For nearly two thousand years the Chinese emperor, ruler of "All under heaven", demanded the obedience not only of his subjects in China but also of tributary peoples throughout the known world. This work explores the history of Chinese map-making, giving special emphasis to the political, military, and administrative uses of maps, the images of foreign "barbarians" seen in maps and encyclopaedias, and the role of these materials in the maintenance of China's image of itself as the Middle Kingdom.
