Gangnido

The Honil Gangni Yeokdae Gukdo Ji Do ("Map of Integrated Lands and Regions of Historical Countries and Capitals."^[1]), often abbreviated as Kangnido, is a world map created in Korea, produced by Yi Hoe and Kwon Kun in 1402.^[2]

The Kangnido is one of the oldest surviving world maps from East Asia, along with the (ca. 1398) Chinese Da Ming Hun Yi Tu.^[3] Surviving copies of both the Kangnido and the Da Ming Hun Yi Tu all bear later revisions, and the original, unrevised forms of both maps are uncertain. Nevertheless, the surviving copies of the Kangnido constitute one of the most important materials for reconstructing the original form of the 14th-century Chinese map. As a world map, it reflects the geographic knowledge of China during the Mongol Empire when geographical information about Western countries became available via Islamic geographers.^[4]

It depicts the general form of the Old World, from Africa and Europe in the west to Japan in the east.^[5] Although, overall, it is less geographically accurate than its Chinese cousin, most obviously in the depiction of rivers and small islands, it does feature some improvements (particularly the depictions of Korea and Japan, and a less cramped version of Africa).

General map of the distances and the historic capitals (chinese: Hunyi jiangli lidai guodu zhi tu; japanese: Kon'itsu kyoori rekidai kokuto no zu), Korea, roughly 1402. Ink and paint on paper. Height 220 cm, width 289 cm. Honkoo-ji Tokiwa Museum of Historical Materials, Shimabara, Nagasaki prefecture. Based on two Chinese maps from the 14th century, Shengjiao guangbei tu(Big map that shows the pronounciation of place names) and Hunyi jiangli tu (General map of the distances also showing historical capitals [of China]). Both maps were brought to Korea in 1368, and put together to one new map around 1402. The most obvious feature distinguishing this later version from the original Kangnido is the more correct size and orientation of Japan. The geographical knowledge represented in the map beyond China and Korea seems mainly a result of 14th century trade connections within the Mongol Empire. On the western edge of the map the names Marseille and Sevilla have been identified. Note the depiction of the Cape of Good Hope, the second-earliest known to date. Note: The "crack" on the left side of the image is due to the map being printed on two adjacent pages in the source, an exhibition catalogue. It is not from the original (just in case someone might wonder).

한국어: 혼일강리역대국도지도, 1402년.