The Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 Version of the 'Nine Provinces': Some Parallels with Transmitted Texts

The Rong Cheng shi 容成氏 Version of the 'Nine Provinces': Some Parallels with Transmitted Text

Contradicting Representations of the Yellow River Source in Song Cartography

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A History of a Spatial Relationship: Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River Source from Chinese Cosmography through to Western Cartography

International audienceKunlun Mountain and the Yellow River belong to the general knowledge one has about Chinese cosmography and geography. Kunlun is a cosmic mountain typologically similar and sometimes identified with Mount Meru and at the same time, the name of a long mountain range in the Western part of China. The Yellow River that crosses its territory from the West to the East has long been the symbol of the Chinese state. I argue that Kunlun mountain range and the Yellow River source below it, as they appear in modern Western maps, are cartographic images imported from Chinese cosmography and cartography. In this paper I try to trace this long and complex process. Kunlun Mountain is characterised by an outstandingly broad range of identifications with real mountains. I suggest that this diversity originates from its shifting cosmological “positions” that varied between specific spatial conceptions or depended on political and ideological needs that differed both between written sources and historical periods. I propose to test this hypothesis by exploring the concept of Kunlun as a location of the Yellow River source. I shall examine the first occurrences of Kunlun as the Yellow River source in early Chinese texts and depictions of Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River source in Chinese maps. Finally, I shall show how and which cartographic images of the Yellow River source and Kunlun Mountain were transferred to Western cartography

A History of a Spatial Relationship: Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River Source from Chinese Cosmography through to Western Cartography

International audienceKunlun Mountain and the Yellow River belong to the general knowledge one has about Chinese cosmography and geography. Kunlun is a cosmic mountain typologically similar and sometimes identified with Mount Meru and at the same time, the name of a long mountain range in the Western part of China. The Yellow River that crosses its territory from the West to the East has long been the symbol of the Chinese state. I argue that Kunlun mountain range and the Yellow River source below it, as they appear in modern Western maps, are cartographic images imported from Chinese cosmography and cartography. In this paper I try to trace this long and complex process. Kunlun Mountain is characterised by an outstandingly broad range of identifications with real mountains. I suggest that this diversity originates from its shifting cosmological “positions” that varied between specific spatial conceptions or depended on political and ideological needs that differed both between written sources and historical periods. I propose to test this hypothesis by exploring the concept of Kunlun as a location of the Yellow River source. I shall examine the first occurrences of Kunlun as the Yellow River source in early Chinese texts and depictions of Kunlun Mountain and the Yellow River source in Chinese maps. Finally, I shall show how and which cartographic images of the Yellow River source and Kunlun Mountain were transferred to Western cartography

Conception of Terrestrial Organization in the Shan Hai Jing

Résumé Cet article décrit la vision du monde terrestre telle qu'elle se manifeste dans le Shan hai jing (« Classique des montagnes et des mers », compilé vers le début du Ier siècle), un des textes les plus importants de la cosmographie chinoise ancienne. Ce texte se caractérise par l'étendue de la région géographique considérée, par le nombre de détails fournis et notamment par un arrangement rigoureusement systématique des données. Trois aspects de la conception de l'espace apparaissent dans le Shan hai jing. 1° Le Shan haij'ing fournit un schéma-prescription pour se déplacer pas à pas dans le monde, visant la "(re)production" de l'espace propre. 2° La division de la surface terrestre donne a chaque section un statut sacré défini par rapport à la distribution des forces divines. Le modèle terrestre "(re)produit" projette une sorte de paysage spirituel, qui ne se réfère pas exactement à la topographie réelle. 3° Le Shan hai jing prétend transmettre une pratique ancienne d'organisation de l'espace, établie par l'empereur mythique Yu le Grand. La procédure prescrite est assimilée par les Chinois à une mise en ordre du monde, qui était conçue comme l'un des moyens de gouverner l'État.Dorofeeva-Lichtmann Vera V. Conception of Terrestrial Organization in the Shan Hai Jing. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 82, 1995. pp. 57-110

Ritual Practices for Constructing Terrestrial Space (Warring States-Early Han)

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Creating and Representing Sacred Spaces

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Graphics and Text in the Production of Technical Knowledge in China: The Warp and the Weft

International audienceDrawing on history of science and philosophy of knowledge, this wide-ranging collection of essays on varieties of diagram, schema, technical illustration and chart offers a challenging new interpretation of technical knowledge in Chinese thought and practice