Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 172 The Complete Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms and the Seven Continents and Four Oceans

"A Brief History of Chinese Chronicles" and "A Brief History of Dynasty Chronicles" achieved such status, which made Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu who compiled "A Brief History of World Chronicles" very envious.

But the two knew that the brief history of the world they compiled could not be used as a book to delineate the scope of the topic. Most students don’t care about history outside of China and think that those places were inhabited by Yi and Di——

Taizu's message for the Northern Expedition clearly stated that "China resides within to control the barbarians, and the barbarians reside outside to serve China." Of course, the status of world history cannot be compared with that of Chinese history.

If they dare to ask for world history to be included in the examination, not to mention the students taking the imperial examination, the ministers in the court will hate them to death.

This made them envious of the luck of Huang Liji and Zhang Ruitu, and lamented that they did not have such good luck and were arranged by the emperor to write world history.

But Zhu Youjian did not ignore them. He knew that Western civilization was developing rapidly and had begun the Age of Discovery. If Ming Dynasty does not catch up, it will fall behind the world.

Therefore, this "A Brief History of the World Chronicle" is Zhu Youjian's first step in allowing the Ming Dynasty to open its eyes to the world, similar to the status of Wei Yuan's "Hai Guo Tu Zhi".

Unlike "Hai Guo Tu Zhi", which was privately compiled and had many errors and omissions, "A Brief History of the World Chronicle" is an official history book, and Zhu Youjian required that all sources must come from official history, and hearsay content cannot be added.

This troubled Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu, because there were not many foreign history books in the Ming Dynasty, so how could they compile a brief history of the world.

In fact, the two of them were not even sure about the scope of world history, and they didn't know whether to add Chinese history to it.

Shi Fenglai thought of the difficulties involved and said to the emperor:

"The past and present are called the world, and the four directions above and below are called the world."

"I wonder if this world history includes Chinese history?"

Zhu Youjian said matter-of-factly:

"China has a special Chinese history, and there is no need to write it out in world history."

"Unless it is compared with China or quoted from Chinese history books and related records."

"For example, the history of Qin and Parthia can be quoted from relevant records in history books, compared with the history of these countries, and then improved."

"The exchanges between China and the outside world can be recorded in world history."

This makes Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu even more embarrassed, because it involves the issue of dividing China and the outside world.

Traditionally, the Chinese people uphold the view of the world. "Under the whole world, everything is the king's land. On the shore of the land, there is nothing but the king's ministers." China is a central country, and other countries are vassals.

Now the emperor's intention is obviously that the Qin Dynasty, Parthia and other countries are not vassals, so the exchanges between the Han Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty in Haixi can be included in world history.

So, should other countries be included in world history?
Regarding this question, Zhu Youjian frowned, because he had realized that now is not the time for clear national boundaries in later generations. The division between China and the world is very unclear.

So after thinking about it, he ordered:
"Take out the "Comprehensive Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms"."

"Today we will discuss which places' history is world history and which is Chinese history."

While the chamberlain went to get the map, Zhu Youjian thought carefully about which ones should be divided into China and which ones should be divided into the outside world.

The current vassal states, as well as the traditional vassal states, must be divided into China. It is impossible for me to carve out those countries and not recognize the suzerainty over those tributary countries.

Therefore, the scope of activities of the Central Plains Dynasty in history, as well as the countries that paid tribute to the Central Plains Dynasty, must be divided into China.

Only those that have no vassal relationship with the Central Plains Dynasty can be divided into worlds.

Looking at "The Complete Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms", Zhu Youjian found that although it was very famous, it actually had many mistakes. Moreover, he was not used to many translated names.

He even wanted to draw a longitude and latitude map, using his hand-drawn map skills that he had practiced in high school. As long as the longitude and latitude lines are clearly divided, he is sure that the world map he draws will be more accurate. Australia and other places that have not been discovered so far can also be marked out. But this picture is so famous that it can only be used first. Zhu Youjian pointed to "Asia" above and said:

"This is what the West calls us, meaning the place where the sun rises."

"We cannot use their transliterated name. From now on, according to tradition, we will call it Chixian Shenzhou, or Shenzhou for short."

"The history of China is all Chinese history and does not need to be written in world history."

The ministers looked at the map. Li Guopu pointed to the countries near Xiaoxiyang and said:
"Do these countries belong to China?"

"When Zheng He went on missions to the West, some countries surrendered."

Zhu Youjian thought for a while and said:
"There are also Chinese vassal states outside China, and they don't all need to be divided into China."

"These countries are to the west of the Western Region, probably where they were their previous resting places. They are called Xiao Xizhou, or Xizhou for short, after the name of Xiao Xiyang."

After confirming this, Zhu Youjian pointed further west and said:
"Further west from Xizhou, it says Europa, so it's called Europe for short."

"The ocean to the west of Europe can be called the Atlantic Ocean."

"The continent to the south of Europe, which is called Levia, is also called Africa, and will henceforth be called Africa."

"The continent further south is where the Antarctic is located and can be called Antarctica."

"To the east of Antarctica and to the north are South Asia and North Asia, which are also translated as America. They can be called South America and North America."

"Further north is a large ocean, covered with ice and snow. This is not the North Sea where Su Wu shepherds sheep. It will be called the Arctic Ocean from now on."

"To the south of the Arctic Ocean, this ocean is the largest. It is divided into the Daming Ocean, Xiaodong Ocean, Dadong Ocean, Ninghai and other oceans. It is also collectively called the Cangming Sect. I take the meaning of world peace and call it the Pacific Ocean."

After imitating the seven continents and four oceans of later generations, calling the area that China can influence Shenzhou, the rest of Asia as Xizhou, and the Indian Ocean as the Little Western Ocean, Zhu Youjian concluded:
"The Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Little Western Ocean, and the Atlantic Ocean are the four oceans."

"China, Western Continent, Europe, Africa, Antarctica, South America, and North America are the seven continents."

"World history should be written about history other than China. No one does not need to write about Antarctica. Then write four volumes on Western Continent, Europe, Africa, and America."

"The vassal states that surrendered to China are listed separately and must be divided into Chinese history."

"What countries occupy other lands, what are the ancient names of these countries, what is the current system, and who rules them, all must be written down carefully."

"The Ming Dynasty should open its eyes to the world, learn the technologies they are good at from countries such as Folangji, learn from the foreigners and use their skills to control the foreigners, and always lead the world."

Such a statement made the officials feel once again that the emperor cared far more about things other than the Ming Dynasty than they did.

For the first time, many people intuitively realized that the world was far bigger than the Ming Dynasty, and there were many countries that existed outside the Ming Dynasty.

Even though the Ming Dynasty was a central country, the land area on the map was also very large. But some countries are not necessarily much smaller than the Ming Dynasty, especially Folangji, which occupies many places in the Americas and Luzon.

This country is far to the west of Europe, which surprised the officials. Especially when they thought that the Flemish cannon originated from them and that Luzon was also invaded by them, they realized more deeply that the Ming Dynasty was not the only country in the world.

Let’s look at Italy, where Matteo Ricci and others came from. Judging from the sea route, it is farther than France.

They came to the Ming Dynasty from thousands of miles away, which means that they indeed have great skills and are better than the Ming Dynasty in navigation and other aspects.

No wonder the emperor said he wanted to open his eyes to the world and let people compile world history.

(End of this chapter)