Dokdo-or-Takeshima?: 1918 Japanese Map of Ulleungdo

10.11.07

1918 Japanese Map of Ulleungdo

Below is a Japanese map of Ulleungdo called the 鬱陵島図 and was made by the Office of the Governors-General of Korea (朝鮮総督府) in 1918. The map shows the island in a great deal of detail, including not only Jukdo (竹島), Gwaneumdo (觀音島), and the more well known rock islets (石島) around Ulleungdo, but also the lesser-known rocks and even the small rocks near the shore line. (You can see a Japanese language post mentioning the map HERE.)

There are two things about the map that I find especially interesting. One is that it shows two fairly large rocks south of Jukdo, just off the east shore of Ulleungdo. One of the rocks is labeled 胄島 (Judo), with the name "北苧岩" in parentheses. Judo (胄島) means "Helmet Island" and may have been the Japanese name for the islet since there is no Japanese pronunciation guide written above the name. At any rate, this is evidence that even rocks were referred to as "islands." By the way, there is a rock off the northern shore that is labeled as an "island": 一本立島 (竹岩).

The second thing about the map that interests me is the name of the peak on the southern tip of the island. The peak is labeled as 可頭峰 (가두봉 - Gadu Peak), which I think translates as "Seal Head Peak." Koreans used to refer to the sea lions on Ulleungdo as "Gaji-eo" (可支魚), of which the first character is the same as the first character in the name of the peak. Old Western maps also labeled that part of the island as "Seal Point." If you look closely at the map, you should notice a small islet just offshore of "Seal Point." Modern Korean maps show the name of this rock as "Gajae Bawui" (가재바위), which means "Sea Lion Rock" (可支岩) in the Ulleungdo dialect. (See the second map below.)

I think it is very likely that "Sea Lion Rock" was the place referred to as "Gajido" (可支島) in a 1794 Korean survey report of Ulleungdo since "Gajido" means "Sea Lion Island" and since rocks were also referred to as islands. "Geobuk Bawui" (거북바위 - Turtle Rock), on the southwest coast of the island, could have also been Gajido since it is very close to a seashore cave that was labeled as "Gaji Cave" (可支窟 - Sea Lion Cave) on Lee Gyu-won's 1882 map of Ulleungdo. Today, the cave is called "Gajae Cave" (가재굴), which again means "Sea Lion Cave" in the Ulleungdo dialect. Koreans claim that Gajido was another old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no maps or documents to support that claim. Besides, since Gajido was mentioned in a survey report of Ulleungdo, not Liancourt Rocks, it is almost certain that it was just one of Ulleungdo's neighboring rock islets.

4 comments:

pacifist10/11/07 07:55
Gerry,

The map shows that 観音島 and 島項嘴 are different places. 島項 may be the part of the protrusion to the island 観音島.

And I'm interested in the name 大芋浦 at just the southeast coast, but there is not 小芋浦.
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Kaneganese10/11/07 10:22
I have a copy of this map. The map is called 「鬱陵島図」 by 朝鮮総督府 in 1918. It has Korean pronouciation besides 漢字 and contour lines. It says 慶尚北道鬱陵島

I think it says "冑島(北苧岩)". "冑" means helmet. Since it has no Korean pronouciaion labelled for 冑島, maybe, it's an Japanese name?
BTW, "石圃洞" is still called "Sok-po-Don", and "石門洞" is called "Sok-Mun-Don"in this map. Aren't there any modern kind of this map in Korea?
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Gerry Bevers10/11/07 12:39
Thank you, Kaneganese. I have added your information to the post, and I have also made a few other changes to the post. It was late, and I was tired last night when I wrote it.

Actually, I have not found any Korean maps of Ulleungdo that are as detailed as this Japanese map, but THIS MAP is pretty good. A problem with most Korean maps of Ulleungdo, however, is that they do not show the placenames with their original Chinese characters. A decision seems to have been made to Koreanize many of the placenames on Ulleungdo. I cannot help but think they are trying to hide something.

