KJCKorea
Journal Central

This paper re-examines the <Cheonhado>, a popular circular world map developed during the late Joseon dynasty, and clarifies the meaning of Mt. Baekdu as expressed on the map. The center of the <Cheonhado> includes a continent and several landmasses that enclose it. The seas separate the inner continent from the surrounding lands. This enclosed continent contains illustrations of the major rivers and five mountain ranges of China. Most place names appear in the Sanhaegyeong, denoting them as the Inland Sea and the outer continents. On the northern edge of the center of the map, one finds the common Daetaek (Big Lake). Among the detailed illustrations, Mt. Baekdu also appears in the <Cheonhado>, a document of the late Joseon period. The <Cheonhado> was another way for Silhak scholars in the late Joseon dynasty to express the geographical history of Sanhaegyeong. The method of illustrating and communicating a map with images supplemented with text had limitations in describing space. In the late Joseon dynasty, the independence of Joseon gradually expanded. Joseon intellectuals hoped to escape from the Chinese world and express a new world vision from a Joseon perspective. Existing geographical knowledge and social awareness at the time thus expressed their desires through the abstractions included on the <Cheonhado>. Mt. Baekdu was at the center of the world, and its independence mirrored that of Joseon’s desires and destiny.

Cheonhado, Mt. Baekdu, Daetaek, Sanhaegyeong, Bulhamsan, Silhak scholars, geographic awareness