China

In this account of compiling the Topographic Wall Map of the Republic of China, the editor states that the New Atlas of China used the same format and compilation methods. Drawing on the atlas’s introductory notes, the article lists source materials by province and for the country as a whole, including topographic maps from Chinese survey agencies and maps and survey materials from waterworks authorities, railway survey teams, the Geological Survey, foreign survey agencies, and travellers. The editor notes that provincial surveying conditions and the available materials varied.

The review describes 中華民國新地圖 as a fourteen-sheet atlas planned for Shenbao’s sixtieth anniversary and compiled by a committee including Ding Wenjiang, Weng Wenhao and Zeng Shiying, with a map research office in Beiping. It reports an approximate scale of 1:1,000,000, Lambert projection, and the use of earlier maps and recent survey data. The reviewer praises the compilers’ efforts to assemble and organize material, especially for areas with limited survey coverage, while noting that foreign guidance or assistance may have been involved. Contours and layer colouring are judged to show terrain clearly, and the relatively detailed place-name coverage is considered useful for research on China’s geography.

In the cartography section, G. Y. Chang discusses the New Atlas of the Republic of China, reporting that its compilation drew on 78 maps produced by Chinese and foreign surveying bodies and individuals, plus more than 100 recently determined latitude and longitude positions. He identifies comparatively reliable source material and precise cartographic methods as its principal strengths, and notes the use of the Albers projection for the general map. Its sheets are divided along latitude and longitude lines, while the companion provincial atlas uses provincial boundaries. Chang praises the printing and careful revision of both publications and regards them as opening a new era in Chinese cartography.

This review evaluates The New Map of the Republic of China, planned by Ding Wenjiang, assisted by Weng Wenhao, and edited and supervised by Zeng Shiying. Its purpose is both to establish the atlas’s cartographic and scholarly significance and to identify problems requiring correction or supplementation. Drawing on the history of Chinese cartography, projection theory, geodetic positioning, terrain representation, climatology, and human geography, the reviewer conducts a systematic examination of the atlas’s methods and contents. The atlas synthesizes more than two centuries of Chinese and foreign surveys. It employs the Albers equal-area conic projection for general maps and polyconic projections for detailed sheets, critically consolidates reliable latitude and longitude records for over one thousand locations, and depicts national relief through contour and bathymetric lines with layered coloring. It also contains physical, administrative, urban, climatic, agricultural, mineral, and transportation maps, together with a gazetteer of approximately 37,000 place names. These features make it an unprecedented achievement in Chinese-produced cartography and an important research instrument for its time. The review nevertheless identifies substantial limitations. Its account of the origins of modern Chinese mapping underestimates Matteo Ricci’s earlier introduction of geometric projections and astronomical position measurement. Ordinary polyconic projection is unsuitable for highly precise area calculations, while several provincial boundaries and reported area figures imply a degree of certainty unsupported by available surveys. The atlas also risks equating low elevation with plains, agricultural suitability, or fertile soils and associating topographic divisions too directly with economic regions, thereby reproducing environmental determinism. Its climatic maps suffer from crowded graphics, insufficient documentation of sources, excessive interpolation in sparsely observed regions, reliance on temperatures theoretically reduced to sea level, and inadequate attention to seasonal rainfall, frost-free periods, and growing seasons. Additional weaknesses include inconsistent scales, missing legends, outdated human and transportation information, imprecise terminology, limited bathymetric detail, and failure to show the continental shelf or the varying reliability of regional surveys. The reviewer recommends clearer source criticism, explicit indications of data quality, improved thematic classification, and periodically issued corrections. Finally, by comparing the French and Russian texts of the Treaty of Aigun with the history of taxation and administration, the article argues that the Sixty-Four Villages East of the Amur should not be represented as Russian territory. Overall, the review recognizes the atlas as foundational to the modernization and public dissemination of Chinese cartography while insisting that scientific mapping must respect data precision, theoretical limits, temporal change, and legal-historical evidence.

This review evaluates A New Atlas of China, compiled by V. K. Ting, W. H. Wong, and S. Y. Tseng from authoritative contemporary sources. The atlas contains fifty-three double-page maps, extensive thematic charts, fifty-eight city plans, and a gazetteer of more than 33,000 place-names. Its paired political and physical maps, detailed relief colouring, accurate printing, practical binding, and consistently excellent cartography represent a major achievement. Its principal limitation for Western geographers is the exclusive use of Chinese characters, especially in titles, legends, and the gazetteer. The reviewer recommends adding romanized place-names and cross-referencing tools in a future edition. Despite this accessibility problem, the volume is judged the new standard atlas of China and a testament to the expertise and perseverance of the Chinese Geological Survey.

