers concerned with the second volume of the Shanghai Museum manuscripts published in the framework of the ‘Bamboo&Silk (Jianbo)’ network. In particular, a rearranged sequence of slips by Chen Jian 陳劍 seems to have gained scholarly support.
One of the reasons for the high degree of scholarly interest in the Rong Cheng shi is an account of the ‘Nine Provinces’ (Jiu zhou 九州) found in slips 24-27, as is pointed out in the preface to the text in the Shanghai guji chubanshe edition. The present paper is concerned with this particular passage. No doubts have been raised about the order of these four slips, but Chen Jian proposes a correction in the sequence of a group of slips dealing with Yu (15-35A): 23+15+24-30+16-21+31-32+22+33-34-35A. A slight correction of Chen Jian’s arrangement of this part of the manuscript is proposed by Bai Yulan 白於藍 : 21-22-31-33-34-32-35A. Another attempt to rearrange of this group of slips is made by Chen Ligui 陳麗桂(15-23-31-16-22-32-35A).
In contrast to the capital cities and the Mingtang 明堂 (the Hall of Light), the basic system of sy... more In contrast to the capital cities and the Mingtang 明堂 (the Hall of Light), the basic system of symbolic terrestrial division, the Nine Provinces (jiuzhou 九州), is rarely regarded from a ritual perspective. The Nine Provinces are either discussed for the sake of their topographical and historical background or evaluated with respect to “geometrical” or “schematic cosmography” . The latter studies, focused on structural attributes of these systems, present them as static survey schemes mapping the civilized, inhabited world, or even the whole world in a regular and hierarchical way.
Yet the system of the Nine Provinces originates from a step-by-step ordering of terrestrial space by the mythical emperor Yu 禹. In other words, it possesses the attributes of a process-oriented scheme for assembling a properly organised terrestrial division that symbolizes world order, the supreme goal of Chinese statecraft. Quite surprisingly, this key aspect of the Nine Provinces is given little consideration in sinological literature. A good example of the state of the art is provided by the recent survey study of conceptions of space in ancient China by Mark Lewis who, having briefly mentioned this point, does not develop it but moves directly on to discussing geometrical or schematic versions of the Nine Provinces.
In this chapter I will reconsider the transmitted descriptions of the Nine Provinces with respect to their process-oriented character and explore the recently discovered description of the Nine Provinces in the Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 manuscript, where the sequence of establishing the provinces is accentuated. This approach throws new light on the transmitted versions of the Nine Provinces. In particular, it shows that they are, in effect, concurring versions of Yu’s deeds rather than territorial systems characteristic of successive historical periods, as they are presented in Chinese commentarial and historiographic tradition. The process-oriented perspective also allows one to revise the view of the transmitted descriptions of the Nine Provinces as an evolution from a “naturalistic” view towards their schematic representation, that has long been accepted in sinological literature.
The process-oriented character of Yu’s regulation of terrestrial space is also strongly manifest in the Shanhai jing 山海經 (Classic of mountains and seas, ca. 1st century BC), a description of terrestrial space that builds on a system of itineraries marked by mountains. In contrast to the extant versions of the Nine Provinces, the system of itineraries lays special emphasis on local spirits. In particular, an itinerary encompasses mountains that share the same guardian spirits. The itineraries are, therefore, delineated according to the spatial dispersion of divine powers and represent a sacred space that I refer to as a “spiritual landscape”. Delineating the itineraries is attributed to Yu. Support given Yu by local spirits, as the major source of his power over the landscape, is also mentioned in other extant texts and is strongly present in many of the recently found manuscripts dating from the late Warring States period through the early Han dynasty. But there are also sources referring to Yu’s regulations from which the spirits are totally absent.
I aim here to explore the demarcation line between two versions of Yu’s regulating actions: establishing an “administrative” territorial division devoid of any allusions to spirits as opposed to creating a “spiritual landscape” by means of divine support. The former version became officially recognized because it was adopted by imperial historiography, while the latter version is characteristic of texts that may be loosely referred to as an “unofficial” tradition.
Finally, I shall call attention to the typological similarity of Yu’s regulating actions to the so-called “tours of inspection”, whose initiation was attributed to Yu’s predecessor, Emperor Shun 舜, and which was revived as one of the major statecraft practices by Qin (221-207 BC) and Han emperors. Yu’s and Shun’s functions are combined in the unofficial versions of Yu’s regulations, but are sharply distinguished in the officially recognized descriptions of their deeds. I shall demonstrate that the demarcation line is once again drawn with respect to spirits.
