1874 Sudo Manuscript Maps of Taiwan relating to 1874 Punitive Expedition

An extraordinary collection of nine 1874 manuscript maps detailing Taiwan and part of Fujian province, China. The maps were compiled and drafted by one, Sudo Katsuzō (湏藤 or 湏藤勝三) of Tochigi Prefecture, Japan, on an official or semi-official 1874 mission to Taiwan and thence to mainland China. Most of the maps in this set were compiled between March of and June of 1874 and are related to the 1871 Mundan Incident and the subsequent 1874 Taiwan Punitive Expedition. The Taiwan maps are primarily derived from maps drawn by the American Consul to Qing Taiwan Charles William (Guillaum) Joseph Émile Le Gendre's (August 26, 1830 - September 1, 1899) between 1867 and 1873. Others, particularly those of mainland china and Tamsui, are derived from British Admiralty Hydrographic Charts. In addition to the manuscript maps, the collection also contains its original binder and Sudo's application booklet requesting permission to travel from Taiwan to Fujian and Shanghai.

Historical Context: The Mundan Incident, Relations with China, the Punitive Expedition

In 1871, a Ryukyuan tax or tribute boat shipwrecked on an uncharted reef in the treacherous waters near the southern tip of Taiwan. (At the time, the Ryukyu Kingdom was dually affiliated and paid tribute both to Qing China and Imperial Japan.) The disoriented crew of 66 wandered some 100 km inland to the region of Mudan, where they were captured by the local Paiwan peoples who subsequently beheaded 54 of them. (It is notable that almost the exact same thing happened to an American ship on the same reef in 1867, and the American crew of 24 were also slaughtered by the Paiwan.) The remaining crew members managed to escape with the help of Chinese soldiers to the Qing controlled city of Tainan. From there, they were transported to Fuzhou, Fujian, and ultimately back to the Ryukyus.

Arguing that its subjects were killed, and its taxes stolen, by Qing subject peoples, Imperial Japan sent an emissary to China in search of redress. Their pleas were rejected by because the Qing considered Ryukyu Islands a subject state, therefore any chastisement would be an internal matter, and the Paiwan themselves the Qing considered unsubjugated aboriginals outside of their sphere of suasive acculturation. Imperial Japan took the Qing response as a rejection of sovereignty both of the Ryukyu Kingdom and of the tribal peoples of eastern Taiwan.

Another aspect of the Japanese embassy to China is that it forced a reconsideration of China's Sino-centric approach to foreign embassies. Traditionally foreign embassies, particularly from other Asia-Pacific nations, approached Chinese officials from a position of inferiority. Japan’s Foreign Minister Soejima Taneomi's 1873 mission to China to seek redress for the Mundan Incident saw Japanese diplomates elevated to a position of power, forcing the Qing to deal with Japan based upon western diplomatic norms. That is to say, under the terms of the Sino-Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty, which Soejima ratified in 1873, consuls were guaranteed treatment as political equals.

The resultant empowerment of Japan led to a major change in Japan's traditional isolationist policies. The subsequent punitive expedition to Taiwan, in 1874, was Japan's first overseas deployment of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy. The event led to waves of Japanese diplomats and business people traveling not just to Taiwan, but mainland China.

The Case of Sudo

In the case of Sudo, we know only that he was active in Tamsui, where the British Consulate to Qing Taiwan was located, as early as 2 months before the Taiwan Punitive Expedition, as some of his maps are dated March 1874, and as late as June 1874, as at least one of his maps references the Battle of Stone Gate, the major engagement of the Taiwan Punitive Expedition, fought in May of 1874. Some of the language on the collection binder suggest that Sudo made the maps in an official capacity at the request of the Japanese Government. Indeed, given that Sudo clearly had access to cartographic material stored at the British Consulate in Tamsui, it is clear that he must have been there in at least a semi-official capacity. This is further supported by the fact that Sudo's presence in Tamsui aligns perfectly with the time-frame of the 1974 Taiwan Punitive Expedition. The quality of the maps themselves, some of which exhibit unique cartographic work in both the compilation of disparate and conflicting western maps, and the incorporation of traditional Japaense mapping styles in several of the pieces, specifically the southern Taiwan tribal map (which identifies Stone Gate), suggests that Sudo was an experienced cartographer or military engineer trained in both Western and Japanese cartography. The text attached to the collection also suggest that Sudo died at 26, but do not give an exact date his demise, but it is likely to have been on or shortly after 1874. We surmise such because Sudo could not have the technical know-how to produce these maps at too young of age, nor would he have been trusted with the job, so it is reasonable to assume he was in his mid-20s when the maps were made. Somehow Sudo's maps came into the hands of his brother, who folded them into the binder, recording there all that we know of Sudo, and whose descendants retained them until recently.