The article describes the 1934 Zhonghua Minguo Xin Ditu, issued to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Shenbao, as a 53-map atlas with seven general maps, forty-four regional maps, and a place-name index containing more than 36,200 entries. Its regional sheets distinguish human-geographic maps emphasizing settlements, transport routes, towns, and county boundaries from physical maps centered on relief and drainage; a graticule-based sheet system reduces duplication and allows adjacent maps to be joined. The reviewer praises its use of the latest available sources, including large-scale topographic surveys, and judges its copperplate engraving and hypsometric coloring exceptionally refined for its time. The atlas reportedly received strong scholarly acclaim at home and abroad, contributed positively to science and education in Republican-era China, and later provided the basis for the repeatedly reprinted Zhongguo Fensheng Tuji.

The first three volumes of the planned five-volume Chinese National Atlas have been published, covering Taiwan, Tibet, Sinkiang, Mongolia, and North China, with Volumes IV (South China) and V (general maps) expected by October 1962. Edited by Dr. Chi-yun Chang of the Institute of Geography in Taipei, the atlas provides bilingual place names in Chinese and English. U.S. inquiries may be directed to Dr. Jen-hu Chang in Hawaii. Following completion, the institute will focus on a Southeast Asian atlas and research on water resources, agricultural planning, China's resources, Oriental urbanization, and Southeast Asia's economic potential.

This bibliographic review assesses the National Atlas of China, edited by Dr. Chang Chi-yun and published in five volumes in Taipei between 1960 and 1963. It details the contents of each volume, the use of the Lambert conformal projection, principal scales, and the administrative divisions based on the 1947 promulgation, with place names romanized in the Wade-Giles system. The reviewer contends that while the atlas does not surpass the 1934 'New Atlas of the Republic of China' by Ting, Weng, and Zeng in cartographic technique, it adds valuable soil, forest, and vegetation distribution maps, enriches frontier data, and facilitates an overview of Taiwan's physical, human, and economic geography through large-scale maps, reflecting post-WWII developments in Chinese geographical research.

This review assesses the 'National Atlas of China' (1959-1962, 5 volumes), edited by Dr. Chang Chi-yun and published by the National War College in cooperation with the Chinese Geographical Institute. Continuing a long Chinese cartographic tradition, the atlas reflects Nationalist political views: it incorporates Outer Mongolia and Tannu Urianhai as Chinese territory, rejects the MacMahon Line in the Sino-Indian border dispute, and does not recognize administrative changes made by the People's Republic. Each province or region includes political and topographical maps at varying scales; the Taiwan volume (Vol. I) with its detailed regional maps and the 'major languages' map in Vol. V are particularly valuable. The review also notes contemporary articles in 'Imago Mundi' on early cartography, including the Cantino Map, French Florida, Dutch commercial publishing, and French national survey precursors.

Liu Yinnian and Yang Bairu recount the compilation of the General Atlas volume of China’s first National Grand Atlas, commissioned in 1958 to provide provincial base maps for its other three volumes. They describe nationwide collection of current information in 1959, a method of marking selected features on 1:50,000 surveyed topographic maps and photographically reducing them to produce 1:1,500,000 compilation bases, and staff training, quantitative feature selection and provincial review. Eight years of work produced 27 provincial sheets covering 30 provincial-level jurisdictions. After the Cultural Revolution halted the project, efforts to preserve its results secured publication in 1969 as 《中华人民共和国分省地图》 (Provincial Map of the People’s Republic of China), lacking the planned introductory thematic maps and enlarged regional maps. The authors credit these maps with renewing the base material for small-scale mapping and describe the dispersal of trained staff after the surveying administration’s abolition in 1970 and their return to technical work after its restoration in 1973.