The Shan hai jing 山海經(“Itineraries of Mountains and Seas”, hereafter the SHJ) is a comprehensive ... more The Shan hai jing 山海經(“Itineraries of Mountains and Seas”, hereafter the SHJ) is a comprehensive and systematised description of the inhabited world compiled no later than the beginning of the 1st century BC, the largest of the terrestrial descriptions to have survived from Ancient China. It is characterised by the impression of topographical accuracy, providing details of precise distances and cardinally-oriented directions between the 447 mountains described in the first part of the text, the Shan jing 山經(“Itineraries of Mountains”) or the Wuzang shanjing 五臧山經(“Itineraries of Mountains: the Five Treasuries”, hereafter WZSJ), and the directions and confluences of rivers emanating from these mountains. Although precise distances between landmarks are not given in the second part, the Hai jing 海經 (“Itineraries of Seas”), this does not really affect the overall impression of general topographical accuracy of the text. Indeed, in contrast to the Shan jing, which features the centre of the world (roughly corresponding to the basins of the Yellow and Yangzi rivers), the Hai jing is focussed on peripheral parts of the world – mostly countries populated by “exotic” peoples, but also far-away mountains and rivers. The lack of precision in describing far-away lands seems, therefore, to be quite natural.
Elsewhere, I have demonstrated the elusiveness of the topographical accuracy of this text. The text actually deals with matters markedly different from those considered in modern geography, and, in particular, is not aimed at conveying topographically accurate information. Rather, the SHJ conveys an ideal organisation of terrestrial space characterised by a quite complex, yet remarkably regular structure. The nucleus of this structure is the system of 26 itineraries marked by 447 mountains. An itinerary is comprised of mountains that submit to similar guardian spirits. This means that the itineraries are delineated according to the spatial dispersion of divine powers indicating the sacred nature of the terrestrial space thus represented. I define this representation of terrestrial space as a “spiritual landscape”.
Yet, whatever the nature of the description of terrestrial space in the SHJ and its accuracy, one is immediately led to think of some sort of maps that might accompany the text. Thus, modern studies of the geographical background of the SHJ, and, especially, the WZSJ, represent the geographical information derived from the text in the form of maps. However, in contrast to pictures, there is an almost total absence of traditional maps attached or related to the SHJ made prior to the diffusion of Western cartography in China.
In the first part of this paper I evaluate a supposition widespread in sinological literature that such maps existed in remote antiquity and then disappeared. In particular, I show the late origins of this supposition – the preface to an edition of the SHJ (1781) by the famous Qing commentator Bi Yuan 畢沅(1730-1797) – and reveal contradictions in his arguments. Then, in the second part, relying on the character of the textual structure of the SHJ, I advance the hypothesis that the original layout of the text in itself combined a map or spatial (=cardinally-oriented) scheme and a terrestrial description, making maps to accompany the text superfluous. Extending this hypothesis to other texts dealing with space may also provide some further keys to the problem of “lost” ancient maps.
The Shanhaijing 山海經 (“List s of Mountains and ... more The Shanhaijing 山海經 (“List s of Mountains and Seas”, hereafter the SHJ), compiled no later than the beginning of the first century B.C.E., occupies a special place among terrestrial descriptions surviving from ancient China. Being the most voluminous among these texts (ca. 30,000 characters), it is distinguished by the large scope of territories encompassed, the multiplicity of landmarks enumerated, and the many details related to these landmarks.
This paper is concerned with the nature of the representation of terrestrial space according to the SHJ. The investigation of this question is preceded by a critical survey of relevant studies that helps to define the perspectives of the proposed research.
If we define a “sacred space” as an organization of space with respect to a spatial arrangement o... more If we define a “sacred space” as an organization of space with respect to a spatial arrangement of sacred powers (e.g., divinities, spirits and other supernatural beings), a good illustration of such a conception of space can be found in the Wu zang shan jing (“Five Treasuries: The Itineraries of Mountains”, hereafter the WZSJ), an ancient Chinese terrestrial description. Indeed, according to the WZSJ, terrestrial space is divided into an orderly set of areas, each submitting to a special group of local spirits. However, this “spiritual” aspect is more often than not overlooked in studies of the geographical knowledge and cosmographical ideas conveyed in the WZSJ. The studies that are concerned with the spirits described in this text, in their turn, do not pay much attention to the spatial arrangement of these spirits.
