Dokdo-or-Takeshima?: 1855 French map of Korea (Coree)

2.7.08

1855 French map of Korea (Coree)

This map was published in 1855 in Paris. This may have been made on the basis of information in 1846 as the credit says "d'Apres l'Original dressee par Andre Kim en 1846 et apportee" but anyway, it was made in the mid-19th century. There are two islands off Samtsek which were labeled as "Oulangto" (Ulleungdo) and "Ousan" (Usan). Although it didn't show longitudinal lines, the location of Oulangto (Ulleungdo) seems to be almost the same as the eastern edge of "Taimato" (Tsushima) which is located at 129 degree E - more western than true Ulleungdo is located.

By the way, Dagelet island (Ulleungdo) had been already discovered when this map was made - it was discovered by a French ship in 1787. Liancourt Rocks was yet to be discovered (if the information was given in 1846 - three years earlier than 1849 when Liancourt Rocks were discovered), but the rocks were discovered 6 years earlier than the publicartion year . So if the French mapmaker knew that "Oulangto" was Dagelet island, they should have written as "Oulangto (Dagelet Isl)" but they didn't. It seems that they thought these two islands off Korean east coast were different from Dagelet island. If these two islands were believed to be closer to Korean peninsula than Dagelet island, "Ousan" was not Liancourt Rocks as the latter were located at more eastern position than Dagelet island. And the shape of the island is different from Liancourt Rocks. This may have been another evidence to prove that Usan (Ousan) was not Liancourt Rocks.

Addendum: Please see also the map (1880) Gerry introduced here:

http://dokdo-or-takeshima.blogspot.com/2008/05/1880-r-hausermanns-map-of-korea.html

It says that the map in the 1880 was based on Father Kim Degeon's Carte de la Corée of 1846. (Is this 金大建's 朝鮮全圖, 1846?) I haven't a slightest idea if Father Kim Degeon and Andre Kim was the same person or not. The map in 1880 looks more accurate - it depicted Ulleungdo as "Oul-neung-to (Is. Dagelet)" and the shape of "Ou-san" looks like today's Jukdo. It seems to me that mapmakers noticed that Ulleungdo was Dagelet island in the period between 1855 and 1880.

Additional post:

I found the Carta de la Coree (1846) here - it looks almost the same as the 1855 map (above).

Carta de la Coree (1846):

And in 1865, the map was much improved. It looks more accurate than the 1855 map. Note that they labeled as "I. Dagelet" which is inclusive of both Ulleungdo and Usan (Ousan).

4 comments:

Kaneganese3/7/08 12:33
Thank you, for an interesting map, and the analysis is very interesting.

"So if the French mapmaker knew that "Oulangto" was Dagelet island, they should have written as "Oulangto (Dagelet Isl)" but they didn't. It seems that they thought these two islands off Korean east coast were different from Dagelet island."

I think this is because it's simply a copy of Korean old maps. But importantly, later, French maps of Korea started to describe both "Oul-leng-to (Ulleundo)" and "Ou-san(Usan)" consist one "Dagelet Island".

1874 - "Histoire de L'Eglise de Corée" by Claude Charles Dallet
http://dokdo-or-takeshima.blogspot.com/2008/05/1874-histoire-de-leglise-de-core-by.html

1880 - R. Hausermann's Map of Korea "Corée" (Tyo Syen)
http://dokdo-or-takeshima.blogspot.com/2008/05/1880-r-hausermanns-map-of-korea.html

The transition of those French maps suggests that French identified "Oulangto" (Ulleungdo) and "Ousan" (Usan) in Korean old maps as actually Daglett island, which means French also recognized Usan in Korean old maps are Jukdo, a neighbouring island of Ulleungdo, not Takeshima/Liancourt Rocks just like us.

As for Kim Degeon or Andre Kim, is it possible he is same person with "Kim Tayken, Korea's first Catholic priest, who studied and was ordained in China. "?
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pacifist3/7/08 14:34
Thank you Kaneganese for your nice comment. I agree with you, this map may have been made after tracing old Korean maps and they may have improved the maps adding new information after this one.
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pacifist3/7/08 14:51
Kaneganese,

I found the map Carta de la Coree and added it to the post. Please take a look.
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Kaneganese3/7/08 15:15
Wow! Good job, pacifist

We can see the history and transition of French maps of Ulleungdo. French information on Korea around those years is extremely important, since only French missionary were allowed to stay in Korea except for Chinese and Japanese officials.

Could you please make posts for each maps? I think each of three maps deserve it. (You don't have to delete what you have written in this posts, though. It is also important to show the transition.)
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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

2.7.08

1855 French map of Korea (Coree)

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