1880s - 1890s - Gwandong Pangyeo - Ulleungdo (關東方輿 -鬱陵島)

Below are maps of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島) and Samcheok (三陟) from an atlas entitled "Gwandong Pangyeo" (關東方輿), which I believe was made sometime in the late 1800s. The atlas is stored in the National Library of Korea.

The reason I believe the atlas was made sometime in the late 1800s is that the maps are very similar to the maps that appear in an atlas labeled "地圖" (Maps), which is stored in Korea's Koryo University Musuem. The maps in the Koryo University Museum atlas were made sometime between 1884 and 1994.

If you look at both sets of maps below, you should notice that Ulleungdo was drawn in a similar way in both sets. Also, notice that both sets of maps used gridlines to show relative distance. The maps of Samcheok were also drawn in a similar way.

Both sets of maps of Ulleungdo show it with a neighboring island labeled as Usan (于山). The position of the island suggests that it was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島), which is only about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore.

Also, there is an atlas stored in Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Institute of Korean Studies that is also drawn very similar to the other two maps of Ulleungdo shown here, but the people at Kyujanggak entitled "Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地島) that has a map very similar to the two posted here, but the people at Kyujanggak have dated the atlas as having been made sometime between 1750 and 1768, which are dates that I think should be reevaluated considering that we know for sure that the Koryo University Museum map was made after 1884.

Some Korean historians claim that Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo), but the maps below and all of Korea's other old maps of Ulleungdo showing Usando prove that claim wrong. In fact, Korea has no old maps showing Liancourt Rocks by any name, nor does Korea have any documents indicating that Koreans traveled to Liancourt Rocks before the Japanese started taking them there on Japanese fishing boats in the early 1900s. Moveover, the few Korean documents that do mention an island that is visible in the distance to the east of Ulleungdo refer to it as if it were Japanese territory. See HERE.

By the way, on the "Gwandong Bangyeo" atlas map of Samcheok (三陟), doesn't it look as if something were erased or covered over in the upper right-hand corner of the map? I wonder if there used to be writing similar to the writing that appears on the Koryo University map.

"Gwandong Bangyeo" - Ulleungdo & Samckeok - late 1800s (Korea's National Library)



"Jido" Samcheok & Ulleungdo - between 1884 - 1994 (Koyro Univesity Museum)


"Joseon Jido" -Ulleungdo - 1750-1768? (Seoul Nat'l Univ. Kyujanggak Inst. of Korean Studies)


Here is another gridline Ulleungdo map, but the islands were drawn slightly differently from the maps above, which suggests it was drawn at a different time. In fact, the map is believed to have been drawn sometime between 1776 and 1795.

"Haedong Yeojido" - Ulleungdo - 1776 - 1795 (Korean National Library)