In the first part of this paper I analyze how terrestrial space is represented in the WZSJ. Having surveyed the structure of this terrestrial representation, I focus on its sacred attributes. From the results of this analysis, I conclude that in the case of the WZSJ we are dealing with a distinctive type of geographical knowledge markedly different from modern geography in its content, form and functions.
Since a sacred space is not explicitly defined in a real landscape, it has to be created. Creating a sacred space may be done by using special instruments for establishing correspondences between parts of terrestrial space and/or landmarks and the spirits. In the second part of this paper I point out the typological similarity between such instruments surviving from ancient China and the organization of space derived from the WZSJ. I advance a hypothesis that the WZSJ, the textual body of which even in the extant version meticulously emulates the structure of represented space, was originally tailored as such an instrument. In particular, I shall try to demonstrate that the instrumental usage of this text was considerably favored by its original material support – bamboo slips. This hypothesis opens an interesting perspective for considering the question of the “lost” original maps of the WZSJ raised by the famous Chinese scholar of the 18th century Bi Yuan.
0. Ancient Chinese texts provide some striking examples of what may be referred to as non-linear... more 0. Ancient Chinese texts provide some striking examples of what may be referred to as non-linear textual structures. These peculiar textual structures differ markedly from texts organized in a linear way, that is, those whose constituent elements (chapters, paragraphs, phrases etc.) are connected like links in a chain.
The constituent elements of the non-linear textual structures, in contrast, are related in sophisticated multi–dimensional ways. These relationships are like those found between the units of a chart (or scheme, diagram, map, table, design, sketch, picture etc.), that is, a class of graphical representations designated in the classical Chinese language by the character tu. This implies that the interconnections between the constituent elements of the textual structures in question are manifested through appropriate non–linear layouts corresponding to a specific tu.
Such a layout constitutes a “graphical representation” (tu) built of textual passages. In other words, this textual layout combines the properties of a “graphical representation” and relevant “elucidations” (shuo) . “Elucidations” associated with definite units of the tu are arranged according to the placement of these units, and are used as a sort of “filler” for delineating their contours. It is of central importance to note here that a “graphical representation”, while determining interconnections within textual structures, will also have a specific meaning conveyed through its depictive properties. Consequently, a non-linear textual structure serves a dual function, namely, depictive and elucidative. It can only be fully comprehended through considering both of these facets simultaneously. Thus, the textual passages of a non-linear textual structure “make sense” when regarded as units of a graphical image which links them together.
Unfortunately, most non-linear textual structures, with very few exceptions, have reached us in a “deconstructed” form. It seems likely that to a considerable extent, this “deconstruction” resulted from changes in the media for writing in the course of the development of Chinese written culture. Chinese society experienced considerable transformations throughout its history, many of them deeply affecting its written culture, and the original form of texts in particular. Distinguishing non-linear structures from linear texts (or linear parts of texts) requires careful investigation of the body of surviving ancient Chinese texts from the point of view of their organization, or, in other words, considering their formal aspect.
Despite the considerable concern of some researchers with the formal aspect of Chinese texts, non–linear textual structures have more often than not been overlooked in sinological literature. Yet, there is no question that the failure to distinguish between linear and non-linear textual organization may result in considerable confusion in the interpretation of certain texts. Thus, if a text organized in a non–linear way is approached as if it were linear, the distortion in its interpretation may be compared to inadequate linguistic translation.
What relevant research exists is, however, far from providing a consistent view of the subject, as they are done with differing approaches and motivations in mind. Thus, there is no more or less generally–accepted taxonomy for categorizing variables of non-linear textual structures.
Under these circumstances, it seems reasonable to survey the extant structures in question, both original non-linear layouts of ancient texts and reconstructions of such layouts, in an attempt to determine at least one specific type of these structures. This paper focuses on cardinally-oriented non-linear structures related to spatial models.
