1860 Map of Waterways and Coast of Jiangsu, China

This is an extremely rare map from c. 1860 of coastal Jiangsu Province, China that includes a number of cities (county seats), but primarily focuses on waterways, namely the former course of the Yellow River, the Qinhuai River, the Yangzi River, and the Grand Canal. The map also gives a brief history of changes in the course of these waterways over time.

A Closer Look at the Map

This map is oriented towards the east, with north at left and south at right. It shows much of the coastal portion of Jiangsu Province, including county seats such as Yancheng (鹽城縣), Dongtai (東臺縣), Funing (阜寧縣), and Tongzhou (通州縣). The map also shows a number of coastal islands, although the names are not common in historical sources and the islands seemingly no longer exist (the coastline has changed significantly over time and they may have been encompassed by coastal land reclamation in the 20th century). It is possible that this map was meant for fishermen or other mariners from the area who would have been familiar with these unconventional names.

Land of Waterways

The text on the map provides an environmental history of sorts, explaining the changing course of rivers in the area over time. Most notably, the map indicates where the Yellow River had flowed into the sea (舊黃河) near Funing for most of the Qing period, until a series of floods in the early 1850s. It also shows the Yangzi River (長江) and the Grand Canal (運河), providing brief explanatory notes on each. The area covered by this map, which sometimes is considered a part of Jiangnan (江南) and sometimes distinguished as Subei (蘇北, Jiangsu north of the Yangzi River), is part of wider region of waterways that were historically connected by an impressive system of canals that served as the equivalent of a highway system. These waterways were a conduit and opportunity for all manner of economic activity. For example, the Qinhuai River (秦淮河), roughly at center, was lined with a wide variety of shops and entertainment as it passed through Yangzhou and Nanjing. Although the region has a long and storied history (Yancheng literally means 'salt city' and was a significant producer of the mineral before the Common Era), the inability of the government in the late Qing period to manage the canal infrastructure, amid a number of other severe problems, left Subei considerably poorer than the glittering cities to the south, such as Nanjing, Suzhou, and Shanghai.

Publication History and Census

This map likely dates from the mid-late Qing era. It is not known to be a part of any institutional holdings, nor does it have a history on the market. The reference to the 'old Yellow River' (舊黃河) at left indicates that it likely dates from after 1855, when the Yellow River drastically changed course after several years of floods.