Nansenbushu Bankoku Shoka No Zu (Outline Map of All Countries of the Universe)

A seminal map. This is the first Japanese printed map to depict the world, including Europe and America, from a Buddhist cosmographical perspective. Printed by woodblock in 1710 (Hoei 7), this map was composed by the Buddhist monk Rokashi Hotan. Inspired by the 1653 publication of the Xiyouji (西游记, Jap. Si-yu-ki), a pilgrimage narrative of the Chinese monk Xuanzang's (602-604) travels to India in search of sacred Buddhist sutras, Rokashi Hotan's map attempts to update Buddhist mythological cartography, as exemplified in the 1634 manuscript map Gotenjikuzu (Map of the Five Regions of India), to correspond with the Xiyouji, as well as with contemporary and ancient religious texts, Chinese annals, travel narratives, and even some European maps. Rokashi Hotan lists these texts, 102 in all, at the top of the map. The consequent product of Rokashi Hotan's work is this magnificent amalgam of disparate ideas and traditions. In essence this is a traditional Buddhist world view in the Gotenjikuzu mold centered on the world spanning continent of Jambu-Dvipa. At its center is Lake Anavatapta, a whirlpool-like quadruple helix lake believed to be the center of the universe. This lake, which is c

Date

1710

Place

Asia

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

5,837 × 4,678 pixels

Need maps for a whole project? Add Find Any Map to Claude and ask for this one by its id: 143945.