National General Atlas of the People's Republic of China
中华人民共和国国家普通地图集
China · 中国地图出版社 · 1995
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A Historic Contribution to Cartography: Congratulations on the Publication of the National General Atlas
Unknown · 1997
This paper celebrates the publication of the *National General Atlas of the People's Republic of China* (1995) as a landmark in Chinese cartography and a centennial cultural achievement. Adopting a theoretical perspective grounded in spatial cognition, it systematically examines the enduring and irreplaceable role of maps and atlases. The study articulates how maps facilitate spatial cognition by enabling the construction of holistic mental images, supporting visual estimation and comparability of distributions, revealing spatial correlations among phenomena, integrating statistical data with geographic space to form multi-dimensional concepts, and correcting erroneous environmental perceptions. Building upon these general functions, the atlas is shown to possess unique cognitive strengths: it provides a multidimensional worldview linking quantity and quality, space and time; its structured series of scales and thematic layers offers a “zoom” capability for exploring areas from global to local; and it serves as an essential textbook-like tool for raising spatial literacy. Addressing the challenge of the information age, the paper argues that the national atlas is not rendered obsolete by geographic information systems or electronic maps. Instead, it retains irreplaceable value as a solidified scientific synthesis and cultural sediment, as the most robust and device-independent means for spatial data visualization, and as a foundation for cultivating creative expertise in the digital cartographic industry. Tracing the atlas’s conception back to 1958 and its realization over three decades later, the paper concludes that this work, integrating scientific rigor, ideology, practicality, and artistry at an internationally advanced level, represents a historic contribution. It will profoundly serve national economic construction, national defense, scientific research, education, and international scholarly exchange.
Inheriting and Developing, Innovating by Weeding through the Old: Celebrating the Publication of the National General Atlas of the People's Republic of China
Unknown · 1997
This paper commemorates the official publication of the *National General Atlas of the People's Republic of China* in 1995, a landmark achievement in Chinese cartography representing the culmination of decades of collective effort. Compiled under the guidance of senior experts including Zeng Shiying and editor-in-chief Yu Cang, and involving over one hundred cartographers from institutions like the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping, the atlas serves as a comprehensive, authoritative geographic reference. The purpose of the atlas is to systematically display China's geographical features—including topography, hydrography, settlements, transportation, administrative divisions, and land cover—to support national development, territorial planning, and geoscientific research. Methodologically, the compilation leveraged the latest 1:1,000,000 topographic maps, satellite imagery, and verified geographical name databases to ensure reliability, precision, and updated content extending to 1991. The atlas is praised for its systematic structure, integrating national thematic maps, regional overviews, provincial maps, typical area enlargements, and urban land-use maps, including innovative sea-area charts that break the traditional land-centric focus. Key innovations in cartographic design include the use of combined hypsometric tinting principles across China's three topographic tiers, the application of colored hill shading for regional maps, and a unique violet hue scheme for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, enhancing the representation of complex terrain. The conclusion affirms that this rigorously compiled, scientifically innovative atlas achieves international advanced standards, expertly balancing scientific accuracy, practical utility, and artistic quality. It is positioned as an indispensable tool for spatial cognition, economic construction, national defense, and international academic exchange, elevating China's cartographic discipline to a new level of excellence.
A Brief Review of the *National General Atlas*: Congratulations on the Publication of the *General Atlas of the People's Republic of China*
Unknown · 1997
This paper offers a commentary on the newly published National General Atlas of the People’s Republic of China, a monumental work compiled under the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping. The review highlights the atlas’s innovation, comprehensive and well-organized content, and high-quality printing. It emphasizes the atlas’s utility for national and provincial leadership in understanding the geographic, topographic, and geomorphological distribution across China. Set against the backdrop of a market economy where maps increasingly serve economic development and daily life, the publication fulfills a long-standing proposal by the late cartographer Zeng Shiying, who pioneered scientific compilation of large-scale national atlases in China with his Shenbao Atlas in the 1930s. The author argues that the new atlas surpasses its predecessor, exemplifying progress in cartographic science. The paper then traces the evolution of mapmaking techniques from manual to automated processes, noting significant post-1949 advancements, the integration of computers, and the emergence of multimedia systems that combine text, graphics, animation, sound, and video to produce multifunctional effects. Looking forward, it concludes that atlas compilation is moving toward expert systems, and with continued scientific and economic development, fully automated map production in China is an imminent reality.
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