Rare 400-year-old Map Shows China as the Centre of the World
Viewing world 400 years before Google. 
One of the world's rarest and oldest maps went on display at the Library of Congress in Washington. It was made in 1602 by Italian priest Matteo Ricci, who visited China in the 1500s and taught the Chinese about the existence of "the Americas." The emperor asked him to make a map.
The result is an enormous map, on five-foot-tall panels of rice paper, with China at the center. It's the first map in Chinese to show the land we now call North and South America.
The 12ft by 5ft document, printed on six rolls of rice paper, is on show at the Library of Congress. It is one of only two copies in existence in good condition, and was coined 'the impossible black tulip of cartography' by experts strugging to track it down.
The map includes drawings and annotations detailing different regions of the world. Africa was noted to have the world's highest mountain and longest river, while a brief description of North America describes 'humped oxen', wild horses and a region named 'Ka-na-ta'.
Several Central and South American places are also named, including 'Wa-ti-ma-la' (Guatemala), 'Yu-ho-t'ang' (Yucatan) and 'Chih-Li' (Chile).
Ricci was among the first Westerners to live in what is now Beijing. Known for introducing Western science to China, Ricci created the map at the request of Emperor Wanli.
No examples of the map are known to exist in China, where Ricci was revered and buried. Only a few original copies are known to exist, held by the Vatican's libraries and collectors in France and Japan.
The copy on display at the Library of Congress became the second most expensive rare map ever sold after it was purchased by the James Ford Bell Trust in October for $1million.
The trust also owns the Waldseemuller world map, which was the first to use the name 'America' and was purchased for a staggering $10 million in 2003.
Read more: Mailonsunday
The 12ft by 5ft document, printed on six rolls of rice paper, is on show at the Library of Congress. It is one of only two copies in existence in good condition, and was coined 'the impossible black tulip of cartography' by experts strugging to track it down.
The map includes drawings and annotations detailing different regions of the world. Africa was noted to have the world's highest mountain and longest river, while a brief description of North America describes 'humped oxen', wild horses and a region named 'Ka-na-ta'.
Several Central and South American places are also named, including 'Wa-ti-ma-la' (Guatemala), 'Yu-ho-t'ang' (Yucatan) and 'Chih-Li' (Chile).
Ricci was among the first Westerners to live in what is now Beijing. Known for introducing Western science to China, Ricci created the map at the request of Emperor Wanli.
No examples of the map are known to exist in China, where Ricci was revered and buried. Only a few original copies are known to exist, held by the Vatican's libraries and collectors in France and Japan.
The copy on display at the Library of Congress became the second most expensive rare map ever sold after it was purchased by the James Ford Bell Trust in October for $1million.
The trust also owns the Waldseemuller world map, which was the first to use the name 'America' and was purchased for a staggering $10 million in 2003.
Read more: Mailonsunday
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