The article discusses the Physical Geographical Atlas of China as the first published component of a planned four-volume national atlas. With more than 220 maps and roughly 360,000 Chinese characters of explanatory text, it is described as a concise yet comprehensive account of China’s physical conditions and natural resources. Its distinguishing features include integrated maps of natural divisions, a separate oceanographic series, newly developed scientific subjects, historical and archaeological evidence of environmental change, and a combination of nationwide coverage with detailed representative regions. The authors judge that sustained experimentation, extensive collaborative compilation, and numerous technical measures enabled the atlas to attain a high level of quality.

The article presents the 1965 Natural Atlas and the 1969 provincial atlas as the two substantially completed products of a planned four-volume national atlas. It describes the provincial atlas as a detailed set of 27 provincial and municipal general maps, supplemented by a national administrative map, designed to show settlements, transport networks, terrain, and their spatial relationships for planning, research, and education. The Natural Atlas organizes closely related material into eight thematic groups covering overview maps, geology, landforms, climate, hydrology, soils, biology, and oceans. The reviewer calls it one of China’s finest cartographic works, praising its synthesis of contemporary natural-geography research, expert and cartographic collaboration, thoughtful design, and high production quality; an accompanying explanatory volume of about 350,000 Chinese characters is also valued as an independent geographical work.

The article notes that compilation of the 1965 Natural Atlas of the People’s Republic of China was led by Chen Shupeng. Completed ahead of the other planned national-atlas volumes in 1965 and internally printed and distributed in 1967, it was widely praised and regarded as internationally advanced.

The editors present the National Agricultural Atlas of the People’s Republic of China as the first volume completed in a five-part national atlas project revived in 1981 after an earlier interruption. Edited by geographer Zhou Lisan and containing 300 maps of various sizes, it is said to provide a systematic account of China’s agricultural conditions, characteristics, spatial patterns, achievements, and scientific results, while serving planning, resource management, research, education, international exchange, and public understanding of the country’s agricultural circumstances.

This article provides a systematic introduction to the National Economic Atlas of China, focusing on its scope, data sources, quality assurance, cartographic methods, and scholarly significance. Comprising 265 maps and more than 500 socioeconomic variables, the atlas primarily uses counties and cities as geographic units to portray China’s socioeconomic structure, industrial distribution, and regional disparities. It particularly demonstrates the shift of the country’s economic center toward the eastern and southern provinces. Its principal sources include the 1985–1986 Second National Industrial Census, the 1982 and 1990 population censuses, annual statistics compiled by the State Statistical Bureau, and specialized surveys supplied by more than twenty ministries and commissions. The article gives particular attention to data reliability. The industrial census employed multilevel manual and computerized controls and reported low overall error rates, while the Fourth Population Census likewise achieved a very small net enumeration error. These major datasets are therefore considered highly credible. Through database restructuring, computer-assisted cartography, interactive editing, scientific classification, and specialized indices, the atlas transforms an exceptionally large statistical database into accessible spatial information, supplemented by extensive explanatory texts. The author concludes that the atlas offers a rigorous and non-exaggerated representation of China’s socioeconomic conditions. It makes an important contribution to understanding uneven regional development, industrial spatial relationships, and resource allocation, while also reflecting greater statistical openness under reform and opening-up. Because printed atlases inevitably become outdated, the article advocates developing a new generation of continuously updated electronic atlases.

This paper introduces the background, compilation process, main features, and international impact of the "National Economic Atlas of the People's Republic of China and Its Electronic Version." The project was led by the State Planning Commission, with the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences as the chief editor, and was completed over six years, with the Chinese edition published in 1993 and the English edition in 1994. The atlas contains 265 maps and 250,000 characters of explanatory text, comprehensively reflecting China's resources, population, economy, agriculture, industry, transportation, and other sectors, characterized by scientific completeness, systematicity, and spatial analysis. The electronic version, developed based on EA-ward software, is user-friendly, content-rich, and reaches a world-leading level, receiving high praise from the international cartographic community. The atlas is not only a significant achievement in China's economic geography research but also provides valuable materials for the international community to understand China's economy.

The “National Natural Atlas of China” (1999 edition) contains 540 maps in eight series of general, natural environment (geology and geophysics, geomorphology, climate, hydrology, soil, biology, and oceanography), natural resources, natural disasters and the utilization and protection of nature as well as 300 000 words of notes to the maps.

