1849 Collinson / Admiralty Chart of Jintang Channel, Zhoushan and Ningbo, China

A remarkable 1849 first edition example of Richard Collinson's important blueback nautical chart or map of the coasts off Ningbo (Ning-po), between the Chinese mainland and Zhoushan (Chusan). These waters had long been important for China's interactions with the outside world and formed a strategic point of control during the First Opium War (1839 - 1842).

A Closer Look

Kintang (Jintang 金塘) Channel, referred to in the title, lies between Zhoushan and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, some 80 miles south of Shanghai. This area was of critical importance during the First Opium War, which Collinson fought in, including in these waters.

Navigational information appears throughout, including extremely detailed soundings, labeling of passes and channels, islands, islets, shoals, hazards, and currents. Points where British ships grounded in the shallow coastal waters are noted. Landward features including settlements and promontories are also indicated. A compass rose with magnetic variations appears near center.

The coastal city of Chin-hae (Zhenhai, 镇海), now a district of Ningbo, was the site of a swift, decisive British victory during the First Opium War. The citadel seen here sat atop a hill and guarded the entrance to the Yong River (甬江, here as Yung River), leading to Ningbo. The British captured the fort on October 10, 1841 (dismantling it afterwards), allowing them to capture Ningbo unopposed three days later. Just beyond the scope of the chart, further east along the southern coast of Zhoushan, is Dinghai (定海), site of two battles during the First Opium War.

Zhoushan - China's Door to the Maritime World

The archipelago that today forms Zhoushan Municipality has a recorded history stretching well into Antiquity. The proximity of the islands to the mainland, and particularly to the city of Ningbo (just to the west of the area shown here), made them an ideal location for fisherfolk, traders, rebels, and pirates. Its location, jutting out into the East China Sea, has historically made it a destination for foreign travelers of many stripes, including the 9th century Japanese Buddhist monk Egaku (慧锷), who founded a now-famous Buddhist pilgrimage site at Putuoshan (普陀山).

In the Ming Dynasty, when a maritime ban was in place to dissuade widespread piracy and coastal raiding, Zhoushan was an important entrepot for trade between Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian, and Portuguese traders. At the end of the 17th century, the newly triumphant Qing Dynasty ended the maritime bans and trade was encouraged at certain ports, including Zhoushan (more specifically, Dinghai). English traders, among others, stopped at Zhoushan and gained some familiarity with the local geography, producing the earliest European charts of the area. But the establishment of the Canton System of Trade in the mid-18th century confined Western traders to Canton (Guangzhou).

European traders had not forgotten Zhoushan, though, and it was a request of the failed British Macartney Mission of 1793 to have an island there reserved for British traders. When the First Opium War broke out, the British quickly moved to capture Zhoushan, which was then returned to China in exchange for Hong Kong, before being recaptured by the British later in the war (the Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston considered Hong Kong to be of much lesser value than Zhoushan). With the rise of the treaty ports (including nearby Ningbo) and Hong Kong, Zhoushan's significance as a door to the outside world diminished.

Collinson's Charts

Following the acquisition of Hong Kong at the end of the First Opium War (1839 - 1842), the British recognized the demand for detailed surveys of the China Coast. They turned to Richard Collinson, a Royal Navy officer who had distinguished himself in the war, including a stint commanding the famed Nemesis, Britain's first ocean-going iron warship, around Zhoushan. Collinson completed detailed surveys of the China coast in the vicinity of Hong Kong between 1842 and 1846. His familiarity with these coasts and the long duration of the surveys resulted in charts that were renowned for their detail and precision. They were employed for decades afterwards for both military and commercial purposes and were a significant influence on later charts of the China coast.

Blueback Charts

Blueback nautical charts began appearing in London in the late 18th century. Bluebacks, as they came to be called, were privately published large format nautical charts known for their distinctive blue paper backing. The backing, a commonly available blue manila paper traditionally used by publishers to wrap unbound pamphlets, was adopted as a practical way to reinforce the low-quality paper used by private chart publishers in an effort to cut costs. That being said, not all blueback charts are literally backed with blue paper. The earliest known blueback charts include a 1760 chart issued by Mount and Page, and a 1787 chart issued by Robert Sayer.

The tradition took off in the early 19th century, when British publishers like John Hamilton Moore, Robert Blachford, James Imray, William Heather, John William Norie, Charles Wilson, David Steel, R. H. Laurie, and John Hobbs, among others, rose to dominate the chart trade. Bluebacks became so popular that the convention was embraced by chartmakers outside of England, including Americans Edmund March Blunt and George Eldridge, as well as Scandinavian, French, German, Russian, and Spanish chartmakers. Blueback charts remained popular until the late 19th century, when government subsidized organizations like the British Admiralty Hydrographic Office and the United States Coast Survey began issuing their own superior charts on high quality paper that did not require reinforcement.

Publication History and Census

This chart was based on surveys conducted by Collinson during and soon after the Opium War, between 1840 and 1843, but was not published until 1849, making this a first edition. It was engraved by J. and C. Walker, who engraved most of Collinson's charts, among others, for the British Admiralty. A subsequent edition was published in 1865. In either case, the map is quite rare, and in either edition is only listed among the holdings of the British Library.