Three maps including terrain map, garrison map and city map drawn in Western Han Dynasty some 2,000 years ago were the earliest maps so far in the world. They were unearthed in Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb in Hunan province in 1973. Like jade clothes sewn with gold thread, the maps won the world's complements. They reflected the advanced measurement and map-drawing techniques in ancient China which led the world in geographic science.

The three maps were drawn on silk without names, but being marked as terrain map, garrison map and city map respectively. Two of the three have been perfectly restored and one has been beyond reparation. The experts appraised that these maps had been made in the early years of Western Han Dynasty, some 2,100 years ago from now.

The terrain map is the earliest existing map based on mapping. It was a good example illustrating the brilliant achievements of ancient geography in China.

The map mainly covered the southern part of feudal state of Changsha, which is roughly located in today's Xiaoshui Valley and Nanling Mountains. The map was 96 cm in length and width and its scale was somewhat between 1:150,000 and 1:200,000, which was quite precise at that time.

One can find mountains, rivers, residence as well as roads. Compared with modern maps, the part illustrating Xiaoshui river and its branches was quite close to the modern one. For instance, the locations of towns such as Ying Pu, Nan Ping, Chong Ling (today's Dao county, Lanshan county and Xintian county respectively in Hunan province) were precisely mapped. The map also highlighted the range of Jiuni Mountain and Dupang Mountian of varied topography, the reaches of rivers as well as the topography of river valleys.

Generally speaking, the main part of the map was drawn with the best exquisite technique compared with other parts. As for the territory of South Yue Kingdom, there were many mistakes with it, for example, low scale, bad precision, wrong beach lines as well as rough mapping content. One could only find a river in this part, and nothing else. It was quite clear that map drawers had laid more emphasis on Changsha State but less emphasis on the surrounding areas.

It is a complicated job to map mountain ranges, rivers and lakes, and it is a very painstaking job to draw a map in accordance with certain scales, which needs precise on-the-spot survey which is the basic requirement. Taking the terrain map as an example, it gave a clear and correct view of the geographic locations, directions as well as river system of some 30 rivers, and most parts were almost the same as in the modern maps. Particularly, the names and labels were also well marked on the map.

Some 80 cities and towns were distinctively labeled with square frames and circles with names marked in brackets. Some 20 roads were distinguished with dotted lines and real lines, and the Jiuni Mountain was drawn with horizontal lines and the marks of precipices. It is estimated that China has led Europe in mapping in this regard by 1,400 years.

The garrison map claims the earliest existing military map in the world. Painted in colored silk, the map was 98 cm in length and 78 cm in width. With a scale of 1:80,000 to 1: 100,000, the map mainly described the areas roughly in today's Xiaoshui Valley in Jianghua Yao Autonomous County in Hunan province.

Apart from mountains, rivers, roads as well as residences, the map also carefully drew up nine garrison defense areas, commanding castles as well as other related military information. Various colors were employed to distinguish different geographic entities, such as black pictographic symbol of Chinese character "mountain" for mountain ranges; green floating symbols for rivers and lakes; red symbols on black background for garrison defense areas and military building complexes, red dotted lines for the routes of military manoeuvres, red triangles for castles and black circles for residence areas.

A map serves both as a vivid record of geographic knowledge and a comprehensive reflection of measurement, calculation and mapping techniques. In addition to on-the-spot survey, the mapping also called for indirect measurement, a process where the measurement of some entity is not obtained by the direct reading of a measuring tool, or by counting of units superimposed alongside or on that entity. Such mapping technique indirectly showed the huge achievement made in the field of mathematics and demonstrated the great intelligence of map drawers.

By People's Daily Online