By the way, if you look up "Ulleungdo" (울릉도) in some of Korea's online encyclopedias, you will notice that the description is only a few paragraphs, but if you look up "Dokdo," you get a long description of a dozen or more paragraphs. Does that make sense? Actually, we probably have more information on Ulleungdo on this site than any Korean site.
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Gerry Bevers10/11/07 12:48
Pacifist,

Yes, that protrusion pointing toward Gwaneumdo is called "Seom-mok" (섬목) on Korean maps, which is the Korean for "島項."
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NE Shore of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도)

This satellite photo shows Ulleungdo's neighboring islands of Gwaneumdo (觀音島) and Jukdo (竹島) off Ulleungdo's east shore. Gwaneumdo is only about 100 meters offshore and looks more like a cape than an island. Jukdo is about 2 km offshore. The old Korean name for Jukdo was "Usando" (于山島), as many of Korea's old maps show. Koreans claim that Usando was Korea's old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no documents or maps to prove it. Also, Liancourt Rocks is about ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo and are essentially two islands, but all of Korea's old maps show it as one island just off shore of Ulleungdo.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1860 - 1872)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed it with a small island off its eastern shore labeled as "Usan" (于山). Hash marks at the bottom of the map showed that Usan was less than 4 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. That would mean that it would be Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo and is essentially two islands, not one. The map is stored in the National Library of Korea.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1834)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed Usan (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. The hash marks at the bottom of the map showed the island to be about 4 km offshore. Usando was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km of Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim false. The map is stored in Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Center for Korean Studies.

"Dong Yeodo" (東輿圖) Atlas (1795 - 1800)

This map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a neighboring island labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim wrong. The map is stored in Japan's "University of Tsukuba Library" (筑波大学附属図書館).

"Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖) - 1800 - 1822

This map of Ullelungdo (鬱陵島) is from the Korean atlas "Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖), which is believed to have been made sometime between 1800 and 1822. Ulleungdo is shown with a neighboring island labeled as Usan (于山). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others show that it was Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島), which is Ulleungdo's largest neighboring island and only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. The map is stored in the Osaka Nakanoshima Library (中之島圖書館).

"Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿) - late 1800s?)

This map of Ulleungdo comes from an atlas entitled "Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿), which was probably made in the late 1800s since the map is very similarly to another map of Ulleungdo that was made between 1884 and 1894. The mapmaker used gridlines to help show relative size and distance. The map shows Ulleungdo with a small island off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山), which was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도). Jukdo is Ulleungdo's largest neighoring island and is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no maps or documents to prove it. The map is stored in the Korean National Library.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1750 - 1768)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed "Usan" (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island. The grid lines on the map helped show the small island's relative distance from Ulleungdo. Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Korean's claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others prove that claim false.

Inspector's Map of Ulleungdo (1711)

The map is an inspector's map that showed Ulleungdo with an island off its east shore labeled as "the so-called Usando" (所謂于山島). The small island was also labeled as having "fields of haejang bamboo" (海長竹田). Koreans claim that Usando was Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map shows that it could not have been Dokdo since Dokdo is just rocks without the soil to grow haejang bamboo. Also, Usando was shown as a neighboring island of Ulleungdo, but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo. Stored in Seoul Nat'l University's Kyujanggak Institute of Korean Studies.

"Haejwa Jeondo" (海左全圖) - mid 1800s

This old Korean map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is evidence against the Korean claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands 92 kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usan on this map is just off Ulleungdo's east shore and is only one island. In fact, Usando was the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore.

Carte de la Coree (1846)

This map was made iin 1846 by Kim Dae-geon (金大建), who was Korea's first Catholic priest. He made this map for the benefit of the French priest he works with. He was killed by the Joseon government the same year this map was made. The map shows Ulleungdo labeled in French as "Oulangto" and its neighboring island of Usando labeled as "Ousan." Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rock), but this map shows Usando as one island just of the east shore of Ulleungdo. That tells us that Usando was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only 2 kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Also, this island could not have been Liancourt Rocks since Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands not one. The original of this map is stored in the National Library of France.

Joseon Jeondo (朝鮮全圖) from the "Gakdo Jido" (各道地圖) Atlas (latter 18th c.)

This old Korean map showed an island labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도) just off the east shore of Ulleundo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is more evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map shows Usando as one island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in Korea's Yeongnam University Museum.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1898)

"Donggyeong San Cheon - Paldo Jido (東京山川八道地圖) Atlas (date unknown)

"Jeongukdo" (全國圖) from the "Dongguk Daecheondo" (東國大全圖) - 1740

This old Korean map shows Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo, but this map is evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usando on this map is one island just off the east shore of Ulleungdo. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in the Korean National Museum.

竹島問題の歴史

10.11.07

1918 Japanese Map of Ulleungdo

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