The Collection

1. Original Covers of the Collection with text by Sudo's brother, describing Sudo's compilation of the maps and his death due to illness.
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/Covers-sudo-1874
   • Meiji 7 (1874).
   • 19 x 25 inches
     
     
2. Manuscript Booklet: Overseas Navigation Permit Application for travel to Shanghai for one, Sudo, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/Book-sudo-1874
   • Dated January, Meiji 7 (1874).
   • 10 x 7 inches
     
     
3. [Untiled Manuscript Map of Taiwan / Formosa.]
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/TaiwanLarge-sudo-1874
   • Drawn, Meiji 7 or Tongzhi 13 (1874). Huwei Street (滬尾街), Tamsui, Taiwan, Fujian Province.
   • 66 x 36 inches w/ side panel detailing the Pescadores measuring 18 x 15 inches. / 1 : 250000
   • By far the largest map in the Sudo collection. It is based almost entirely on the American Consul to Qing Taiwan Charles William (Guillaum) Joseph Émile Le Gendre's (August 26, 1830 - September 1, 1899) 1870 map, considered the best map of Taiwan yet produced. Le Gendre based his map upon a combination of British admiralty charts and personal observation. The map was probably copied from a manuscript version of the original Le Gendre map housed at the British Consulate at Tamsuii.
     
     
4. [Untitled Manuscript Map of Taiwan / Formosa w/ south Taiwan Inset.]
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/TaiwanLeGendre-sudo-1874
   • 47 x 30 inches / 1 : 344000
   • One of the two largest maps in the collection, this finely executed manuscript map of Taiwan covers the entire island with insets of the Pescadores or Penghu Islands and Southern Formosa (reflecting the site of the 1871 Mudan Incident, and the theater of the 1874 Taiwan Punitive Expedition.). Cartographically the map is an amalgam of Chinese and western sources, including missionary maps by Johnston, the official Qing map owned by Zhang Qui-Guang (張其光), the British Consul Robert Swinhoe's (1836 - 1877) map, the American Consul's Charles William (Guillaum) Joseph Émile Le Gendre's (1830 - 1899) famous map, and a map of southern Taiwan owned by the Qing official Wang Mau-Gong (王懋恭).
     
     
5. [Untitled Manuscript Map of Taiwan / Formosa.]
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/TaiwanSm-sudo-1874
   • 25 x 19.25 inches, including side panel. / 1 : 700000
   • The third and smallest of the general maps of Taiwan in the Sudo collection. This map is based upon British Admiralty chartings of the island combined with the 1861 - 1864 work of British biologist and Formosa Counsel Robert Swinhoe (1836 - 1877). It includes some offshore details as well as arrows indicating the direction of currents. A side panel extends the scope of the map to include the Pescadores or Penghu Islands. The sources of this map are primarily identifiable by the inland topography and general structure of the map.
     
     
6. 台灣南部之圖 / Map of the Southern Part of Taiwan.
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/TaiwanSouthLeGendre-sudo-1874
   • 34 x 22.5 inches / 1 : 90000
   • The largest of the two south Taiwan detail manuscript maps from the 1874 Sudo series. Like Sudo's large map of Formosa, the present example is derived from the work of the American Counsel to Qing Formosa, William (Guillaum) Joseph Émile Le Gendre (1830 - 1899), specifically his 1872 Southern Formosa. Le Gendre compiled this map on his second trip to the tribal lands of southern Taiwan in February and March of 1872. Le Gendre's southern Taiwan map survives only in manuscript and his housed today at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The present map was compiled by Sudo in Tamusi, Mary 1874. The extensive classical Japanese textual annotation in the lower right quadrant details the 1871 Mudan Incident and the 1874 retaliatory Taiwan Punitive Expedition.
     
     
7. [Untitled Map of the Southern Part of Taiwan / Formosa.]
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/SouthTaiwantribes-sudo-1874
   • 20.5 x 15 inches / 1 : 90000
   • This is by far the most enigmatic and elusive of the Sudo 1874 series. The map is laid down on the framework established by the previous map, which is based upon the American Counsel to Qing Formosa, William (Guillaum) Joseph Émile Le Gendre's (1830 - 1899) influential his 1872 Southern Formosa. This, however, is where resemblances to Le Gendre's 1872 work end. The remainder of the work is completed in a wholly Japanese style, with topography rendered pictorially and place names embraced in yellow cartouches. The map breaks down the tribal peoples of Southern Taiwan and is likely based upon a combination of Le Gendre's 1868 'Rover Map' (which was prepared to illustrate the failed American 1868 Punitive Expedition to the same area) and new Japanese reconnaissance compiled under the orders of Saigō Tsugumichi. That the map mentions the Battle of Stone Gate (May 22, 1874), the only significant military engagement during of the Taiwan Punitive Expedition, is a strong indication that it must have been compiled from Japanese information assembled after the invasion.
     
