Haedong Samgukdo

Infobox Korean name


caption=
hangul=해동삼국도
hanja=linktext|海|東|三|國|圖
rr=Haedong Samgukdo
mr=Haedong samkukdo

"Haedong Samkukdo", literally "map of three eastern countries", is an old Korean map drawn by an anonymous author in unknown period of time. It's a kind of traffic map drawn from Mǎnzhōu to southern coast of China, Taiwan, Ryukyu and Japan as well as Joseon. It has been kept at Kyujanggak which was the former Joseon royal library, now located in Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea. [(Eng)http://kyujanggak.snu.ac.kr/kiks/index.do] The map is 248.0cm by 264.4cm.

The map's accuracy is greater compared with other maps in the same era, its contents are overwhelmingly close to the real world. It is assumed that some parts of China were based on 'Hwangyeocheonramdo」", and parts of Joseon were referred to "「Dongkukjido」" drawn by Jeong Sanggi (정상기). Japan is described in detail except Hokkaido, and the western coast line of Taiwan is also shown in the map.

The map shows that Eastern Asia was becoming recognizable area with precise information of roads, post-houses, and signal-fires.

To nip national defensive problem in the bud, Joseon had no interest in road information before this map. They got to know the importance of that sort of information in age of Yeongjo.On the other hand, many maps which show Eastern Asia were drawn for confirming Joseon as a cultural core among neighboring countries. In this way, their aim on making map was not offering geographical fact but cultural pride against other countries and they distorted the world on purpose.

"「Haedongsamkukdo」" was a new type of map in terms of more objective and realistic recognition of Eastern Asia in the late Joseon.

References