In 2008, an ancient nautical chart of China, which has been sleeping for 350 years and has been seriously damaged, was found in the Bodley Ann Library of Oxford University. According to this map, Jiang Qian, a professor at Hong Kong University, published a paper entitled "A Newly Discovered Painted Nautical Map of the Mid-Ming Dynasty" in May, 201,which aroused strong repercussions in the field of marine history in China. Many scholars have studied this map from different angles. The author bought a copy of the Maritime Minnan Empire by Tang Jintai from Taiwan Province Province, and attached this map copied at the original scale. At the end of the book, there is an appendix "The Marine Vision Map of Minnan People in Ming Dynasty". This map reflects the Minnan overseas trade network centered on Zhangzhou Yuegang since the middle of Ming Dynasty.

This nautical chart of the Ming Dynasty is about 1.5m long and about 1m wide. It was collected by the famous British lawyer and orientalist Xie Deng (1584- 1654). It was originally put with a China compass. 1658, Xie Deng donated this chart and China compass to Bodley Ann Library. Until the beginning of the 20th century, this chart was still shown to visitors from time to time. However, due to the age, the map began to be damaged, so the library used the most advanced technology at that time to repair it and covered its back with thick cotton cloth. The result is worse. When the map dries, it shrinks into wrinkles, and when it unfolds, the pieces fall off. The library had to put it on the shelf. In 2008, Dr. Boetcher, an American scholar, discovered that this is a chart with extraordinary historical value. A year later, the map was basically restored. This chart is called "Sheldon China Chart" abroad, and China scholars named it "East-West Navigation Chart in Ming Dynasty" (hereinafter referred to as "Ming Map"), which is considered as no less than Zheng He's Navigation Chart. Canadian sinologist Bu Hanmin believes that Ming Tu was drawn in 1608, in Fan Dan, the Netherlands.

Ming Tu describes in detail the routes from China to overseas, whether the eastern route or the western route, starting from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou along the coast of Fujian. It is impossible to judge whether Zhangzhou or Quanzhou is drawn very close on the map. Judging from the evolution history of Fujian coastal ports, Quanzhou Port declined in the middle of Ming Dynasty and was replaced by Zhangzhou Yuegang, where private overseas trade flourished. Therefore, the author believes that the starting point of Mingtu Oriental Ocean Route is undoubtedly Zhangzhou, Guangdong and Hong Kong. This can be proved by the east-west acupuncture points in Zhangxie's Kao Dong Xi in Zhangzhou in Ming Dynasty.

There are six eastern routes and two western routes 12 in Mingtu, among which the eastern routes are Zhangzhou to Ryukyu, Zhangzhou to Nagasaki and Zhangzhou to Luzon. There are also routes from Chaozhou to Luzon, from Luzon to Sulu and Brunei, from Bandan to the south bank of Sumatra, and from Aceh to Bangala and Guri. The western line includes Zhangzhou, Zhancheng and Cambodia. Go to Manlaga; Go to Siam; D 'Artagnan and Kelantan; Wuxiang to Jiugang and Wandan. There are also routes from Malaga to Chivan, to Mashen and to southern Myanmar; Bite on. Sail to Aceh and Bandan. It is recorded in "An Examination of the East and the West" that the western line set sail from Yuegang Port. After Xiamen Port went abroad, it went all the way south along the southeast coastline of China, bypassed the waters near Hainan Island, occupied the city through Zhou Qiyang (Xisha Islands), and entered Indonesia. However, the western line drawn in Mingtu is almost the same as that recorded in Dongxikao. This picture can be said to be a practical nautical chart attached to the East-West Examination and Farewell.

Ming Tu is different from He's Nautical Chart in painting. Draw with dotted lines, and bet on dense needle positions and mileage, but with black solid lines, the route is only described with short needle positions, reflecting that the drawing of this map is influenced by western nautical chart drawing technology.

The east-west navigation network drawn in Mingtu highlights the intersection of various routes in Southeast Asia, such as Bichuba (Jakarta, Indonesia), Luzon Palace (Manila, Philippines) and Shunta (also known as Wandan), which were all international shipping centers in Southeast Asia at that time. During the voyage of Manila, Chinese sailboats transported raw silk, silk and porcelain from Moon Port in Zhangzhou to Manila, and then from Manila sailboats to Mexico and Europe. Manila is a transit point for goods from China. Wandan was a distribution center for pepper production and commodities at that time. Minnan maritime merchants transported goods from Guangdong and Hong Kong to China and then back to China for pepper. It can be seen that Manila and Bandan are prominent as Asian shipping centers. Today, there are still tombs of Zhangzhou merchants in Wandan from17th century to18th century.

One of the characteristics of Ming Tu is to draw a compass and a scale above the map, which is the first time in the map history of China. It is also the first practical nautical chart in China, which almost has the characteristics of modern nautical charts, such as compass calibration, accurate coastline description, clear route marking, clear coastal port cities and islands and reefs. At the same time, it is also the first chart in China that accurately depicts the exact location of Pengtai and four islands in the South China Sea. In this nautical chart, the figure of Penghu Islands is clearly drawn in the southeast of Zhangzhou and marked as "Peng". To the east of Penghu, the island of Taiwan Province Province was accurately drawn in the early Ming Dynasty, and it was marked with the ancient names of Taiwan Province Province as "Beigang" and "Lin Jiali". Lin Jiali should be the present Kerry Town in Tainan. This description and annotation of the relationship between Peng and Taiwan Province is unprecedented, and it is the first chart that accurately describes the relationship between Peng and Taiwan Province. In addition, the map of the Ming Dynasty clearly marked four islands in the South China Sea, namely Dongsha (South Australia), Xisha (Seven States), Zhongsha (Wanlilongtan) and Nansha (Wanlishitang), which were not found in other charts of the Ming Dynasty.

