Abstract Focused at the intersection of the history of books, sciences, and the circulation of knowledge between China and Europe, this article aims to shed light on the genesis of the Flora Sinensis (1656) written by Father Michał Piotr Boym (1612–1659), and the processes of the circulation of Chinese images and knowledge. Through the study of several Chinese painting manuals published during the seventeenth century, our aim is to demonstrate that the Tuhui zongyi is the most likely source of the animal illustrations in the Flora Sinensis. This hypothesis will be supported by an analysis of two of Boym’s cartographic projects, which also include illustrations from the Tuhui zongyi, the Vatican atlas, and a fragment of a Boym wall map discovered in a private collection in 2023. Noting that Boym’s maps contain illustrations of the Tuhui zongyi that are absent from the Flora, we suggest that Boym acquired this painting manual for the purpose of decorating his cartographic works.

Abstract In the eighteenth century, Japanese honzōgaku developed to engage more actively with an empirical mode of study that put more emphasis on sensory and visual information, complementing the classical texts from China and Korea and correcting the names contained in these texts. The further introduction by honzō scholars of observation and accurate illustration, as well as of the use of material artefacts such as specimens, developed alongside the continued importance of the philological study of the classics, rather than replacing it. Using as primary materials the “Records of Medicinal Ingredients” found among the Documents of the Tsushima Clan, this essay examines a Japanese project to survey flora and fauna in Korea during the Edo period in order to shed light on the growing emphasis on visual accuracy in the study of nature. It also highlights how the circulation of texts inspired changes in how people conceived of natural objects and constructed materia medica knowledge in the context of Tokugawa Japan.

Abstract In the early eighteenth century, the Kangxi emperor was presented with two maps in Chinese, one each from the officials Gioro Mamboo and Shi Shipiao. The maps showed southern China and Southeast Asia and were based on Dutch charts. The officials presented the maps at a time when the emperor had recently issued a law restricting Chinese trade in Southeast Asia. The map presented by Shi Shipiao adds information about sailing routes and export goods that were subject to the trade restrictions imposed by the emperor. This article argues that rather than being intended to provide a representation of seafaring knowledge, Shi aimed to use the map he presented to convince the emperor to lift the restrictions he had imposed on trade. This therefore provides an example of how maps could be used for political ends. In contrast to many other Chinese maps influenced by European sciences, these two maps show no Jesuit involvement but resemble the Selden Map as well as Japanese and Buginese charts, representing a maritime perspective in the history of knowledge exchange.