This paper elaborates on the importance of national atlases and the compilation history of the National Atlas of China, focusing on the characteristics and innovations in its compilation: ① A comprehensive compilation of China's natural, population, economic, social, and historical information; ② A systematic summary and synthesis of research achievements in China's geosciences, biology, environmental science, economics, and history; ③ The compilation of the national atlas adhered to the "sustainable development strategy," highlighting the relationship between humans and nature; ④ The compilation achieved a fundamental transformation from traditional techniques to fully digital and automated processes, with electronic atlases and internet map formats better meeting the demands of the information society. The completion of the National Atlas of China not only holds significant scientific value, practical applications, and social benefits but also comprehensively advances the development of contemporary Chinese cartography. As a major innovative achievement in China's scientific and technological community during the 20th century, this monumental atlas, embodying the wisdom of two to three generations of Chinese scientists and cartographic experts, is unprecedented in China's history and rare on a global scale. The National Atlas of China represents the highest level of current Chinese cartographic development, has exerted considerable international influence, and occupies an important position among national atlases worldwide. Its completion has made a historic and tremendous contribution to the development of Chinese cartography, truly serving as a milestone in the advancement of modern Chinese cartography.

The National Physical Atlas of China is a large-scale comprehensive scientific reference atlas that systematically presents the overall picture of China's natural environment and resources. This paper introduces the compilation background, main contents, and innovative characteristics of the atlas. Based on extensive scientific surveys and observational data accumulated during the 20th century, particularly the past 50 years, the atlas comprehensively reflects China's natural environment, natural resources, natural disasters, and the utilization and conservation of nature. Its innovations include: the first application of fully digital computer-aided design and plate-making technology, marking a revolutionary transition from conventional cartographic techniques; the addition of thematic content reflecting the latest progress in geoscience research; and the systematic presentation of biodiversity research findings. The publication has received high international acclaim and provides an important information foundation for the construction of Digital China.

Qi presents the second edition of the National Atlases of China as an integrated series of independently edited general, physical, economic, agricultural, and historical volumes. He concentrates on the economic and physical atlases and their electronic manifestations, describing their data, thematic organization, digital production, visualization, querying, statistical analysis, animation, and three-dimensional displays. In the editor’s account, compiling these works advanced comprehensive and statistical mapping, computer-assisted cartography, multidimensional data models, and the integration of heterogeneous spatial data, while providing tools for research, education, planning, and decision-making.

This review evaluates The National Economic Atlas of China (1994), a landmark reference work created through collaboration among major Chinese planning, geography, statistics, and information agencies. Originating in the national atlas project proposed in 1958, the volume represents the most comprehensive English-language cartographic account of China’s economy then available. It contains 265 full-color maps, supported by four handbooks, and organizes its material into ten sections covering resources, population, the general economy, agriculture, industry, transportation and communications, construction and environmental protection, commerce and finance, social services, and provincial economies. More than 500 variables are mapped for nearly 2,833 county-level units, providing unusually detailed evidence on China’s regional economic and social geography. The reviewer particularly commends the atlas’s production quality, cartographic clarity, interagency data integration, and innovative synthesis of multiple variables, as illustrated by maps of electricity networks, grain flows, port capacity, waste disposal, foreign trade, and coastal investment. Several limitations are also identified: sources for underlying statistics are often omitted; maps of overall or sectoral per capita income, poverty, and food relief are absent; some social indicators are presented as absolute totals rather than population-standardized measures; and a few variables lack adequate definitions. Despite these shortcomings and the practical risk of separating the accompanying booklets from the volume, the atlas is judged indispensable for research libraries. It offers both an authoritative overview of China’s economy and a powerful basis for investigating spatial inequality, uneven development, and coastal–interior tensions.

This is an academic review of The National Economic Atlas of China (Oxford University Press, 1994), compiled by the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other agencies. The review notes that the atlas, a key volume in the National Atlas Series, utilizes approximately 100 million bytes of data from 1985-1990, processed with GIS techniques, to present 265 maps illustrating the spatial patterns of China's restructuring economy. Coverage includes resources, agriculture, industry, transportation, commerce, urban construction, environment, and education. The review praises its cartographic virtuosity and data accuracy, deeming it a definitive reference on China's economic geography. However, it also identifies flaws, including inconsistent mapping in sparsely populated western regions, overly complex multivariate maps, and the lack of post-1990 data.

