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The second book of Volume Two continues our examination of the mapping traditions of the non-Western world by focusing on the cartography of East and Southeast Asia. It considers the cartographic traditions of China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Tibet, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines, presenting significant new research and interpretation of archaeological, literary, and graphic sources.
As the introduction to this section suggests, East Asia is best considered a cultural category founded on commonalities of politics (bureaucratic hereditary monarchy), language (use of Classical Chinese by the elite), and philosophy (Neo-Confucianism). Though these factors did not produce a homogeneous cultural region, the common threads they represented did link China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam to each other, and these links are evident when examining the cartographic record. Specifically, East Asian cartography can be characterized by its emphasis on aesthetic principles that link mapmaking as much to painting and poetry as to science and technology and by its strong textual tradition that embeds cartographic meaning within the framework of the written text. Throughout the section, East Asian cartography is examined from the perspective of politics, measurement, the arts, cosmography, and the influence of the West.
Volume Two, Book Two contains 998 pages that are richly illustrated with forty color plates and over five hundred black and white illustrations.
About the Editors
J. B. Harley (1932–1991) was a geographer, cartographer, and map historian at the universities of Birmingham, Liverpool, Exeter, and Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He co-founded the History of Cartography Project along with David Woodward. Harley’s work has gained broad prominence among geographers and social theorists, and it has contributed greatly to the emerging discipline of critical cartography.
David Woodward (1942–2004) was Arthur H. Robinson Professor of Geography Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he taught for more than twenty years. Along with the late J. B. Harley, he was founding editor of the History of Cartography Project. In 2002, the Royal Geographical Society honored him with the Murchison Award for his lifelong contribution to the study of the history of cartography.
Read more about the founding editors of the Project here.
Associate Editor
Joseph E. Schwartzberg is a professor emeritus of geography at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and is a prominent world federalist scholar. His interests include South and Southeast Asia and historical cartography.
Assistant Editor
Cordell D. K. Yee teaches in the Great Books Program, St. John’s College, Annapolis.