     
8. 台湾淡水港之图 / Map of Tamsui Harbor.
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/TamsuiHarbor-sudo-1874
   • 21 x 25 inches / 1 : 180000
   • An interesting map detailing the entrance to the Tamsui River and Tamsui Harbor, near modern day Taipei, Northern Taiwan. Tamsui has a long history of association with foreign activity in Taiwan. Early on it was an outpost of the Spanish, and later the Dutch. It rose to greater prominence in the 19th century for its fine natural harbor and proximity to the mainland port of Fuzhou, the Qing Fujian provincial capital and a major maritime trading center. In 1862, the Qing government opened Tamsui to foreign trade under the terms of the Treaty of Tientsin, exporting tea, camphor, sulfur, coal, opium, and dyes. By the mid-19th century Tamsui had become the largest port in Taiwan, boasting a sizable foreign population as well as a British consulate at Fort Santo Domingo. British activity in the region led to reliable nautical charts of the port and its immediate surroundings. Although we know little of Sudo, it is evident that he was in Tamsui in March of 1874, prior to the May Putative Expedition, and produced many if not all of these maps on location.
     
     
9. 台湾淡水港之图 / Map of Tamsui Harbor.
   • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/Tamsui-sudo-1874
   • 10.5 x 15 inches / 1 : 158000
   • An interesting general map detailing the entrance to the Tamsui River and Tamsui Harbor, near modern day Taipei, Northern Taiwan. The map includes a large profile view illustrating the Tamsui River entrance and names the site of the British Consulate there. Tamsui has a long history of association with foreign activity in Taiwan. Early on it was an outpost of the Spanish, and later the Dutch. It rose to greater prominence in the 19th century for its fine natural harbor and proximity to the mainland port of Fuzhou, the Qing Fujian provincial capital and a major maritime trading center. In 1862, the Qing government opened Tamsui to foreign trade under the terms of the Treaty of Tientsin, exporting tea, camphor, sulfur, coal, opium, and dyes. By the mid-19th century Tamsui had become the largest port in Taiwan, boasting a sizable foreign population as well as a British consulate at Fort Santo Domingo. British activity in the region led to reliable nautical charts of the port and its immediate surroundings. Although we know little of Sudo, it is evident that he was in Tamsui in March of 1874, prior to the May Putative Expedition, and produced many if not all of these maps on location.
     
     
10. 福刕港口南台廹圖 / Fuzhou Port South Station.
    • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/FuzhouHarbor-sudo-1874
    • 21.5 x 25.5 inches / 1 : 56000
    • A striking 1874 manuscript map of Fuzhou harbor (福州市), China. The map focuses on the entrance to the Minjiang River, with Langquidao Island featured prominently. It extends inland as far as the old city of Fuzhou, which appears on the northern shore of the Minjuang at the far western extreme of the map breaking the border. Cartographically, the map is probably based on British nautical charts. When Sudo drew this map, Fuzhou was the capital of Qing Fujian province, which included both Taiwan and the Ryukyu Kingdom, both of which played prominent roles in the 1871 Mudan Incident and the 1874 retaliatory Taiwan Punitive Expedition. Sudo was attempting to travel to Shanghai in mainland China from Japan via Tamsui, Taiwan. As such, Fuzhou would have been his first stop.
      
      
11. 厦門港之圖 / Map of Xiamen Port.
    • Zoomable Image: https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/Amoy-sudo-1874
    • 10.5 x 15 inches / 1 : 400000
    • A striking 1874 manuscript map of Amoy or Xiamen Harbor (厦门市), Fujian, China. The map is oriented to the South, but covers Xiamen Island and Kinmen Island, as well as Weitou Bay, Dongju Harbour, Zengzhou Harbor, and extends inland as far as Haimen Island. Cartographically, Sudo probably based this chart on the British Hydrographic office work of Captain Kellett c. 1870. In 1874, Sudo was attempting to travel to Shanghai in mainland China from Taiwan. As such, Xiamen would have been one of his first stops in the mainland.

A once in a lifetime acquisition for the serious Taiwan / Formosa collector.