This paper aims to show that conveying political ideas in spatial terms is an important and disti... more This paper aims to show that conveying political ideas in spatial terms is an important and distinctive feature of ancient Chinese political thought. After a brief survey of the fundamental principles of ancient Chinese concepts of terrestrial space, the author examines two spatial schematic representations of the Seven Mighty Kingdoms of the Warring States period (403-222 B.C.). Comparative analysis provides a good illustration of how representing a set of kingdoms as a combination of cardinally-oriented « positions » served as an instrument to establish a sophisticated system of relationships between these kingdoms. Such a system, and, consequently, the expressed political concept, change dramatically with alterations in the relative « positions » of the kingdoms. Résumé Concept politique derrière le jeu entre des « positions » Cet article vise à montrer que l'expression d'idées politiques par le biais de concepts spatiaux est un trait important et caractéristique de la pensée politique chinoise ancienne. Après un bref aperçu des principes fondamentaux de la conception de l'espace terrestre en Chine ancienne, l'auteur examine deux représentations spatiales schématiques des sept puissances de la période des Royaumes Combattants (403-222 B.C.). Leur comparaison fournit une bonne illustration de la manière dont la représentation d'un ensemble de royaumes comme combinaison de « positions » ordonnées selon les directions cardinales a pu servir d'outil pour établir un système sophistiqué de relations entre ces royaumes. Un tel système et, partant, le concept politique exprimé, change du tout au tout avec l'altération des « positions ».
This article* is concerned with the view of the terrestrial world presented in the Shan haijing (... more This article* is concerned with the view of the terrestrial world presented in the Shan haijing ("The Classic of Mountains and Seas", hereafter the SHJ). The SHJ is one of several sources * of a compilatory nature produced by the summarization and systematization and, to a considerable extent, the reconstruction and reinterpretation of the cultural heritage accumulated by the formative stage of imperial China (the end of the 1st millenium B.C.- the beginning of the 1st millenium A.D.). It occupies a special place among these sources as the only text entirely devoted to cosmography. In addition, the extent of the geographical area encompassed and the multiplicity of detail provided, combined with a remarkably systematic arrangement of data, distinguishes it from other ancient Chinese representations of the world. An exploration of it can serve to highlight certain typological characteristics and specifics of conceptions of space at the mature stage of Chinese cosmography, and to advance some suppositions concerning its origins and evolution.
Les titres des divers chapitres des Guo feng, première section du Shi jing, recourent, on le sait... more Les titres des divers chapitres des Guo feng, première section du Shi jing, recourent, on le sait, à des noms de royaumes. L'article prend ce fait comme point de départ pour explorer l'idée que le texte renvoie, par plusieurs indices, à un schéma géographique. Après une description de différents schémas géographiques disponibles, deux faits sont dégagés : les divers indices renvoient au même schéma de différentes manières ; une corrélation peut être établie entre la distribution géographique concrète de ces royaumes et un schéma de base, et leurs écarts sont significatifs. L'auteur fait enfin apparaître les enjeux politiques de ce type d'organisation de textes. Résumé : Les titres des divers chapitres des Guo feng, première section du Shi jing, recourent, on le sait, à des noms de royaumes.
Books by Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Vera
Ce livre propose un historique des analyses structurelles de textes chinois anciens en URSS, et à... more Ce livre propose un historique des analyses structurelles de textes chinois anciens en URSS, et à la suite de cela il décrit brièvement les idées des auteurs qui travaillent dans ce domaine et les résultats principaux de leurs études.
The contributors to this volume focus on tu 圖, technical images, and on their relationship with ... more The contributors to this volume focus on tu 圖, technical images, and on their relationship with written text in the production of technical knowledge. The articles encompass a broad range of graphic forms and categories of specialised knowledge, from metaphysical cos- mograms and magical talismans through mathematical diagrams to coroner’s charts. While we cannot claim to offer a comprehensive span of all significant forms of tu, this is, as far as we know, the first collection of studies devoted specifically to tu as technical images, and to the functional relation of such tu to the written text which al- most invariably accompanies them.
![Research paper thumbnail of Creating and Representing Sacred Spaces, co-edited by Michael Dickhardt and Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann (Göttinger Beiträge zur Asienforschung 2-3 [2003, special double issue])](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/43246083/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The present collection of papers “Creating and Representing Sacred Spaces” brings together schola... more The present collection of papers “Creating and Representing Sacred Spaces” brings together scholars from different fields of the humanities opening a great variety of per- spectives on sacred spaces. They share a common starting point in being convinced that a fruitful discourse on the spatial dimension of human praxis is not to be achieved through discussing only the ‘big issues’ of the theoretical debates on ‘space’. Rather, the contributors keep close contact to the materials themselves – not because theoreti- cal questions are considered to be unimportant, but because they insist on the impor- tance of understanding each other’s material and the specific perspective on this mate- rial in detail as a fruitful way to develop a common set of questions as a discursive framework. Thus, ‘space’ is not used as a clearly defined notion to set the boundaries of the collection of papers. It is used as a discourse-generating notion in a transdisci- plinary effort to understand different perspectives on and aspects of sacred spaces.
