This map, drawn by Zhu Xiling in 1818, shows the administrative division of the Qing dynasty.
The Qing dynasty was the last great Chinese imperial dynasty, remaining in power between 1644 and 1912, when the Republic of China was established. It was during this period that China reached its maximum extent, conquering new territories such as Taiwan, Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet.
This map shows the extent of the empire at the beginning of the 19th century. Despite the verticality of the map, it is oriented with north at the top, using a projection that unusually stretches the north-south axis.
The colours represent the 18 provinces into which the Qing dynasty was divided (west-east and north-south): Gansu (blue), Shaanxi (light pink), Shanxi (grey), Henan (green), Zhili (yellow), Shandong (blue), Jiangsu (orange), Anhui (light pink), Sichuan (orange), Hubei (red), Yunnan (red), Guizhou (green), Guangxi (yellow), Hunan (grey), Guangdong (orange), Jiangxi (green), Zhejiang (yellow) and Fujian (blue).
All these provinces correspond to historical territories and not regions such as Mongolia, Manchuria, Tibet or Xinjiang, as these maintained a status of protectorate without full rights. The cities appear only with the typical legend of Chinese cartography, with Chinese characters surrounded by circles, with the exception of Beijing, which appears at the top as a large blue square detailing different neighbourhoods and even highlighting the Forbidden City.
The information on this map is based on an earlier map from 1767 by Huang Qianren, which used information compiled by his grandfather Huang Zongxi throughout the 17th century.
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