From star field affiliation to sundial theory: spatial expression in Qing dynasty Taiwan gazetteers

Abstract

Star field affiliation is an important part of ancient Chinese gazetteers. The gazetteers of Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty presented many ‘different opinions’ about the star field affiliation of Taiwan. These different opinions illustrate the difficulty of self-consistency in traditional Chinese star field affiliation theory and reflect the influence of the concept of grand unification on traditional Chinese geographical knowledge. During the Qianlong period, with the introduction of Western surveying and mapping knowledge, the sundial began to replace star field affiliation and became a new geographical positioning theory. Taiwan, whose geographical positioning also completed the transformation from the star field affiliation to sundial theory at the end of the Qing Dynasty, witnessed the replacement of traditional Chinese place knowledge with cosmopolitan knowledge. Looking back at the writings regarding the star field affiliation in Taiwan gazetteers in the Qing Dynasty, there was both debate and consensus.