Back to Table of Contents 7 

To next page 

The Mao K'un Map (introduction)

----------------------------

Mao Kun map, usually referred to in modern Chinese sources as Zheng He's Navigation Map  鄭和航海圖. The very important map is a surviving document from the expeditions of Zheng He. It is the earliest known Chinese map to give an adequate representation of Southern Asia, Persia, Arabia and East Africa.

Taken from : Teobaldo Filesi: China's discovery of Africa.

                 Neville Chitick: East Africa and the Orient

                 Ma Huan: Ying yai sheng lan chiao chu ; translated by J.V.G. Mills.

                 Kuei-Sheng Chang : in Terrae Incognitae III

                 Duyvendak : China's Discovery of Africa 

                 Website of Library of Congress  
This is the end of the Mao Kun map; the beginning is on the bottom. It consists of many maps from different pages of the manuscript put together.

 

 

 

 

 The last page of the map (up here) shows in the middle the island of Hormuz down from it is the Arabian Peninsula, in the left under corner the entrance to the persian gulf and

on the right side of the map the coast of India.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here in the south of Arabia Aden is mentioned. (Text in the square)

 
In the left corner the entrance to the Red Sea, the island of Socotra (the big island in front of it), and the east-coast of Africa which just starts.

 

 

 

 

 

In the middle are the Maldives.

The very last name in the left under corner is Mogadishu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Male island here in the ocean followed by very big Ceylon.

 

 

The furthest point reached is called Habuer. There it is said heavy storms stopped the fleet going further. It does not show up on the map only in the annotations.
Important place names are accompanied by a statement of their latitude in terms of the altitude of the pole star measured in "chih" fingers and "chiao" quarters (a direct translation of the Arabic isba - fingers and Zam) above the horizon. This practice is absent from the other parts of the map.
This proves that the Chinese used Arabic material to assemble the map of east Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lambri; the beginning of the long island in the middle of the map = Sumatra.
The long island on the left side of the map has no names in it and is unknown.

 

 

                                   Java Island

Borneo island on this side

 

 

 

                                    Mount Putuo 

 

 

 

 

 

Mao kun's chart depicts a voyage from Nanjing (here) to the island of Hormuz (on top of the map) in the Persian Gulf and to the East African coast. In his preface to the map in Section 240 of the Wu bei zhi, Mao Yuanyi Mao Yuanyi wrote: His (Zheng He's) maps record carefully and correctly roads, distances, countries, and lands.

They will inform future generations.

This is a reproduction of Zeng He's 1422 - 21 feet long sailing map. Published in Wu Pei Chih (1620) (Notes of military preparations) by Mao Yuan-Yi.
The map however is made by Mao Kun (1511-1601) his grandfather.
This are dates quite outside our historical period, but the original records of Zheng He's voyages have been destroyed.
                               
It consists of different maps of which the last ones shows Zheng He's voyages to Africa. Bigger pictures of these maps are added in the next webpages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India continues, and here starts the gulf of Bengal.

 

 

 

 

 

The Mao K'un's map gives specific sailing directions from Male' (capital of the Maldives) to Mogadishu, Cape Comorin and Quilon, (both in Southern India) specifying both astronomical data and exactly how many days it took to reach these destinations.
It took 150 watches direct from Ceylon to Maqdishu.
To navigate from Male to India the instruction reads; Steer exactly 75 deg. After 75 watches the ship makes Quillon.
 
The beginning of this part of the map shows the road to Asia.

 

 

 

 

Four of the star maps of Cheng Ho have survived, unfortunately none about Africa. They were made by Mao Kun (just as the map) and the position of the stars in it makes it possible to decide on when they were made: 1420 with an error of 20 years.

They were however published together with the Mao Kun map. We also know that starting from the southern tip of Sri Lanka to the East Coast of Africa these star maps were the only way to navigate, the compass being to little accurate.

 

 

 

 

Malacca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strait of Singapore

 

 

 

 

 

Belitung island in the middle

Cambodja

 

 

 

 

 

Champa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fuzhou

 

 

Guangdong

 

 

Zhangshou

 

Fujian

 

Zhenjiang

 

Imperial Palace in Nanjing China

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Shipyard for treasure ship.