Maps as a Medium of Communication
Physical roads that we travel on can be considered as the most basic means of communication, offering ways for mankind to mingle and interact with one another. A complex integration of a myriad of roads, footpaths, and lanes make up what is commonly called a “map,” a visual representation that conveys tangible information about the Earth’s surface. Maps, however, are not made automatically; they are the byproduct of human wisdom and relentless endeavor.

Gosanja Kim Jeong-ho
Gosanja Kim Jeong-ho, a geographer and cartographer of the late Joseon Dynasty, was a man of dogged perseverance who devoted his life into compiling a map of the Korean peninsula. Although Kim Jeong-ho is revered as the most renowned geographer of the Joseon period, much about his life remains unknown to date. Famous for compiling the Cheonggudo (청구도 靑邱圖), the Dongyeodo (동여도 東輿圖), and the Daedong Yeojido (대동여지도 大東輿地圖), Kim is believed to have been born in 1804 in Bongsan, Hwanghae Province. Although Kim is widely known for producing accurate maps and writing geography related books, facts about his life including the dates of birth and death, his hometown, and social status still remain a subject of controversy.

Kim is known to have displayed a superior sense of direction since the early days of his childhood. The Cheonggudo, the largest of Korea’s oldest maps, was compiled by Kim in 1834. Consisting of two volumes, the Cheonggudo is a compilation of hundreds of individual sheets of colored paper. A vertically linked image of the two volumes provides an elaborate, comprehensive territorial representation spanning the entire peninsula. Praised for its accuracy and usefulness, the first map produced by Kim depicts towns in painstaking detail, indicating the exact locations of mountains, streams, roads, stations, lecture halls and many more.

Twenty-seven years after the Cheonggudo was compiled, Kim created the Daedong Yeojido in 1861. Measuring 6.7 meters tall and 3.3 meters wide, the Daedong Yeojido divides the peninsula into 22 different layers. When folded, each layer becomes an individual atlas on its own, and when unfolded, the 22 different maps linked together are seen as parts of the whole map. Unlike in the Cheonggudo, Kim uses less written characters in the Daedong Yeojido; instead he opted for the use of various symbols and signs. Kim also systematically used a sign for every 10 ri to precisely indicate the length of distances between different regions. In 2005, a group of researchers at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements produced a map of Korea utilizing state of the art technology including satellite images and GPS (global positioning system), and discovered that the newly produced map closely resembled the Daedong Yeojido published by Kim 144 years ago.

Kim Jeong-ho’s Daedong Yeojido is praised for its scientific accuracy and rigor to this day. In order to portray realistic depictions, Kim is said to have traveled every corner of the country and have climbed the Baekdu Mountain 10 times. By engraving the Daedong Yeojido on wooden blocks, Kim also contributed greatly to making the maps more portable and accessible, thus popularizing the use of maps among the Joseon people. Kim is quoted as saying, “In times of trouble, the maps will provide a means to effectively defeat the enemies. In times of peace, use the maps to better rule over the country.” Koreans will remember and appreciate the legacy of Kim, which reveals the fruits of his patriotic and inspirational spirit.