Conference Proceedings by Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Vera
East-West Encounter in the Science of Heaven and Earth 天と地の科学, edited by Takeda Tokimasa 武田時昌 and Bill M. Mak 麥文彪. Kyoto: Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University 京都大學人文科學研究所, 2019
This article seeks to trace the origins of the circular world maps, the distinctive feature of po... more This article seeks to trace the origins of the circular world maps, the distinctive feature of popular atlases, which became widespread in Korea in the 18th-19th centuries. Their confusingly archaic and simplistic maps continued to be produced and reproduced in an almost unchanged form, not matching the mainstream of modern cartography and insensible to its development.
After a critical survey of studies of the circular world maps through the current rise of interest in them, and especially questioning their affinity to East Asian Buddhist-style world maps, established by Nakamura Hiroshi中村拓 (1947), as well as derivations of these maps from the Kangnido (1402) by Gary Ledyard (1994) or the Western maps of the early 18th century by Richard Pegg (2014), I shall reveal their overlooked affinity with cosmographical maps shaped as inversed “cosmographs.” These maps are found in the Chinese Almanacs of Auspicious Images (17th – 18th centuries) and convey the symbolism of the square Earth inscribed into the round Heavens.
At the same time, the atlases will be considered as a hierarchical system of maps. In particular, the link between the circular world maps and maps of China will be demonstrated, as well as the place of these atlases in the global trend of the atlas production.
Finally, some methodological points of map analysis will be raised.
The complete volume can be downloaded here: http://www.billmak.com/astronomy/
![Research paper thumbnail of Panel S 34 "Typological Parallels in Pre-Modern Geographical Knowledge: Non-Geographical Geographies." 21st International Congress of History of Science [2001], Mexico City, 2005, pp. 2259-2323](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/43208923/thumbnails/1.jpg)
The common difficulty of studying pre-modern geographical ideas is that they do not fit into the ... more The common difficulty of studying pre-modern geographical ideas is that they do not fit into the modern Western model of geography and as a result are hard to analyze and even harder to categorize. Indeed, some pre-modern sources concerned with geographical matters give a rather strange impression, if regarded from the standpoint of geography as a modern Western science. Seen from this perspective, they seem to be rather inadequate geographies, the geographies that are somehow not geographical enough.
In the majority of such cases scholars do not explicitly discuss their approach to the sources. The modern perspective, often taken for granted in research, is implicitly present in the way the sources are investigated. However, many pre-modern sources convey geographical knowledge that differs markedly from modern Western geography in a wide range of aspects -- the content, functions, form of presentation of geographical data, selection of this data, the relations of the geographical knowledge to the other domains. As a result, studies of these sources from the modern geographical perspective display a considerable discrepancy between the material investigated and the parameters used for its evaluation. It is the failure to recognize this discrepancy which results in reductive or distorted interpretations of pre-modern geographical sources.
The authors of papers presented within this panel attempt to explore pre-modern geographies in their own context and in their own terms, avoiding, as far as possible, contemporary value judgements and classifications. The panel entitled “Typological Parallels In Pre-Modern Geographical Knowledge: Non-Geographical Geographies” confronts the cultural traditions that developed in three regions: ancient Rome (Frank Romer), early medieval Europe (Natalia Lozovsky), and Chinese empire (Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann, Thomas Zimmer and Alexei Volkov).
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Articles by Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Vera
edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first world atlas in a modern sense (1st ed. 1570)
by Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598). Ortelius ascribed the map of China to a ‘Ludouicus Georgius’,
now generally believed to be a Latinised name of the Portuguese cartographer Luis Jorge
de Barbuda (fl. 1575–1599) in the service Philip II of Spain (1527–1598, r. 1556–1598).
In the first part of this paper I shall trace the history of the authorship identification,
revealing transmitted errors and confusions, which resulted from misreading of primary
sources and secondary literature. Attention to the provenance of the map of China in the
Theatrum was first called by E.W. Dahlgren [1911], who took notice of a letter about it,
written to Ortelius by Benito Arias Montano (1527–1598) on the 28th of February 1576.
Armando Cortesão [1935, 1960] identified the map’s author with a Portuguese cartographer
Luis Jorge (Luys Jorge, Luys Gorge, Luis Georgio, since 1596 registered as Luis Jorge de
Barbuda), having meticulously collected data about him scattered among different written
sources (letters, royal cédulas, collective declarations). Most of the references to Luis
Jorge de Barbuda in scholarly literature are still based on the seminal study by Cortesão,
however, direct references tend to diminish. Giving full credit to the arguments of Cortesão
in favour of his identification, I shall discuss some of its weak points. I argue that, despite
being highly plausible, it cannot be taken ‘without reservation’ and should be marked in
reference studies as a reconstructed identification.
