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1923 or Taisho 12 Japanese Panoramic Map of Diamond Mountain, Kungangsan, Korea

MtDiamondKorea-japanese-1923
$500.00
Mt. Diamond. - Main View
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1923 or Taisho 12 Japanese Panoramic Map of Diamond Mountain, Kungangsan, Korea

MtDiamondKorea-japanese-1923


Title


Mt. Diamond.
  1923 (undated)     21 x 36 in (53.34 x 91.44 cm)

Description


This is a rare 1923 or Taisho 12 view of Diamond Mountain or Mt. Kumgang or Kongo-San (Geumgangsan, Geumgang), in Korea or Corea. Kongo-San literally translates to 'Luminous Region.' Located in North Korea's 'Kumgangsan Tourist Region,' this mountain was formerly part of 'Kangwon-do' (North Korea) Province.

Since antiquity it has been a popular resort region known for its striking beauty, rich forests, and dramatic rock formations and is the subject of many different works of art. It has many different names for each season; In the spring it is Kumgang (Hangeul, Hanja), in the summer it is called Pongraesan (the place where a Spirit dwells); in autumn, Phungaksan (hill of colored leaves, or great mountain of colored leaves); in winter, Kaegolsan (stone bone mountain). It is most widely known as Kumgangsan. A rare find. This view was issued by the Japanese in 1923. Text is in Japanese and English.

Cartographer


Japanese cartography appears as early as the 1600s. Japanese maps are known for their exceptional beauty and high quality of workmanship. Early Japanese cartography has its own very distinctive projection and layout system. Japanese maps made prior to the appearance of Commodore Perry and the opening of Japan in the mid to late 1850s often have no firm directional orientation, incorporate views into the map proper, and tend to be hand colored woodblock prints. This era, from the 1600s to the c. 1855, which roughly coincides with the Tokugawa or Edo Period (1603-1886), some consider the Golden Age of Japanese Cartography. Most maps from this period, which followed isolationist ideology, predictably focus on Japan. The greatest cartographer of the period, whose work redefined all subsequent cartography, was Ino Tadataka (1745 -1818). Ino's maps of Japan were so detailed that, when the European cartographers arrived they had no need, even with their far more sophisticated survey equipment, to remap the region. Later Japanese maps, produced in the late Edo and throughout the Meiji period, draw heavily upon western maps as models in both their content and overall cartographic style. While many of these later maps maintain elements of traditional Japanese cartography such as the use of rice paper, woodblock printing, and delicate hand color, they also incorporate western directional orientation, projection systems, and structural norms. Even so, Japan's isolationist policy kept most western maps from reaching Japan so even 19th century maps appear extremely out of date. The early Japanese maps copy the great 1602 Chinese world map of the friar Matto Ricci. After Shiba Kokan's 1792 map, most Japanese cartographers used Covens and Mortier's 1730 copy of Jaillot's 1689 double hemisphere work as their base world-view. In 1862 Seiyo Sato based a new world map on Dutch sources dating to 1857, thus introducing the Mercator projection to Japan. By the late Meiji Era, western maps became far more common in Asia and Japanese maps began to follow modern conventions. More by this mapmaker...

Condition


Very good. Overall age toning. Minor wear along original fold lines.