During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Jesuits' dissemination of geographical knowledge about China and its neighboring regions, as well as their map compilation, significantly influenced Europeans' understanding of Chinese geography. Martino Martini's Novus Atlas Sinensis was the first officially published provincial atlas of China in Europe. The imperial surveys conducted by Jesuits in the early Qing period had a profound impact on European geography. After the return of the New Jesuits to China, they inherited and expanded the academic reputation of their predecessors, incorporating the development of geography and surveying techniques into their scholarly agenda. The 1872 "Jiangnan Scientific Plan" was the most influential academic research project of the New Jesuits, with map compilation serving as a key sub-project. However, the New Jesuits' map compilation initiatives have yet to receive dedicated scholarly attention.

I. Types and Periodization of New Jesuit Cartography

The New Jesuits' map compilation activities in China encompassed various types, including administrative, transportation, historical, and educational maps, with functional overlaps. These maps were produced in both printed and manuscript forms, primarily from the 1870s to the 1940s, with particular concentration in the 1870s–1920s. The New Jesuits' cartographic endeavors originated from hand-drawn guides created by Catholic missionaries during the Ming and Qing periods. These maps, following Western cartographic conventions, marked churches and transportation routes and were later compiled at the Jesuit residence in Xujiahui. In the late Qing period, the New Jesuits began reprinting Chinese maps, with the Tushanwan Printing House introducing lithography for trial map printing. From 1885 onward, the New Jesuits independently compiled maps, with Henri Havret and Stanislas Chevalier as key initiators. Their maps were often based on field surveys and interviews. By the 1890s, New Jesuits began employing modern surveying tools for fieldwork, exemplified by Chevalier's Map of the Upper Yangtze. The Zikawei Observatory provided support for map surveying, and the 1:200,000 Map of Jiangsu Province, jointly completed by Pierre Hoang and Louis Gaillard, was the largest-scale civilian map of its time, showcasing Tushanwan's advanced map-printing technology.

II. Alliances and Traditions: Key Influences in New Jesuit Cartography

The New Jesuits' map compilation activities in China were deeply influenced by both Chinese traditions and Western cartographic lineages. From the mid-19th century, they collected Chinese maps, including widely circulated works like the Comprehensive Atlas of the Great Qing. Their Western-language maps were largely based on the surveying achievements of Jesuits from the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reigns. For instance, the 1842 Paris-published Map of China was a corrected and supplemented version of German Orientalist Julius Klaproth's Central Asian map, which itself drew directly from Jesuit surveys of the Kangxi-Qianlong era. When compiling maps, the New Jesuits faced the challenge of selecting base maps, often preferring Western traditions. In 1876, they printed the Map of Jiangsu and Anhui Provinces, based on the Jiangnan provincial map from the 1735 Description de la Chine, merely translating French into Chinese and adding provincial boundaries and sandbanks along the Yangtze. In 1888, Chevalier, author of the Map of Anhui Province, admitted relying primarily on maps from the Description de la Chine rather than imperial surveys. By the late 19th to early 20th century, the New Jesuits published the Complete Atlas of the Imperial Provinces series. Though the title and lineage traced back to Kangxi-Yongzheng-Qianlong imperial surveys, the techniques were Western, adapted from Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville's maps of China. In the 1920s, Pierre Hoang, while surveying Jiangsu maps, used reference points from the Description de la Chine for calibration due to a lack of field data. The New Jesuits saw themselves as successors to the Ming-Qing Jesuits, deliberately emulating their predecessors in "scientific missionary work" and prioritizing their works as foundational sources. However, late Qing indigenous surveys also became unavoidable references. For example, in the 1870s, Aloys Pfister's missionary maps of Jiangsu relied heavily on the Jiangsu Provincial Atlas series by the Provincial Survey Bureau. As the finest preexisting provincial maps, these became the primary base for the New Jesuits' maps of the Jiangnan mission and its prefectures, subprefectures, and counties.

III. Exploration and Perception: Local Knowledge in Map Compilation

The New Jesuit cartographers conducted extensive fieldwork in China, engaging with locals to acquire place-specific knowledge, becoming representatives of expatriate sinology. Confronted with cultural differences, they first studied history, geography, language, customs, and religion, laying the groundwork for professional academic sinology. Map surveying was a crucial link in the sinological production chain, embedding local knowledge. The New Jesuits showcased regional insights in their maps, such as Pierre Hoang's discussion in the preface to the 1:200,000 Map of Jiangsu Province about directional perceptions in Chongming, Haimen, and Rugao, where scientific surveying clashed with local understanding. Local knowledge was also gathered through collecting and studying regional literature, such as local gazetteers housed in the Xujiahui Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei. Louis Gaillard researched Nanjing's urban history by compiling documents, drawing, photographing, and conducting fieldwork, producing the Map of Jiangning Prefecture. The New Jesuit sinologists' publications and academic interactions introduced local knowledge into Anglo-American sinology. For instance, Henri Havret's Map of Anhui Province emphasized road networks, with ethnographically acquired knowledge circulating in open academic discourse.

IV. Conclusion

The study notes that the New Jesuits' map compilation in China began as individual efforts, evolving through data aggregation and basic technical training to produce numerous published maps. These maps primarily served European audiences, with limited reach in China due to language barriers and the New Jesuits' marginalization from European academic centers. Their cartographic activities peaked from the 1870s to the early 20th century but declined after the 1930s, narrowing to missionary maps. While the New Jesuits' maps surpassed British and French military maps and contemporary commercial maps in detail and coverage, their advantage faded with the rise of indigenous Chinese surveying initiatives.