In the second part I shall discuss two related structural features of the map: its
orientation with the West on top and the location in the West of a huge Lake (Lacus).
Having recalled practical and cosmographical reasons for the western orientation in the
European and Chinese cartographical traditions, I shall try to demonstrate that the western
orientation of the investigated map of China originates from portolan-style world maps.
At the same time, I shall provide evidence of borrowing the lake image from the Chinese
cartography. Both of these features have not yet been considered in scholarly literature
from the proposed perspective. Especially interesting is their combination, as an example of
fusion of cartographical traditions.
The reason for the singling out of the Yellow River and the preoccupation with the “true” location of its source seems evident – the Yellow River was the main artery of the unified Empire, serving as its symbol. The necessity to manage the Yellow River for agricultural pro- duction and avoiding floods was one of the factors that under-pinned political unification.
This paper explores the representations of the Yellow River source discussed in early Han historiography. The aim is to determine which conceptions of the Yellow River source are distinguished in the two first official histories, how these conceptions are evaluated and which eventually became officially recognised.
The Rong Cheng shi manuscript is published in the second volume (2002) of the Shanghai guji chubanshe edition of the manuscripts – 上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書 (Shanghai bowuguan cang Zhanguo Chu zhushu – Chu bamboo strips of the Warring States period from the Shanghai Museum), chief-editor Ma Chengyuan 馬承源. Large-scale coloured photographs of numbered slips of the Rong Cheng shi are provided on pp. 91-146, with a transcription and commentary by Li Ling 李零on pp. 247-293. Li Ling’s sequence of slips and comments are reproduced and elaborated on by Qiu Dexiu 邱德修. Different transcriptions of some characters and also different sequences of some slips have been proposed by other Chinese scholars, for instance, in a series of papers concerned with the second volume of the Shanghai Museum manuscripts published in the framework of the ‘Bamboo&Silk (Jianbo)’ network. In particular, a rearranged sequence of slips by Chen Jian 陳劍 seems to have gained scholarly support.
One of the reasons for the high degree of scholarly interest in the Rong Cheng shi is an account of the ‘Nine Provinces’ (Jiu zhou 九州) found in slips 24-27, as is pointed out in the preface to the text in the Shanghai guji chubanshe edition. The present paper is concerned with this particular passage. No doubts have been raised about the order of these four slips, but Chen Jian proposes a correction in the sequence of a group of slips dealing with Yu (15-35A): 23+15+24-30+16-21+31-32+22+33-34-35A. A slight correction of Chen Jian’s arrangement of this part of the manuscript is proposed by Bai Yulan 白於藍 : 21-22-31-33-34-32-35A. Another attempt to rearrange of this group of slips is made by Chen Ligui 陳麗桂(15-23-31-16-22-32-35A).
Yet the system of the Nine Provinces originates from a step-by-step ordering of terrestrial space by the mythical emperor Yu 禹. In other words, it possesses the attributes of a process-oriented scheme for assembling a properly organised terrestrial division that symbolizes world order, the supreme goal of Chinese statecraft. Quite surprisingly, this key aspect of the Nine Provinces is given little consideration in sinological literature. A good example of the state of the art is provided by the recent survey study of conceptions of space in ancient China by Mark Lewis who, having briefly mentioned this point, does not develop it but moves directly on to discussing geometrical or schematic versions of the Nine Provinces.
In this chapter I will reconsider the transmitted descriptions of the Nine Provinces with respect to their process-oriented character and explore the recently discovered description of the Nine Provinces in the Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 manuscript, where the sequence of establishing the provinces is accentuated. This approach throws new light on the transmitted versions of the Nine Provinces. In particular, it shows that they are, in effect, concurring versions of Yu’s deeds rather than territorial systems characteristic of successive historical periods, as they are presented in Chinese commentarial and historiographic tradition. The process-oriented perspective also allows one to revise the view of the transmitted descriptions of the Nine Provinces as an evolution from a “naturalistic” view towards their schematic representation, that has long been accepted in sinological literature.
