The Mao Kun Map is the earliest Chinese map to accurately map Southern Asia, Persia, Arabia together with East Africa. The map was start published inwards the 17th century inwards the armed services treatise Wubei Zhi. The introduction to the map inwards Wubei Zhi suggests that the Mao Kun charts are based on documents from the expeditions of Zheng He. The Mao Kun Map is besides sometimes known every bit Zheng He's Navigation Map.
The map is a long strip map charting the ocean road from the Ming working capital missive of the alphabet inwards Nanjing to the East Coast of Africa (the map is arranged from correct to left, starting from Nanjing together with finishing inwards Hormuz.) You tin terminate follow the whole road inwards unopen exceptional on the Interactive Zheng He Sailing Map. This interactive version of the map was created past times Professor Anthony Barbieri-Low of the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The interactive map includes translations of 100 of the Chinese place-names on the map. If you lot hover over these place-names (highlighted inwards carmine on the map) you lot tin terminate read the English linguistic communication translation. If you lot click on a highlighted place-name you lot tin terminate persuasion the selected location on Google Maps. All these translated together with mapped locations are besides available from a drop-down menu, which provides a quick means to detect a location on the map. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 pocket-size inset map runs along the top of the map to exhibit where you lot are currently looking on the huge strip map.
The dotted lines on the map are sailing routes. The Chinese text along these routes render sailing instructions, including compass points together with distances. The sailing instructions are to a greater extent than detailed inwards Chinese waters. The map itself is besides to a greater extent than accurate inwards Chinese territory together with is less consummate the farther westward it goes.
