Spatial Imaginaries in Mid-Tang China: Geography, Cartography, an ...

dealing with something.⁴² In the following Tang example quoted from Li Deyu’s memorial to Emperor Wuzhong (r. 840–846) accompanying his geographic work, we see how maps and governance are correlated through their shared character “tu”:

I, your subject, have been in western Sichuan for a short period. Here I have considered the local advantages and disadvantages, and have taken control of some strategic places, as part of the enterprise of governing the empire’s distant lands. For this purpose, I wrote the thirteen-volume Xi’nan beibian lu (“Record of the Southwestern Frontier Defenses”). I also drew small maps of the towns I established, where rice, salt, and armor are all well in supply. When Xiao He took over the maps and documents of the Qin Dynasty, he knew all the strategic points. Concerning the affairs of the state and the army, nothing is more crucial than this. [italics added.]

臣頃在西川，講求利病，頗收要害之地，實盡經遠之圖*。因著《西南備邊錄》十三卷。臣所創立城鎮，兼畫小圖*，米鹽器甲，無不該備。昔蕭何收秦圖*書，具知阨塞，軍國之政，莫切於斯。⁴³

In this memorial, the first tu 圖 means “(the imperial) enterprise,” and the phrase jingyuan zhi tu 經遠之圖 means “the enterprise of governing distant lands.” The next two tu refer to “map.” Bringing in the maps of the Qin Dynasty, the author emphasizes their crucial function in conveying key information about the political and military affairs of the state. This tu therefore corresponds well with the first tu meaning the imperial enterprise. The juxtaposition of the word tu with its different connotations enhances the shared epistemological underpinning and points to the significance of maps to imperial governance.

Tang maps continued to share an affinity with paintings as well. Given that the Late Tang art historian Zhang Yanyuan 張彥遠 (c. 815–877) included maps in the catalogue of paintings in his Famous Paintings through History (Lidai minghua ji, 歷代名畫記), Yee claims that maps must have constituted a genre of painting during the Tang.⁴⁴ In fact,