Tracing a late imperial Chinese atlas: The Tianxia Shanhai Tu as an early modern knowledge artifact
Author(s)
Date Issued
2026
ISSN
0956-5728
Citation
Journal of the International Map Collectors’ Society, 2026, vol. 185, pp. 19-40.
Type
Peer Reviewed Journal Article
Abstract
The article focuses on the Tianxia Shanhai Tu, a late-Imperial Chinese manuscript atlas held at Eton College, tracing its origins, content, and historical trajectory. It establishes that the atlas is a Qing-period manuscript copy of Chen Zushou’s three-volume late-Ming printed atlas Huangming Zhifang Ditu (1636), selectively reduced and adapted for private use with an emphasis on military and coastal defense geography. The manuscript’s textual and cartographic features, including minor linguistic updates and copying errors, indicate it was produced after the Ming dynasty’s fall (post-1644) but before 1705, supported by two printed cloth-shop notices inserted into the volume linked to the Songjiang region near Shanghai. While the atlas entered England by 1730 as part of Richard Topham’s collection, the details of its Chinese provenance and the route by which it reached Britain remain undocumented, highlighting the need for further archival research to reconstruct its full circulation history.
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