The National General Atlas, published in 1995 as the first volume of the National Atlas Series of the People's Republic of China, marks a new milestone in China's cartographic achievements. This paper systematically reviews the atlas from aspects of binding design, content structure, and compilation features. The atlas comprises three sections—preliminary maps, regional maps, and provincial maps—totaling 180 pages, supplemented by a 99-page place-name index. It features rich information, harmonious color schemes, and a scientifically rigorous projection system. The author highlights the atlas's distinctive Chinese characteristics in provincial map organization, sea chart compilation, and drainage system representation, while objectively analyzing the social causes of temporal limitations in map currency. The publication elevates China's atlas compilation theory and technology to a new level.

This paper is an academic review of the National Ordinary Atlas of the People's Republic of China. The author traces the compilation background and historical origins of the atlas, noting its significant advancement over the 1930s Shenbao Atlas, exemplifying the developmental principle of "surpassing the master." The review highlights the atlas's merits in content richness, structural clarity, and printing quality, while also discussing the evolution of cartographic techniques from manual work to automation, multimedia, and expert systems, with an outlook on the full automation of future atlases.

The National General Atlas, published in 1995 as the first volume of the National Atlas series, represents a historic achievement in Chinese cartography and surveying. Grounded in spatial cognition theory, this paper systematically elaborates on the indispensable role of maps as tools for understanding the environment, establishing spatial concepts, discovering distribution patterns, integrating statistical information, and correcting erroneous mental images. It further analyzes the unique functions of atlases in constructing multidimensional environmental perspectives, deepening cognitive understanding, and enhancing readers' spatial literacy. The article also addresses whether atlases have become obsolete in the information age, arguing that as repositories of scientific achievement and cultural accumulation, their value remains undiminished by technological progress, and they continue to serve as the most effective tools for spatial data visualization. The publication of the National Atlas not only supports national development but also cultivates talent for China's cartographic informatization industry.

The National Atlas of the People's Republic of China (General Atlas) has been officially published, a long-awaited event in China's cartographic community. As the first volume of the national atlas series, it was compiled by over a hundred cartographers from multiple institutions and comprehensively presents China's geographic features and regional characteristics. The atlas adopts the latest field-survey data, 1:1,000,000 topographic maps, and satellite imagery, and draws on the national place-name survey results, ensuring authority and currency. Its compilation emphasizes both inheritance and innovation: the themes are complete and systematic, covering general maps, regional maps, provincial maps, sea-area maps, and city maps; the content is detailed and up-to-date, with information updated to the end of 1991; the design is novel, using coloured relief shading for sea areas for the first time, improving hypsometric tinting for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and adopting a three-step colour scheme based on China's three major topographic steps. Cartographers believe that this atlas breaks through traditional mapping modes, organically integrates scientific, ideological, practical and artistic values, and reaches an internationally advanced level. It is a historic contribution to national cartography and will play an important role in economic construction, national defence, scientific research and education.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the National Physical Atlas of China, published in 1999 in both Chinese and English editions. As a key component of China's series of national atlases, the atlas was compiled under the leadership of the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, involving nearly 40 institutions and over 300 scholars. Based on the concept of systematically studying the country's environment and its changes, protecting geographical systems and biodiversity, and ensuring sustainable development, the atlas extensively utilizes satellite remote sensing information. It comprises 225 pages containing 540 maps, organized into five sections: introductory maps, physical environment, natural resources, natural hazards, and nature utilization and protection. The review highlights the atlas's outstanding achievement in combining traditional cartography with computer-based mapping methods. The thematic map groups are rich in content and innovative, demonstrating high precision and practical utility. The atlas is regarded as a unique cartographic masterpiece and a model of excellence in atlas publishing over the past decade, holding significant value for economic development and scientific research.

The article recounts the revival and completion of China’s national atlas program after the project was restored as a key national research initiative in 1981. Conceived as an integrated series of relatively independent general, physical, agricultural, economic, and historical atlases, it drew on new data and production methods and involved hundreds of institutions, editors, and specialists. The agricultural, economic, general, and physical volumes appeared successively, with the economic and physical atlases also issued in English. The author presents the series as a comprehensive synthesis of Chinese knowledge about nature, population, the economy, society, and history, emphasizing its value for planning, research, education, and international scholarly exchange. Awards and favorable assessments from international cartographers are cited as evidence of its quality, while the project is also credited with stimulating atlas production and training a generation of Chinese cartographers. Overall, the author regards it as an unprecedented national scientific and cultural achievement and a milestone in modern Chinese cartography.