Bibliographic Review: National Atlas of China

Summary

This bibliographic review assesses the National Atlas of China, edited by Dr. Chang Chi-yun and published in five volumes in Taipei between 1960 and 1963. It details the contents of each volume, the use of the Lambert conformal projection, principal scales, and the administrative divisions based on the 1947 promulgation, with place names romanized in the Wade-Giles system. The reviewer contends that while the atlas does not surpass the 1934 'New Atlas of the Republic of China' by Ting, Weng, and Zeng in cartographic technique, it adds valuable soil, forest, and vegetation distribution maps, enriches frontier data, and facilitates an overview of Taiwan's physical, human, and economic geography through large-scale maps, reflecting post-WWII developments in Chinese geographical research.