MysteryofCenturies: In the European Ancient Mapin 1665, St. Guangong Stood on the Chinese Territory
www.guangong.hk News:16 years ago, General Li Cunbao, a famous writer, published the documentary writing of God of the Orient, of which a passage caught the attention of Mr. Zhu Zhengming: “As early as 1665, in the map of the countries of the world， published by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Vienna, there was a national representative figure of the spirit standing on the territory of our country, and he was Guangong, which showed that St. Guangong of our country had a far-reaching influence in the world at that time. ”
Zhu Zhengming thought: Who drew this map? How did the foreign drawing artist know about Guan Yu of China thousands of miles away from the Orient? What was the image of Guangong in the map? Where can I find this map…?
For many years, Zhu Zhengming entrusted friends at home and abroad to look for the map, but all failed. The European ancient map in 1665 seems to have been a mystery of centuries thousands of miles away from the West.
"Each place has its streams in from all over the country". The Guangong from the European painter was just like a Master Guan with European bloodline. General Chou Cang was more like a European warrior.
The cover of Atlas Maior of 1665.
Professor Hu Jiechen of Yuelu Academy talked about Guangong culture in Beijing.
In the summer of 2018, Renmin University of China held the first International Guangong Cultural Forum in Beijing, with more than 50 guests from the United States, France, Germany, Japan, mainland China andTaiwan attending the forum. Zhu Zhengming made a speech of "The World’s Guangong Culture in Photographers' Eyes". He specifically mentionedthe Ancient Map of Vienna in 1665and the Guangong depicted in the map, expecting that scholars could get amazing discoveries in the libraries of any country.
Zhu Zhengming received the information from Professor Hu Jiechen of Yuelu Academy recently that the ancient map of Vienna which has been looking for by Zhu Zhengming for more than 10 years was found, and the portrayal of Guangong was even on the ancient map. Guangong was wearing a red robe and a red cap, his left hand twirling the beautifullong beard, his right hand grippingthe sword, with an awe-inspiring appearance. Behind him was Zhou Cang, who was wearing a green robe, gripping the green dragon crescent moon blade and standing by Guangong. These two Chinese heroes were depicted on the map of the territory of Sichuan, China. This was found by Professor Hu when he searched for many European libraries.
A few days later, Zhu Zhengming received the Atlas Maior of 1665 of Professor Hu's express. This large ancient atlas has 512 pages, nearly two inches thick and with more than 10 jin weight. It is said that the map drew by the official hydrologist of Dutch East India Company, William Braun, and his son, Johannes Blauan Blaeu, is quite worth collecting. The original of Joan Blaeu’s Atlas Maior of 1665 is available in the national libraries of the United States, Germany and Austria, and each of them only owns one. The price of one original has reached above £650 thousand.
The original Latin edition with 11 volumes and 594 maps published in Vienna on Jan. 1, 1665, spanned the North Pole, Asia, Europe and the Americas, skillfully mapping the customs of each country, and can be clearly seen the border lines and city names of many provinces of China. The map of China include Beijing, Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Fujian, Yunnan and other provinces and cities. The map shows the features of various regions with vivid pictures. For example, there are elephants on the map of Yunnan, there are communication scenes between the imperial officials and the Western emissaries on the map of Beijing, and there are Guangong and Zhou Cang who is carrying on a blade on the map of Sichuan. From the ancient map, Netherlands that the author was located in and that was the world's first maritime power at that time mastered abundant overseas geographical historical data.
The German Taschen Press, using the high-copy of the Vienna National Library, reprinted this classic map in recent years and translated it into English, French and German.
Author of the Atlas Maior, and Dutch scholar, Joan Braeu
Illustrations in African Maps
The map fully demonstrates the achievements of European navigation in the seventeenth century.
In barcelona, on the northern shore of the mediterranean, Zhu Zhengming, a cultural scholar, tells the spanish damsel the story of Chinese Guangong.
Why do Europeans erect Guan Gong images in map of China? Zhu Zhengming, a cultural scholar, said that we should first analyze from a historical perspective. When Zhu Yi-jun, the thirteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was 20 years old, made an edict to engrave Guan Gong as a "Xietian emperor". 42nd year of wanli (1614 AD), Guan Gong was granted the title of “The three kingdoms of Voldemort the Great”, which was half a century earlier than the world map drawn by Joan Blaeu.
Qing Dynasty Emperor Shun Zhi Emperor greatly admired Guan Gong, the imperial edict commemorates Guan Gong, the symbol of the "ZhongyiShenwu Guan Sheng the Great", in AD 1653.
Caution! In the period of Shun Zhi Emperor, in 1655, the Dutch East Indies sent envoys to Beijing to meet the Emperor Shun Zhi, to visit the south-east coast of China for half a year, and to north thousands of kilometers, along the way to see the people’s devotion to Guan Gong. Perhaps in the Forbidden City and Shunzhi Emperor, the emperor also referred to the Chinese martial saint Guan Gong. Johan Nieuhoff, the butler of the mission, detailed records throughout the trip, sketched a great deal of sketches, and published travel notes The diplomatic corps of the Dutch East India Company to the Chinese emperor in Amsterdam in 1665, with more than 100 illustrations. Like Joan Blaeu in Amsterdam, he might have talked with John Nehoff all night before drawing a map of the world, learning about the customs of the East China, and knowing the Chinese martial arts master Guan Gong.
Why was the Dutch in Europe drawing the world map? Zhu Zhengming said that in 1581, the Netherlands won the independence of the country, when the shipbuilding industry was ranked first in the world. The four wars in the Netherlands and Britain in the 17th century, the publication of "world map" by 1665, was the first year of the second war. Commercial needs, navigation needs, hegemonic needs, war needs, the world's big maps naturally become the national needs.
Zhu Zhengming was pleased to say that "More than 350 years ago, Chinese martial artist Guan Gong became the emissary of the maritime Silk Road, and became the moral icon of the Chinese nation and was honored by the Western culture. Today, China's Guan Gong culture has become a bridge link along the Belt and Road Initiatives. Around the world's descendants of China, built tens of thousands of public halls at home and abroad, Taiwan alone has more than 700, Guan Di cultural associations such as spring bamboo shoots. Every year, the celebration of the birth of the Guan di or the autumn, mainland China and Taiwan Straits and around the world staged a vast spiritual pilgrimage, or cultural forum, in order to contact domestic and overseas Chinese sentiments, promote economic and cultural revitalization, promote social harmony and purity."(Article/Zhu Mo; figure/Gang Ga)