关键词: 古航海图, 过洋牵星图, 针路, 对景法, 牵星板

Abstract:

The navigational charts in China's Ming dynasty are famous all over the world at that time, such as the ‘Hydrographic Guide Map’ so far discovered in the early Ming Dynasty, which collected the detailed shipping route to transport grain from the south to the north along the coastline between Ningbo and Liao river over thousands of years; and the ‘ZhengHe Navigational Chart’, which reveals the style and features in a period of great prosperity on Chinese ancient navigation achievements and navigational chart techniques and includes 14 seaway routes crossing Asia, Africa and Europe recognized as the first one in the world. The inheritance and development of the ‘Maritime Silk Road’ since Han dynasty, once again advocates the main purpose of the traditional business between china and foreign countries, which is the culture exchange and local product trading. The ‘Sea Route Book’ recorded the navigational guide of South China Sea as the legacy and at the cost of generations of fishermen's life during the ancient times. The ‘Ryukyu Nautical Charts’ shows the distribution of navigation routes that ancient Chinese navigators recorded during their visits to Ryukyu, Taiwan, Japan and other places across the east ocean of China. The ‘Selden Map of China’ keeps the functions of a general nautical map, and perfected the nautical chart series of Ming dynasty. This paper also systematically discusses the realistic style of the navigational charts, their matching descriptions or drawings in Ming dynasty, as well as the adoptions of ‘Opposite Scenery Method’, ‘Lead Star Board’, ‘Water Compass’, ‘Astronomical Observation Instruments’, ‘Speed Detection On Board’ and other unique techniques.

Key words: The ancient navigational chart, the constellation chart of crossing seas, the chart of sea routes, the Sea Route Book, general nautical map