18.10.2023

Lecture: ZHENG Cheng, "Mapping Peking 1688-1914"

One Tue, Oct 24, 2023, 16:00, Dr. ZHENG Cheng will talk on "Mapping Peking 1688-1914: A Czech Jesuit and a Russian Priest, Chinese Painters and German Soldiers, The Interweaving of City Plans"

Abstract Before the detailed surveyed map finally established a "standard" representation of old Peking in the beginning of the 20th century, various city plans of Peking had been produced and published in European languages since the late 17th century. Intelligence gathering, commercial competition, academic pursuit or sheer curiosity drove missionaries, envoys, soldiers, and merchants engaged in making new maps. The development of European plans and Chinese maps were interwoven and closely related to the modernization process of China. Therefore, the evolution of plans of Peking is not only a history of competition in intellectual and military domains but also a history of cultural exchange. It serves as a case study in the broader context of global history.
Bio ZHENG Cheng 郑诚 received his doctoral degree and became a researcher of the Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2012. His main research field is the history of science and technology in the Ming-Qing period. His publications include Gunpowder Weaponry and Warfare in Ming-Qing China (2022), An Illustrated History of Gunpowder Weapons in China (2020), critical editions of a selection of Chinese treatises on European military technology during the Ming-Qing transition (2019), and Ryu Seong-ryong's memoir of Imjin war Jingbirok (2019).