Daedong yeojido (Map of the Great East) (2002)

This is the copy of the Daedong yeojido, one of several surviving editions, held at the Seoul Museum of History. Made in 1861, the 12th year of King Cheoljong, by Kim Jeong-ho (pen name Gosanja; dates of birth and death unknown), this map stands at the pinnacle of Joseon cartography and is regarded as the finest of Korea's old maps. The country was divided from north to south into 22 cheop, folding albums, so arranged that when all are aligned from top to bottom they form a single map of the whole country. The first cheop contains a grid scale, a legend and explanatory notes (jidoyuseol), a map of the capital's five wards, together with maps of Onseong, Jongseong and Gyeongwon, the northernmost region of Joseon. The jidoyuseol discusses the origins of Chinese maps and geographical treatises and reviews their historical significance, explaining that maps and geographies are indispensable in every field - politics, economy, national defence and scholarship - and states the purpose of the compilation while setting out accurate principles of surveying used in making the map. Each folded page within a cheop covers 80 li east to west and 120 li north to south. Each woodblock carries two pages and is carved on both faces; it is estimated that around 70 woodblocks were used to produce the map. Joined together, the 22 cheop form a large map measuring about 6.7 m from north to south and 3.8 m from east to west, at a scale of roughly 1:160,000. The coastline and islands, the topography of mountains and rivers, and the local prefectures are drawn with close correspondence to reality. The roads linking prefectures carry dots at every 10-li interval, allowing distances between prefectures to be measured. Within each prefecture, features such as military camps, county seats, fortresses and moats, garrisons, storehouses, pasture grounds, beacon-fire stations, royal tombs, villages, former county seats, former garrisons, old mountain fortresses and roads are all marked. Kim Jeong-ho, the map's creator, was a scholar of Silhak (Practical Learning) and a geographer who devoted his life entirely to making maps and compiling geographical treatises. Besides the treatises Yeodo biji, Dongyeo dojii and Daedong jiji, he produced the Cheonggudo (1834) and the Daedong yeojido. The Daedong yeojido was compiled over several years on the basis of earlier maps and on-site surveys; unlike the hand-copied maps that preceded it, it was produced as a woodblock print, which helped spread geographical information through society. The map was first printed in 1861, the 12th year of King Cheoljong, and reprinted in 1864, the first year of Emperor Gojong. The number of copies printed in the first and second editions is not certain, but given that more than 30 copies survive today in Korea and abroad, a considerable number appear to have been produced. The Daedong yeojijeondo, made in the 19th century at a scale of about 1:900,000, was a reduced version produced and distributed on the basis of this map. In the Seoul Museum of History copy, the population and number of goods for the capital and each province are recorded, giving it bibliographic value; the quality of its woodblock printing, colouring and state of preservation are also highly regarded. While most other surviving copies comprise 22 cheop, this copy is unusual in binding the 21st cheop (Chujado Island) and 22nd cheop (Jeju Island) together, so that the whole comprises 21 cheop. The jidoyuseol is written by hand, and rivers and inland lakes are coloured blue; prefectures and garrisons are outlined in red, and overall the colouring is lighter than in other copies of the map.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Jongno-gu, Seoul

Designation

Treasure · 보물