? /kloc-Map of Xiamen-Golden Sea Area in the Late 7th Century

/kloc-map of Xiamen-golden sea area in the late 8th century.

Judging from the painting characteristics of Famous Map, although the influence of western nautical charts has changed the traditional scroll painting style in China, China's traditional landscape painting techniques are still used to draw related topography and landforms. Among them, the number of various flowers and plants is quite distinctive. The trees painted by painters in Ming Dynasty in China are different from those in tropical Southeast Asia. Looking closely with a magnifying glass, a palm tree and a tropical rain forest are painted on the Malay Peninsula, while rows of tall trees are painted on the small island in the west of Java Island. Similarly, various kinds of vegetation have been drawn in Japan, the Philippines and the Kalimantan Islands, with bright colors and diverse styles, enriching the amount of earth information contained in the charts.

There are many ancient navigation names marked in Famous Map, most of which are the same as those recorded in Farewell to the Wind and Kautung Kauxi, but some of them are not found in historical and geographical documents and ancient place names dictionaries, such as Hong Kong, Tang Fu, Huarenju and Barisavic in Philippine Islands and Indonesian Islands. Such as "humanization" was rarely mentioned in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Huang Ke, a native of Zhangzhou who lived in the Philippines at the end of 18, said in "A Brief Introduction to Luzon": "Luzon belongs to Polygonum xerophytum. Silk flew and the name of the country changed. In the northern corner of Haixi, the country doesn't know. Since the enfeoffment system, a large number of gold and silver treasures have been produced, which are blended with Helan, Bransi and Hongmao, commonly known as pine nuts, also known as real spot cattle. " Humanized people are what Chinese living in the Philippines call Spaniards, while Chinese mainland residents call Spaniards "silk flies". Therefore, the discovery of famous maps can fill the gap in the research field of ancient nautical place names.

Judging from this chart, the cartographer should be familiar with the geography of the eastern ocean and overseas traffic routes and master the achievements of the eastern and western maps, otherwise it is impossible to draw this map.

Ming map changed the traditional drawing method of China ancient world map, and accurately showed the geographical relationship between China and East Asia. On the ancient world map of China, China was always in the center, and foreign countries were scattered around like tiny circles.

This kind of official painting method divorced from geographical reality has been used until the Qing Dynasty. The area delineated in Mingtu starts from Siberia in the north, reaches Java Island and Maluku Islands (spice islands) in the south, reaches Japanese Islands and Philippine Islands in the east, and reaches Myanmar and southern India in the west, thus forming a pattern of integration between China and East Asia. It can be said that this picture broke the royal "world view" and expressed the folk "ocean view". And this kind of "ocean view" is unique to the maritime merchants in Zhangzhou Yuegang.

Quanzhou Port is an official port, with government-run trade as the main trade target and Arab countries as the trade target. Yuegang is a private port, which is mainly used by Chinese businessmen for foreign trade. The overseas trade targets are Southeast Asia and Japan. Haicheng county, where Zhangzhou Yuegang is located, has always had the social custom of competing for the sea. Ming Chongzhen's "Haicheng County Records" records: "Those who attach importance to mental and physical strength often regard high waves as buildings and rely on sails as a link. Anyone who catches a fish and a flute runs around in the salt. It is a good thing to build a rich family, and the poor is a servant. They have lost the products of China, and they can go abroad and return to their homes. The profit can be ten times, so they are folk music. Although there are many fish escaping from the net, thieves and slaves are charming people as car arms, but the drums and the world continue, the hardships are still sweet, and they are used to it, saying that their lives have never exceeded this ... When they get rich, they are called Xiaosuhang, not Yuegang? " The social custom of "the moon and the harbor compete for the sea" is the embodiment of this "ocean view". Mr. Chen Ziqiang, an expert in the history of maritime business relations, believes that there were tens of thousands of "maritime businessmen" in Haicheng in the Ming Dynasty. This maritime business group was composed of overseas businessmen and maritime personnel, with high quality of maritime business (humanistic quality and technical quality). Moreover, from the Ming map, the names of Japan and the west coast of the Philippines are described in detail, which shows that cartographers are quite familiar with these routes. For example, when sailing to Japan, People's Book records that when Ryukyu closed the ship, "the ship was mostly operated by Zhang." From the needle route of "Wu Tai to Luzon" in "blowing in the wind", we can also know that the maritime merchants in Xiaoyue Port have started a new route to the Philippines through the Taiwan Province Strait and the southern waters of Taiwan Province Island. The author believes that the draftsman should be a maritime merchant in Zhangzhou Yuegang. However, due to the low cultural level of most maritime merchants in Guangdong and Hong Kong at that time, it was impossible to draw such charts by maritime merchants alone. Since the Song Dynasty, Fujian maritime merchants have often brought down-and-out literati to live in Nanyang for a period of time every year, which is called "staying in winter", but some literati have settled down for a long time and turned to business. Judging from the painting level of Mingtu, the painter is familiar with the geography and products of Nanyang, so he may be a Minnan scholar living in Nanyang. From this point of view, Mingtu should be painted by Chinese businessmen in Zhangzhou of Wandan, who invited educated Chinese businessmen in Nanyang.