Abstract:
Japan became the country that kept closest communications with China in the cartographical industry due to geographical location and historical factors. It is because Chinese modern city maps delineated by Japanese were a large amount and circulated widely, far more than that made by other countries, conjectures, even mysterious mask were made on this kind of maps. This misunderstanding would affect the exact utilization of those maps. Based on systematical city maps delineated by Japanese, especially some case studies, such as the city maps of Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai, the author believe that most Chinese modern city maps delineated by Japanese have their own original version, which is an important material criticism in research for the full use of the maps. Meanwhile, apart from independent measurement which is just one part of the culture of modern maps, more importantly, the influence of the Japanese modern cartographical industry on China lies on the spread of cartographical techniques, the capital exchange of cartographical publishing industry, the promotion and popularization of the modern culture of maps, etc. Those topics concerned the comprehensive understanding and objective evaluation of Chinese city maps delineated by the Japanese.
