江戸時代の古地図に見るオーストラリア

概要

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While attempts were being made in Europe to discover the "Terra Australis Incognita" (unknown southern land), imaginary land which had long been thought to exist at the bottom of the earth since the times of Greek geographer, Ptolemy, Japan was under National Isolation Policy. It was not until Captain Cook's explorations that precise maps of Australia and New Zealand were drawn. Captain Cook also found that the legendary land which had been thought to occupy the whole bottom of the earth did not exist. In Japan, however, cartographers kept on producing out-dated maps. The shape of some land masses especially that of Australia differed according to Buddhists, Confucianists, and those Japanese Dutch scholars who were so-called positivists. It was a Japanese feudal government officer, Kageyasu Takahashi, who finally drew the first correct map. Though the Japanese government publicly acknowledged Confucianism to be the "orthodox" ideology, they on the other hand pursued European knowledge. However, this knowledge was restricted to themselves. That is why private scholars were behind the times. In this essay, three styles of maps of Australia during the Edo Period are described along with the discussion as to why such lack of unity occurred
英米文化学会の論文
2000-03-31