The process-oriented character of Yu’s regulation of terrestrial space is also strongly manifest in the Shanhai jing 山海經 (Classic of mountains and seas, ca. 1st century BC), a description of terrestrial space that builds on a system of itineraries marked by mountains. In contrast to the extant versions of the Nine Provinces, the system of itineraries lays special emphasis on local spirits. In particular, an itinerary encompasses mountains that share the same guardian spirits. The itineraries are, therefore, delineated according to the spatial dispersion of divine powers and represent a sacred space that I refer to as a “spiritual landscape”. Delineating the itineraries is attributed to Yu. Support given Yu by local spirits, as the major source of his power over the landscape, is also mentioned in other extant texts and is strongly present in many of the recently found manuscripts dating from the late Warring States period through the early Han dynasty. But there are also sources referring to Yu’s regulations from which the spirits are totally absent.
I aim here to explore the demarcation line between two versions of Yu’s regulating actions: establishing an “administrative” territorial division devoid of any allusions to spirits as opposed to creating a “spiritual landscape” by means of divine support. The former version became officially recognized because it was adopted by imperial historiography, while the latter version is characteristic of texts that may be loosely referred to as an “unofficial” tradition.
Finally, I shall call attention to the typological similarity of Yu’s regulating actions to the so-called “tours of inspection”, whose initiation was attributed to Yu’s predecessor, Emperor Shun 舜, and which was revived as one of the major statecraft practices by Qin (221-207 BC) and Han emperors. Yu’s and Shun’s functions are combined in the unofficial versions of Yu’s regulations, but are sharply distinguished in the officially recognized descriptions of their deeds. I shall demonstrate that the demarcation line is once again drawn with respect to spirits.
Elsewhere, I have demonstrated the elusiveness of the topographical accuracy of this text. The text actually deals with matters markedly different from those considered in modern geography, and, in particular, is not aimed at conveying topographically accurate information. Rather, the SHJ conveys an ideal organisation of terrestrial space characterised by a quite complex, yet remarkably regular structure. The nucleus of this structure is the system of 26 itineraries marked by 447 mountains. An itinerary is comprised of mountains that submit to similar guardian spirits. This means that the itineraries are delineated according to the spatial dispersion of divine powers indicating the sacred nature of the terrestrial space thus represented. I define this representation of terrestrial space as a “spiritual landscape”.
Yet, whatever the nature of the description of terrestrial space in the SHJ and its accuracy, one is immediately led to think of some sort of maps that might accompany the text. Thus, modern studies of the geographical background of the SHJ, and, especially, the WZSJ, represent the geographical information derived from the text in the form of maps. However, in contrast to pictures, there is an almost total absence of traditional maps attached or related to the SHJ made prior to the diffusion of Western cartography in China.
In the first part of this paper I evaluate a supposition widespread in sinological literature that such maps existed in remote antiquity and then disappeared. In particular, I show the late origins of this supposition – the preface to an edition of the SHJ (1781) by the famous Qing commentator Bi Yuan 畢沅(1730-1797) – and reveal contradictions in his arguments. Then, in the second part, relying on the character of the textual structure of the SHJ, I advance the hypothesis that the original layout of the text in itself combined a map or spatial (=cardinally-oriented) scheme and a terrestrial description, making maps to accompany the text superfluous. Extending this hypothesis to other texts dealing with space may also provide some further keys to the problem of “lost” ancient maps.
This paper is concerned with the nature of the representation of terrestrial space according to the SHJ. The investigation of this question is preceded by a critical survey of relevant studies that helps to define the perspectives of the proposed research.
In the first part of this paper I analyze how terrestrial space is represented in the WZSJ. Having surveyed the structure of this terrestrial representation, I focus on its sacred attributes. From the results of this analysis, I conclude that in the case of the WZSJ we are dealing with a distinctive type of geographical knowledge markedly different from modern geography in its content, form and functions.
Since a sacred space is not explicitly defined in a real landscape, it has to be created. Creating a sacred space may be done by using special instruments for establishing correspondences between parts of terrestrial space and/or landmarks and the spirits. In the second part of this paper I point out the typological similarity between such instruments surviving from ancient China and the organization of space derived from the WZSJ. I advance a hypothesis that the WZSJ, the textual body of which even in the extant version meticulously emulates the structure of represented space, was originally tailored as such an instrument. In particular, I shall try to demonstrate that the instrumental usage of this text was considerably favored by its original material support – bamboo slips. This hypothesis opens an interesting perspective for considering the question of the “lost” original maps of the WZSJ raised by the famous Chinese scholar of the 18th century Bi Yuan.
