일본 고지도에 나타난 "독도" "동해" 표기

Old maps point to Dokdo and the East Sea

 

Old maps serve as crucial evidence to prove whether a territory belongs to a certain country and not another.

The Northeast Asian History Foundation is currently hosting the exhibition "East Sea and Dokdo in Old Maps" at the National Assembly Library in Yeouido, southwestern Seoul.

A total of 40 old maps featuring the East Sea and Dokdo are on display at the exhibition.

Dated between 1531 and 1929, the majority of the maps are in fact from Japan, which has claimed sovereignty over Dokdo and the designation of the sea east of the Korean Peninsula, despite their own maps saying otherwise. The remaining maps have been drawn up by Westerners or Koreans.

Among the exhibits, 14 maps including "Carte de l'Empire du Japon" by French geographer Jacques Nicolas Bellin in 1752, "Touzai Chikyu Bangkoku Zenzu" by Japanese cartographer Nobuaki Kurihara in 1848 and "Dainihon Zenzu" by the Military Affairs Bureau of Japan in 1877 are shown to the public for the first time.

"I hope this initial event will serve as a modest step toward useful discussions and dialogue between Korea and Japan," said Chung Jae-jeong, president of the Northeast Asian History Foundation, at the opening ceremony.

"By relishing these exquisite old maps, I hope, the viewers will understand that the sea located east of the Korean peninsula has long been called 'East Sea' and that the Japanese themselves have long reckoned Dokdo to be part of Korean territory."

Indeed, the majority of Japanese maps published prior to 1905 claim Dokdo as Korean territory and colored it the same as the Korean peninsula.

On "Sangoku Setsujo Chizu," one of the five maps included in the "Sangoku Txuran Zusetsu" published by Shihei Hayashi in 1785, Dokdo is not only orange, the same color as the peninsula, but also has a note, "Possessed by Joseon," written next to it in Japanese.

On "Shintei Bangkoku Zenzu," the official map of the Japanese government produced by Kageyasu Takahashi in 1809, Dokdo and Ulleungdo are placed next to Wonsan Bay in the area marked as "Sea of Joseon."

More clearly, Dokdo was completely excluded on such Japanese maps as the "Dainihon Zenzu" by Japan's Military Affairs Bureau in 1877, "Oki Chizu on a scale of 1:200,000" by Japan's Land Survey Board in 1889 and "Shimaneken Zenzu" by Rikinosuke Ando in 1929.

The map "Isotakeshima Ryakuzu" was attached to the formal document sent to the Department of the Interior of Japan by Dajokan, or Japan's Great Council of State, in 1877. To the department's question about the inclusion of Ulleungdo and the other island - known as Dokdo - in the Japanese National Land Registry, Dajokan had replied that Japan had no relationship with either island.

Dokdo was also recognized as Korean territory on many old European maps such as "Royaume de Coree" by French royal geographer Jean Baptiste Bourguignon D'Anville in 1737, "Map of Joseon's Eastern Seashore" by the Russian Navy Hydrographic Service in 1857 and "Kang Neung" by the French Army Map Service in 1904.

On those maps, Dokdo is referred to as "Tchian-chan-tao," "Liancourt Rocks," "Hornet Rocks," "Menelai" or "Olivutsa."

Regarding the name "East Sea," it is notable that certain old maps printed in European countries such as Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom had used the name even before it was marked as such on some Korean maps.

In "Asia Antiqua et Nova" by German geographer and historian Philip Cluver in 1690, the sea placed east to the Korean Peninsula, is named "Mare Eoum," which means a sea in the east in Latin.

"The World in Two Hemispheres" by the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1737 and "A Map of Marco Polo's Voyages" by Emanuel Bowen in 1744 also labeled the area as "Eastern Sea" or "Sea in the East."

The exhibition runs through March 9 at the Browsing Room and Gallery on the second floor of the National Assembly Library in Yeouido.

For more information, visit National Assembly Library at www.nanet.go.kr

(claire@heraldm.com)

By Park Min-young