Surveying and mapping as a discipline has a long history, and in China, the history of surveying and mapping can be traced back to 4,000 years ago.
In the "Historical Records of Xia Benji", Xia Yu's flood control was recounted: "The left is the criterion, and the right is the rule. At four o'clock, in order to open Kyushu, pass nine roads, steep nine Zedu nine mountains". This shows that in the 21st century B.C., our people have begun to use simple measuring tools for measurement work.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a new development in surveying and mapping. The relevant expositions in books such as "The Sutra of Calculations of the Zhou Dynasty," "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic," "Atlas of the Pipe," and "The Art of War" all show that the technology of surveying, calculation, and military topographic maps in China had reached a very high level at that time. The topographic maps, garrison maps, and city maps of the 2nd century BC unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha are the oldest and most detailed maps ever discovered.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, Liu Hui wrote the Book of Island Calculations, which expounded the method of measuring the distance and height between islands. Pei Xiu of the Western Jin Dynasty presided over the compilation of the large-scale atlas "Eighteen Chapters of Yugong Geographical Map" that reflected the counties, counties, mountains, rivers and borders of the sixteen states of the Jin Dynasty, and summarized the "six bodies of cartography" with a score of quasi-wangdaoli, high and low, and oblique and straight, and since then, there have been standards and principles for map mapping.
In 724 A.D., the Tang Dynasty monks and their entourage (commonly known as Zhang Sui) presided over the world's earliest meridian measurement, which stretched about 200km from north to south in the Henan Plain, approximately located at four points of the same meridian, measuring the length of the sun shadow and the height of the North Pole at noon on the winter solstice, summer solstice, spring equinox and autumn equinox, and measured the distance between the four points with a step bow to calculate the corresponding ground distance of the North Star for each degree difference.
Shen Kuo of the Northern Song Dynasty developed Pei Xiu's cartographic theory;compiled the "Map of Tianxia Prefecture and County" of "two inches and one hundred miles" (equivalent to a scale of 1:900,000);He also invented and developed many sophisticated and easy measurement techniques, such as the method of building a weir with a graded method of still water level, measuring the height difference of the Bianqu, measuring the topography with a horizontal ruler, a dry ruler and a compass, and discovering the magnetic declination angle for the first time in the world. Shaanxi Xi'an stele forest of "Huayi map" and "Yu trace map" is the end of the Southern Song Dynasty stone carving, there are squares on the map, each side folds a hundred miles, for the earliest existing "plan to draw" map in our country. The Southern Song Dynasty stone carving "Pingjiang Tu" in Suzhou is the most complete ancient urban planning map in China.
Guo Shoujing of the Yuan Dynasty carried out astronomical surveys throughout the country, and summed up a set of experience in level measurement in the long-term practice of canal construction and water control, and first put forward the concept of altitude elevation.
Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty made seven voyages to the West and drew a nautical chart for the first time.
During the reign of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (17081718 AD), large-scale longitude and latitude surveying and mapping and topographic map surveying and mapping were carried out, and the famous "Imperial Opinion Complete Map" was compiled.