1874 Sudo / Tadamichi Manuscript Map of Shanghai, China

This is an outstanding map of great significance, an 1874 (Tongzhi 13) manuscript version of the 1873 Shinagawa Tadamichi Map of Qing Shanghai, China. This large format map covers Qing Shanghai's old foreign district. From the conflux of the Huangpu River and the Wusong River, the map extends westward to, roughly, the modern day Xisang Middle Road, south to, roughly, Fangbang Middle Road, and eastward along the Huangpu River to the Dalian Road Tunnel. Houses appear in red, roads are yellow, rivers are green, and open land is uncolored.

The Consul's Map

The 1873 source map was commissioned by Shinagawa Tadamichi (1841 - 1891), the first Japanese consul-general of Shanghai, who was appointed by the Meiji government one year earlier in January of 1872. Tadamichi was perplexed by the ancient and complex street structure of Shanghai and had no access to an accurate map, so he ordered his own.

Tadamichi commissioned the Japanese artist and view maker Sadahide Hashimoto (橋本貞秀) (1807 - 1878) to produce a large map of Shanghai. Hashimoto based the outline of the map on a British port survey composed by J. Minett Hockly, the Shanghai British Settlement's Harbor Master from c. 1866 to his death in 1868. This was then reformatted, expanded, and revised into a city plan by Yosuke Miyake. According to vice-counsel Seifu Naritomi's (1838 - 1882),

The end product was of a quality commensurate with Western standards, and praised by Westerners. It displayed, in very elaborate details, the river's situation and the terrain's layout. A person who has never traveled in Shanghai can see at a glance, as if on one's own palm, which areas are called which streets, which river banks have which piers, which district contains which foreign country's mansions, etc. The urgency with which the map was then sent to the engraver was apropos, as it would serve the public interest and help those who travel to Shanghai.

The overall result is a meticulously produced map with great detail throughout. It has a more sophisticated street and grid structure, particularly as relates to central Shanghai, than any earlier or contemporary map of the same area.

Connections to Le Gendre and the Taiwan Punitive Expedition

The present example was found in a collection of manuscript maps relating to the American consul to Qing Taiwan, Charles William Le Gendre (1830–1899). Le Gendre relocated to Japan in the early 1870s, where he consulted on Formosa cartography, producing a number of important maps that were subsequently translated and transcribed into Japanese / Chinese and used to plan and execute the 1874 Taiwan Punitive Expedition against the Paiwan tribespeople of southern Formosa.

Dating the Map

Like most of the maps from Le Gendre collection noted above, the present map is dated in using the Chinese rather than the Japanese system. Tongzhi, refers to the Tongzhi Emperor (April 27, 1856 - January 12, 1875), and was made in the 13th year of his reign, which began in 1861, hence indicates a date of 1874. Similarly, in the Japanese system Meiji 7 would be the 7th year of the Meiji reign, also 1874.

Census and Sudo Katsuzō (湏藤 or 湏藤勝三)

The Tadamichi map was engraved and printed by Kamachi Jūzō (1840 - 1891) and only two examples of the printed map are known today. The present manuscript issue, by a gentleman named Sudo Katsuzō (湏藤 or 湏藤勝三) is unique and no other such examples are known. Sudo apparently died from an unknown illness shortly after the maps were made, at just 26, so it is not surprising that little is recorded regarding his history. His maps were subsequently collected by his brother and remained in the family until recently.