Pei Xiu (224–271),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theob ...

Jiyan, was a Chinese cartographer, geographer, politician, and writer of the state of

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

period and Jin dynasty of China. He was very much trusted by Sima Zhao, and participated in the suppression of

Zhuge Dan Zhuge Dan (died 10 April 258), courtesy name Gongxiu, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. When he held key military appointments throughout his middle to late career, h ...

's rebellion. Following

Sima Yan Emperor Wu of Jin (; 236 – 16 May 290), personal name Sima Yan (), courtesy name Anshi (安世), was the grandson of Sima Yi, nephew of Sima Shi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin dynasty after forcing Cao Huan, ...

taking the throne of the newly established Jin dynasty, he and Jia Chong had Cao Huan deprived of his position to accord to the will of heaven. In the year 267, Pei Xiu was appointed as the Minister of Works in the Jin government.Needham, Volume 3, 538. Pei Xiu outlined and analysed the advancements of

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

, surveying and mathematics up until his time. He criticised earlier

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

maps for their lack of precision and quality when representing scale and measured distances, although 20th century archaeological excavations and findings of maps predating the third century prove otherwise. There is also evidence that Zhang Heng (78–139) was the first to establish the grid reference system in Chinese cartography.

As a cartographer

Pei Xiu is best known for his work in

. Although professional map-making and use of the grid had existed in China before him,Needham, Volume 3, 106–107. he was the first to mention a plotted geometrical

grid reference A projected coordinate system, also known as a projected coordinate reference system, a planar coordinate system, or grid reference system, is a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on the Earth using cartesian coordin ...

and graduated scale displayed on the surface of maps to gain greater accuracy in the estimated distance between different locations.Needham, Volume 3, 538–540. Historian Howard Nelson asserts that there is ample written evidence that Pei Xiu derived the idea of the grid reference from the map of Zhang Heng (78–139 CE), a polymath inventor and statesman of the Eastern Han period. Robert Temple asserts that Zhang Heng should also be credited as the first to establish the mathematical grid in cartography, as evidenced by his work in maps, the titles of his lost books, and the hint given in the '' Book of Later Han'' (i.e. Zhang Heng "cast a network of coordinates about heaven and earth, and reckoned on the basis of it"). Xiu also created a set of large-area maps that were drawn to scale. He produced a set of principles that stressed the importance of consistent scaling, directional measurements, and adjustments in land measurements in the terrain that was being mapped. The preface to Pei Xiu's written work was preserved in the 35th volume of the ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang ...

'', which is the official history for the Jin dynasty and one of the

Twenty-four Histories The ''Twenty-Four Histories'' (), also known as the ''Orthodox Histories'' (), are the Chinese official dynastic histories covering from the earliest dynasty in 3000 BC to the Ming dynasty in the 17th century. The Han dynasty official Sima Qia ...

. It was written in the ''Book of Jin'' that Pei Xiu made a critical study of ancient texts in order to update the naming conventions of geographic locations described in old texts. His maps – drawn on rolls of silk – were presented to Emperor Wu, who preserved them in the imperial court's archives.Needham, Volume 3, 541. Pei Xiu's maps have since been lost, decayed or destroyed.Needham, Volume 3, 540. Yet the oldest existing terrain maps from China date to the fourth century BCE, found in a Qin tomb in present-day Gansu in 1986.Hsu, 90.

maps from the second century BCE were found earlier in the 1973 excavation of Mawangdui. In 1697, the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

cartographer Hu Wei (胡渭) reconstructed Pei Xiu's maps in his ''Yugong Zhuizhui'' (禹貢錐指, ''A Few Points on the Vast Subject of the Yu Gong''). Modern scholars have also used Pei Xiu's writing to reproduce his works, and historians such as Herrmann have compared Pei Xiu to other great ancient cartographers such as the Greek cartographer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importance ...

(83–161).

Written works

Pei Xiu wrote a preface to his maps with essential background information regarding older maps in China. He also provided a great deal of criticism about the existing maps from the

in his time. Later Chinese ideas about the quality of maps made during the Han dynasty and before stem from the assessment given by Pei Xiu, which was not a positive one. Pei Xiu noted that the extant Han maps at his disposal were of little use since they featured too many inaccuracies and exaggerations in measured distance between locations.Hsu, 96. However, the Qin maps and Mawangdui maps of the Han dynasty discovered by modern archaeologists were far superior in quality than those examined and criticised by Pei Xiu. It was not until the 20th century that Pei Xiu's third century assessment of earlier maps' dismal quality would be overturned and disproven. The makers of the Han maps were familiar with the use of scale, while the Qin map makers had pinpointed the course of rivers with some accuracy.Hsu, 97. What these earlier maps did not feature was topographical

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

, which Pei Xiu would outline with his six principles of cartography. Pei Xiu's preface describes geographers in the

Xia Xia (Hsia in Wade–Giles) may refer to: Chinese history * Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC), the first orthodox dynasty in Chinese history * Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms) (407–431), a Xiongnu-led dynasty * Xia (617–621), a state founded by Dou Ji ...

, Shang and Zhou dynasties, although the earliest known geographical work was the ''

Yu Gong The ''Yu Gong'' () or ''Tribute of Yu'' is a chapter of the ''Book of Xia'' (夏書/夏书) section of the ''Book of Documents'', one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. The chapter describes the legendary Yu the Great and the ...

'' chapter of the ''Shu Ji'' or '' Book of Documents'', compiled in the fifth century BCE during the mid Zhou period.Needham, Volume 3, 500. Pei Xiu also referred to

Xiao He Xiao He (257 BC–193 BC) was a Chinese politician of the early Western Han dynasty. He served Liu Bang (Emperor Gao), the founder of the Han dynasty, during the insurrection against the Qin dynasty, and fought on Liu's side in the Chu–Han C ...

(died 193), who assembled the maps made during the fall of the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

. This was done after the founder of the

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Empe ...

(died 195 BC), had sacked the city of

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

. Pei Xiu states: Pei Xiu continues his preface with short background information on the conquests by the Jin dynasty and the impressive maps commissioned by Sima Zhao (211–264). He then described the methods he used to create new maps while examining the ancient text of the ''Yu Gong'' or ''Tribute of Yu'' to create historical maps: Pei Xiu outlined six principles that should be observed when creating a map. He then defended his position and each of the six principles with a short explanation as to how they provide better accuracy in map-making and cartography. The first three principles outlined the use of scale (''fenlü''), direction (''zhunwang'') and road distance (''daoli''), while the last three principles are used to properly calculate distances on uneven terrain as represented on a flat, two dimensional map.Hsu, 96–97. Pei Xiu states:

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pei, Xiu 224 births 271 deaths 3rd-century geographers Cao Wei politicians Chinese cartographers Chinese geographers Chinese non-fiction writers Jin dynasty (266–420) politicians Jin dynasty (266–420) writers Pei clan of Hedong Scientists from Shanxi Writers from Shanxi

As a cartographer

Written works

See also

Notes

References