1738 Map of Guangdong (closeup of Pearl River Delta)

albertng
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1738 Map of Guangdong (closeup of Pearl River Delta)

Recently bought a 1738 map of the province of Guangdong. Posting a closeup photo of the Pearl River Delta here.

Macau ("Ma-Kau") is labeled but not Hong Kong. In fact the entire HK area looks wrong but that's not surprising. Several HK places are named though:

  1. Lin-tin-chew
  2. Yong-ngau
  3. Lau-van-shan
  4. Ta-ki-shan
  5. Ki-shwi-men
  6. Sin-ngan-hyen
  7. Ta-pong-so
     

Would very much appreciate if other readers can find these places' Cantonese names, thank you.

The map is attributed to Jean-Baptiste Du Halde, a French Jesuit priest specializing in China, although he never traveled to China. The map is an English version, with this long title: "Province XII. Quang-Tong, Drawn on the Spot by the Peres de Tartre & Cordoso, in the Year 1714 with Improvements by ye Editor, is inscribed to Thos. Medlycott, Esqr."

If anyone would like to see the rest of the map or closeup of other areas, please let me know.

Date picture taken
1738
Tags
1738 Map

Comments

My impressions. Items 1. and 7. are easier to deduce.

  1. Lin Tin (Lintin) Island or Nei Lingding Island or Nei Lingding Dao (内伶仃岛) is an island in the Pearl River estuary, just outside Hong Kong waters, northwest of Lung Kwu Chau.

 

7. Dapeng Peninsula or Dapengbandao (大鹏半岛) is the peninsula to the east of Mirs Bay or          Dapeng Bay. 

 

 

Based just on the location on the map and ignoring the nomenclature, one can't help but surmise that:

3) Lau-van shan = Lantau Island

4) Ta-ki shan = Hong Kong Island 

Of course back in 1738 Hong Kong island was not called Hong Kong island as it was a latter appellation by gweilos. Does anyone actually know what it was called by the local people back in the day? Could it have been 'Ta-ki shan'? Or was this yet another misspellation by Europeans? Shan means mountain. Just like Lantau Island was originally referred to its name by the mountain on the island but my understanding is Tai Yu Shan. 

Lin-tin-chew - 伶仃洲, the old name of Lintin Island 內伶仃島

Yong-ngau - 滃崖, now called Miaowan Island 廟灣島, part of the Wanshan Archipelago in Zhuhai

Lau-van-shan - 爛頭山, the old name of Lantau Island, or less likely 流浮山 Lau Fau Shan marked at the wrong place

Ta-ki-shan - 扯旗山, the alternative name of The Victoria Peak, maybe translated from Tanka or Hakka dialects

Ki-shwi-men - 汲水門 Kap Shui Mun, probably marked at the wrong place

Sin-ngan-hyen - 新安縣 Sun-on County / Xin-an County, the historical administrative boundaries of Hong Kong and Shenzhen

Ta-pong-so - 大鵬所 alias 大鵬所城 Dapeng Fortress, a walled village in Shenzhen