The History of Cartography, vol. 2, bk. 2, Cartography in the Traditional East and Southeast Asian Societies ed. by J. B. Harley, David Woodward

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Book Reviews The History of Cartography, vol. 2, bk. 2, Cartography in the Traditional East and Southeast Asian Societies. Edited byJ. B. Harley and David Woodward. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Pp. xxvii+970; illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $195.00. This massive book, like the two previously published volumes in the History of Cartography series, is in every sense a magnificent pro­ duction. Its scope is remarkable, its detail exhaustive, and its illus­ trations (forty color plates and over 500 halftone reproductions) ex­ quisite. The editors’ definition of cartography is a broad one. Geographical maps, ranging in scale from the architectural to the global, form the bulk of the materials discussed. But extensive treat­ ment is also given to celestial and cosmographical maps, the latter representing imaginary and quasi-imaginary lands as well as heavens and hells. Previous attempts at writing the history of cartography in the region pale in comparison. The overall tone of the book is one of cultural pluralism. The editors stress that the diverse cartographic traditions of the region were markedly distinct from those of the modern West, especially inasmuch as they rarely acknowledged a division between objective and subjective criteria. In the mapping cultures of East and South­ east Asia, aesthetic values were often placed above spatial accuracy, and a multiplicity of perspectives were often employed. The disap­ pearance of these rich indigenous traditions over the last century is portrayed as a distinct loss to the global cartographic repertoire. This stance is most clearly apparent in the section on China, writ­ ten by assistant editor Cordell Yee. Yee single-handedly authored six of the volume’s twenty substantive chapters, effectively creating a 200-page book-within-the-book. His contributions collectively ad­ vance a revision ofJoseph Needham’s now-standard thesis on Chi­ nese cartography. Beginning in the 1950s, Needham and his col­ leagues showed that a remarkable and hitherto unknown mathematical sophistication was present in Chinese maps from as early as the 1100s. This led Needham to conclude that a science of mensuration and projection emerged early in China (from which it would later influence the apparently revolutionary development of scientific cartography in Europe) and to envisage a fundamental Permission to reprint a review printed in this section may be obtained only from the reviewer. 340 Technology and culture Book Reviews 341 convergence ofmapping traditions in Eurasia’s far East and far West as mathematic precision gained in both areas. Yee disputes these interpretations. While not denying that the Chi­ nese were capable of mapping with remarkable spatial accuracy as early as the Song dynasty, he contends that these capabilities were never fully developed. For one thing, a genuine system of carto­ graphic projection never developed because Chinese mapmakers generally conceived of the earth as flat; Yee insists that the grids found on early maps were not analogous to the graticule of the West­ ern tradition. For another, Chinese mapmakers simply did not prior­ itize mathematical precision. The mainstream of Chinese cartogra­ phy until the late 1800s was amateur and artistic, firmly rooted in a tradition of landscape painting and poetry. Maps were designed to suggest the experience ofa place as much as to portray geographical relationships. Moreover, they were almost never meant to stand alone. A strong tradition of reverence for the written word ensured that cartography remained a secondary, illustrative art. As a result, accurate information about distance and direction was preferentially conveyed in text form, obviating the need for a consistent scale on the maps. In clear, fluent prose, Yee demonstrates the contributions that a sophisticated postmodern stance can bring to geography. Naturally, his chapters have their limitations. In particular, his revisionist mis­ sion leads Yee to downplay the scientific tradition of mapmaking and surveying in China. Gari Ledyard’s chapter on Korea strikes a better balance in this respect. In fact, Ledyard’s essay may be the book’s high point. Although it is routinely ignored in the ChinaandJapan -dominated scholarship on East Asia, Korea is here shown to have had an impressive and highly distinctive cartographic tradi­ tion of its own. The remainder of the volume documents the carto­ graphic traditions ofJapan, Vietnam, Greater Tibet and Mongolia...