Zhifang waiji 職方外紀

Zhifang waiji 職方外紀 "Records of the lands beyond the imperial administration" is a geographical book written by the Italian Jesuit Guiglio Aleni (Ch. 艾儒略, 1582-1649), who worked as a missionary in China between 1610 and his death. Apart from this book, he also compiled a handbook on geometry, Jihe yaofa 幾何要法.

His geography is based on an earlier work written by Matteo Ricci (Ch. Li Madou 利瑪竇, 1552-1610) called Kunyu wanguo quantu 坤輿萬國全圖 "Full map of the ten thousand countries". Aleni added some information, and abbreviated other passages.

In comparison to older Chinese works, the books of Ricci and Aleni added substantial information the Chinese did not know until then. While Central Asia and the Indian Ocean were regions with which the Chinese were quite accustomed, they barely knew details of Europe, Africa, not so speak of America.

The book, finished in 1623, begins with a world map, drawn as separate maps of each continent. The part on Asia (Axi'a 亞細亞) covers 14 chapters, with the details of which most Chinese were familiar. The European part (Ouluoba 歐邏巴) includes 12 chapters speaking of Spain, France, Italy, etc. The part on Africa (Liweiya 利未亞洲, i.e. Libya), with 14 chapters, is of course only covered as the Jesuits compilers knew the continent at the time, which means that only North Africa and the coastline is dealt with. The same is true for America (Amolijia 亞墨利加), described in 14 chapters, the greatest part of which was at that time still part of the Hapsburg Empire. The fifth continent, with a short description appended to the fourth part, is the hypothetical southern continent of Magallanica (Mowalanijia 墨瓦蠟尼加, i.e. Terra Australis).

The last chapter is a text describing the "Four Oceans" (Sihai zongshuo 四海總說), with descriptions on geography, waters, islands, animals, shipping, etc.

The descriptive texts, with a length of 5 juan, provide information on geography, politics, religion, local products, customs and habits. Aleni's Zhifang waiji is the oldest world geography written in Chinese language. It is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺, Shoushange congshu 守山閣, Huangchao fanshu yudi congshu 皇朝藩屬輿地叢書 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編本.

Figure 1. World map from the Zhifang waiji 職方外紀

World map, from the Shoushange congshu edition. Apart from this map, each continent is presented in more detail. For the standard of 1630, Aleni's maps are fairly crude, particularly with regard to Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean, and the east coast of the Americas. Quality might also have been influenced by the technique of wooden blockprints which allow only moderate fineness compared with copper engraving (invented 15th cent.). Ricci's map, produced as a stand-alone piece without descriptions, is somewhat better, but does not reach contemporary European standards. For exact details, consult the edition of the World Digital Library.