An 18th century Dutch map depicting the East Sea as the “Sea of Korea” (Image courtesy of the Northeast Asian History Foundation)
SEOUL, Mar. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – An 18th century Dutch map depicting the East Sea as the “Sea of Korea” will be put on public display, offering a window into how Western cartographers viewed the waters off the Korean Peninsula centuries ago.
The Northeast Asian History Foundation announced on Sunday that it will exhibit an East Asia map created by Jan Barend Elwe, a Dutch map publisher and bookseller, at its Dokdo Experience Hall in Seoul.
Dated around 1792, the 60cm by 50cm map shows the Korean Peninsula labeled as the “Kingdom of Korea,” along with regions like China, Japan, and the Philippines. The Korean territories are broken down into the Eight Provinces system, marking major towns and counties.
Ulleungdo and Dokdo, the contested islets, are indicated as “Fanlingtao” and “Tchiangehantao” respectively – approximations of the Korean names after passing through Renaissance-era transcription of Chinese characters by European scholars.
But most notably, the body of water between Korea and Japan is labeled in French as “Oriental Sea or Sea of Korea,” showing a clear Western recognition of the East Sea by that latter Korean name in the late 1700s.
This rare 230-year-old map offers valuable insights into how the East Sea was perceived outside of Asia at the time, according to the Northeast Asian History Foundation. As the first installment of a new monthly exhibition series, the Elwe map will be on display at the Dokdo Experience Hall through April 30.
East Asia map created by Jan Barend Elwe, a Dutch map publisher and bookseller (Image courtesy of the Northeast Asian History Foundation)
“By examining these old maps, we can see how the Korean Peninsula, the East Sea, and the Dokdo islets were understood in the West,” a foundation official stated. The series will rotate through some 200 antique maps in the foundation’s collection.
While showing the East Sea labeled as “Sea of Korea,” the map does contain some apparent errors. The Seoul capital area is mismarked as “Kingkitao,” likely reflecting a European misunderstanding of the region.
The Dokdo Experience Hall exhibiting the Dutch map is located in the Times Square mall basement in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
