Chinese Geography in 1402: Europe is Minuscule, Porous, and Ugly

You know the term 'Eurocentric'? It’s the word we use when Western institutions and governments act like conceited, insensitive xenophobes and indigenous-crushing imperialists. Which has been known to happen.

But, as this map proves, Europe is not the only culture with a self-absorption problem.

This is a 1402 map of the world made in Korea, a copy of an older Chinese map. See that big mass in the center? That’s China. Africa and Europe are to the west. Japan, looming larger than it tends to on contemporary maps, is to the east. As you can see, the actually quite big European continent looks like a tiny mouth. It is like a mouth riddled with cavities.

Granted, Asia did not have much topographical information about the West, because, well, they hadn’t much explored there. But that doesn’t really excuse the contrast between imposing, solid China and the continents on either side that look like its appendages.

My point is that ethnocentricism itself is sort of worldwide. If there’s anything all cultures have in common, it is the tendency toward grandstanding and naval-gazing. Maybe everyone should just cop to it and try to be better.