Maps and supporting materials from the Hanzhong Fu Gazetteer of 1813
Yan Ruyi and the Hanzhong Gazetteer maps of 1813:
In the 13th Jiaqing year (1808) of the Qing period, the scholar official Yan Ruyi (严如熤, 1759~1826) was appointed as Hanzhong Zhifu (Prefect). While he was in Hanzhong, Yan Ruyi made many contributions to the development of local educational institutions and cultural activities. He also managed the production of the “Hanzhong Gazetteer” (Yan and Zheng, 1813; 严如熤,《漢中續修府志》) and was engaged, also with the help and support of Zheng Bingran, in a much more extensive mapping activity of the Qinling and other regions of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei and Gansu that reached its conclusions at the beginning of the reign period of the Daoguang Emperor in 1822. These efforts were all responses to the desire of the Qing government to gather information to help provide greater security throughout the wild border region of the four Provinces. The first known outcomes of this extended period of mapping were the maps and Gazetteer information in the Hanzhong Fu Zhi (Hanzhong 1813 Gazetteer) in 1813. From the later time period until 1822 at the beginning of the Daoguang Emperor's time we only know of a few maps. One was called “Map of the four provinces in the north bank of the Han River” and it is known by a copy being included in the US Library of Congress Chinese Map collection. Two more official, better drawn and updated copies of this map and a companion map of the area of the Han catchment South of the Han River are in the collection of the Taipei Palace Museum in Taiwan. The “Complete overview of defence conditions in three provinces” (Yan Ruyi, 1822) contains maps of the whole area, is most up to date and is treated separately in the Qinling Roads to Shu web site (see HERE). The web page has references to translated papers and books describing the Library of Congress Collection. The maps produced by Yan Ruyi for the “Hanzhong 1813 Gazetteer” are the subject of this page and maps and materials can be found below.
Yan, Ruyi and Zheng Bingran (1813). “Hanzhong Fu Gazetteer”, in 32 Chapters (In Chinese)
In 2012, Guo Peng published a version of the Republic printed Hanzhong 1813 Gazetteer in large format and revised to use Simplified characters and modern left to right conventions with punctuation. This makes it easier to read but does prevent some study of the original characters. The re-drawn maps are to scale and very clear and well drawn. They are therefore used here to develop a set for the Northern Plank Road map and also other maps. In some cases the originals will be provided as well when sufficiently clear scans of reprinted woodblock versions are available. The reference for Guo Peng's book is:
Guo Peng (2012). “Jiaqing Hanzhong Fu Gazetteer”, Sanqin Press, Sept. 2012.
Maps of the Hanzhong 1813 Gazetteer
Maps in the Hanzhong 1813 Gazetteer are:
Table of Sections from the Landscape View "Northern Plank Road Map" (use "back" to return to Table)
The Map of the Northern Plank Road is a landscape "birdseye" view map that follows the main northern Postal Road from the border between Hanzhong Fu and Baoji Fu near Huangniu Station through to the border with Sichuan Province Guangyuan Fu at Qipan Pass. This map makes very interesting comparisons with an earlier Qing Period map that is part of the US Library of Congress collection. It is described in this web site HERE and the page includes images as well as a number of translated papers and discussions about the map by various Chinese historians.
A (large) 45 MB zip file containing the Jpeg images of the pictures in the Table can be downloaded HERE.
If you have sufficient bandwidth, a VERY LARGE 160 MB zip file containing the Jpeg
images of the Map Sections at highest resolution can also be downloaded HERE.
Table of other Maps from the Hanzhong Gazetteer (use "back" to return to Table)
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