Da Qing wannian yitong tianxia quantu [Complete map of the whole unified country of the Great Qing], Dated Jiaqing 7th year, corresponding to 1803

Alan Fung, Hong Kong, 1997. 

This rare and complete map is a celebration of the vastness of the Qing empire (1644-1911) and a justification of the Manchu’s righteous rule over their ever-expanding territories. It is a revised edition of a 1767 map created by the cartographer Huang Qianren (1694-1771), who presented it to the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736-95), illustrating the Qing realms at their greatest extent during Qianlong's reign.

Displaying the grand nature of mountains and rivers, this map pays great attention to the diversity of the Qing lands. It identifies provinces, prefectures, districts, and other administrative divisions by enclosing their names in squares and other shapes whose meanings are interpreted in the introductory inscription. Proudly presenting the newly conquered frontier regions of Tibet and Mongolia, the map glorifies the expansion of the empire in its title wannian yitong (everlasting unification).

To underline the proud achievement of the Qing dynasty, the map continued to be updated and repinted in the succeeding reigns of the Jiaqing (r. 1796-1820) and Daoguang (r. 1821-50) Emperors. Amongst the later editions, the most notable were the 'blue' maps, each printed uniquely in colors of blue, green and red: see a Daoguang example illustrated in Richard A. Pegg, Cartographic Traditions in East Asian Maps, Honolulu, 2014, pp 18-27, recently sold in our London rooms, 2nd November 2022, lot 223. The present lot appears to be the earliest Jiaqing edition published. For a later Jiaqing map, see one in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., dated to Jiaqing 16th year, corresponding to 1811, illustrated on the Library's website (accession no. G3200 1811.D3).