Map of the Prefectural City of Pingjiang

Southern Song dynasty (1127�1279), Shaoding period (1228�33), engraved 1229

Drawn by Li Shoupeng, engraved by Lu Ting and Zhang Yucheng

Size of the original stele: approx. 279.0 x 138.0 cm; height of rectangular portion: approx. 198.0 cm; height of stele, including head: approx. 258.0 cm

Re-engraved in 1917

Hanging scroll, ink rubbed on paper; 253.4 x 141.5 cm

Date of rubbing not given, Republican period, between 1917 and 1949

Inventory number: 221.201/1229/1139

This map, engraved in 1229, is the oldest extant map depicting the city and superior prefecture of Pingjiang (corresponding to present-day Suzhou).� One of the special characteristics of this map is the use of uniform legends, which include both pictorial and graphic types.� There are no fewer than 614 vertical or horizontal annotations on the map engraved in kaishu (regular script) of varying sizes; nearly half of these are the names of bridges that span the canals of this waterborne city, while others are the names of squares, temples, monasteries, and other sites.

The map, which is highly comprehensive and accurately depicts the city as it stood some fifty years before Marco Polo (1254�1324) is believed to have visited it, has remarkably few omissions or mistakes.� It was re-engraved in 1917 by Huang Weixuan under the supervision of Zhu Xiliang and the distinguished bibliophile Ye Dehui (1864�1927), both natives of Suzhou.� Rather than recarving the map on a new slab of stone, the original stele was used.� The incised lines and legends, which had been worn away after centuries of rubbings, were merely deepened, making possible the kind of clarity seen here.