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Book/Printed Material Jiangyin Shazhou fen tu 江陰沙洲分圖

About this Item

Title

  • Jiangyin Shazhou fen tu

Other Title

  • 江陰沙洲分圖

Translated Title

  • Maps of Shazhou in Jiangyin County

Summary

  • The land on which Shazhou, Jiangyin County, Jiangsu Province (present-day Zhangjiagang) is located was formed by alluvial deposits of the Yangtze River over a period of thousands of years. As the land grew and changed, local people made paintings of the area, which they petitioned the authorities to acquire. Measurements of the narrow strip of land formed by the river deposits differed, and those seeking to obtain land often conspired with officials, resulting in lawsuits and disorder. Two officials, Wu Heng and Xie Cunbin, together with the magistrate of Jiangyin, finally were given the task of surveying and measuring Shazhou, including the newly purchased territory of Shouxingsha and Laosha. The two men worked diligently, sometimes during rain and snow, to complete their work in five months. These maps contain the results of their survey. They came up with an estimate of 61,200 mu (a Chinese land measure; 1 mu = 613.2 square meters) of newly acquired alluvial land, and 51,000 mu of the lands acquired earlier. They then ranked the land according to different levels of quality and submitted their report to the authorities. In addition, they gradually settled all unresolved land disputes. The surveyors used an ancient bow-shaped wooden device to measure the area following the direction of a magnetic compass. They followed Pei's six basic principles of cylindrical projection, taking into consideration land position, curves, and other factors. Several inspectors of the survey and two cartographers, Chen Enqing and Huang Fushen, also contributed to the work. The maps produced by the survey are in three sections. The first depicts the newly acquired land, with more than 100 illustrations, bound in two volumes. At the front of the maps is an essay written by Wu Heng on the history of the area. The second part contains eight maps, dealing with the cultivated land, in one volume. The third section deals with the lands of the original acquisition in two volumes, volume one of which has 41 illustrations depicting Changyinsha, Wushansha and Dingtaosha, and volume two of which contains 53 illustrations depicting Shouxingsha (south and north). All these illustrations are executed in an extremely refined style.

Created / Published

  • Jiangyin, China : [Publisher not identified], 1880.

Headings

  • -  China--Jiangsu Province--Jiangyin
  • -  1880
  • -  Historical geography

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Only the essay and juan 2 are included in the WDL presentation."--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 5 juan, 5 volumes, 31.9 x 31 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Central Library.
  • -  Content in Chinese.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
  • -  Title revised per Asian Division.--cc28 2023-01-06

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • Chinese Books, Manuscripts, Maps, and Prints

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666357

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Jiangyin Shazhou fen tu. [Jiangyin, China: Publisher not identified, 1880] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666357/.

APA citation style:

(1880) Jiangyin Shazhou fen tu. [Jiangyin, China: Publisher not identified] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666357/.

MLA citation style:

Jiangyin Shazhou fen tu. [Jiangyin, China: Publisher not identified, 1880] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666357/>.