The constituent elements of the non-linear textual structures, in contrast, are related in sophisticated multi–dimensional ways. These relationships are like those found between the units of a chart (or scheme, diagram, map, table, design, sketch, picture etc.), that is, a class of graphical representations designated in the classical Chinese language by the character tu. This implies that the interconnections between the constituent elements of the textual structures in question are manifested through appropriate non–linear layouts corresponding to a specific tu.
Such a layout constitutes a “graphical representation” (tu) built of textual passages. In other words, this textual layout combines the properties of a “graphical representation” and relevant “elucidations” (shuo) . “Elucidations” associated with definite units of the tu are arranged according to the placement of these units, and are used as a sort of “filler” for delineating their contours. It is of central importance to note here that a “graphical representation”, while determining interconnections within textual structures, will also have a specific meaning conveyed through its depictive properties. Consequently, a non-linear textual structure serves a dual function, namely, depictive and elucidative. It can only be fully comprehended through considering both of these facets simultaneously. Thus, the textual passages of a non-linear textual structure “make sense” when regarded as units of a graphical image which links them together.
Unfortunately, most non-linear textual structures, with very few exceptions, have reached us in a “deconstructed” form. It seems likely that to a considerable extent, this “deconstruction” resulted from changes in the media for writing in the course of the development of Chinese written culture. Chinese society experienced considerable transformations throughout its history, many of them deeply affecting its written culture, and the original form of texts in particular. Distinguishing non-linear structures from linear texts (or linear parts of texts) requires careful investigation of the body of surviving ancient Chinese texts from the point of view of their organization, or, in other words, considering their formal aspect.
Despite the considerable concern of some researchers with the formal aspect of Chinese texts, non–linear textual structures have more often than not been overlooked in sinological literature. Yet, there is no question that the failure to distinguish between linear and non-linear textual organization may result in considerable confusion in the interpretation of certain texts. Thus, if a text organized in a non–linear way is approached as if it were linear, the distortion in its interpretation may be compared to inadequate linguistic translation.
What relevant research exists is, however, far from providing a consistent view of the subject, as they are done with differing approaches and motivations in mind. Thus, there is no more or less generally–accepted taxonomy for categorizing variables of non-linear textual structures.
Under these circumstances, it seems reasonable to survey the extant structures in question, both original non-linear layouts of ancient texts and reconstructions of such layouts, in an attempt to determine at least one specific type of these structures. This paper focuses on cardinally-oriented non-linear structures related to spatial models.
Books by Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Vera
Conference Proceedings by Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Vera
After a critical survey of studies of the circular world maps through the current rise of interest in them, and especially questioning their affinity to East Asian Buddhist-style world maps, established by Nakamura Hiroshi中村拓 (1947), as well as derivations of these maps from the Kangnido (1402) by Gary Ledyard (1994) or the Western maps of the early 18th century by Richard Pegg (2014), I shall reveal their overlooked affinity with cosmographical maps shaped as inversed “cosmographs.” These maps are found in the Chinese Almanacs of Auspicious Images (17th – 18th centuries) and convey the symbolism of the square Earth inscribed into the round Heavens.
At the same time, the atlases will be considered as a hierarchical system of maps. In particular, the link between the circular world maps and maps of China will be demonstrated, as well as the place of these atlases in the global trend of the atlas production.
Finally, some methodological points of map analysis will be raised.
The complete volume can be downloaded here: http://www.billmak.com/astronomy/
In the majority of such cases scholars do not explicitly discuss their approach to the sources. The modern perspective, often taken for granted in research, is implicitly present in the way the sources are investigated. However, many pre-modern sources convey geographical knowledge that differs markedly from modern Western geography in a wide range of aspects -- the content, functions, form of presentation of geographical data, selection of this data, the relations of the geographical knowledge to the other domains. As a result, studies of these sources from the modern geographical perspective display a considerable discrepancy between the material investigated and the parameters used for its evaluation. It is the failure to recognize this discrepancy which results in reductive or distorted interpretations of pre-modern geographical sources.
The authors of papers presented within this panel attempt to explore pre-modern geographies in their own context and in their own terms, avoiding, as far as possible, contemporary value judgements and classifications. The panel entitled “Typological Parallels In Pre-Modern Geographical Knowledge: Non-Geographical Geographies” confronts the cultural traditions that developed in three regions: ancient Rome (Frank Romer), early medieval Europe (Natalia Lozovsky), and Chinese empire (Vera Dorofeeva-Lichtmann, Thomas Zimmer and Alexei Volkov).