South China Sea – British Admiralty, 1886 (1937)

THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND ADJACENT WATERS ON THE EVE OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

“China Sea.” Copper engraving made in 1886/1887 under the supervision of Captain W.J.L. Wharton for the Hydrographic Office of the British Admiralty. This edition with later additions and corrections published in 1937. Size: 102.5 × 70 cm.

Large nautical chart of the “China Sea”, the historical English name for the sea area that largely corresponds to the present-day South China Sea, together with adjacent waters. The chart covers the area from the coast of southern China and the mouth of the Yangtze to Hong Kong, Macao, Hainan, the Gulf of Tonkin, the coast of Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Palawan, Borneo and the routes towards the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea.

The chart was intended as a general chart for ocean-going navigation. The sea is filled with numerous soundings, banks, reefs, island groups, anchorages, lighthouses, cautionary notes, magnetic variation and compass roses. Along the coasts, ports, capes, islands, river mouths and important landmarks are indicated. The relief on land is shown by hachuring, clearly bringing out the mountainous coastal regions of China, Vietnam, Formosa (present-day Taiwan), the Philippines and Borneo.

The “China Sea” was one of the most important maritime thoroughfares of international shipping in Asia. Through this sea area ran the connections between Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macao, Canton (present-day Guangzhou), Manila, Saigon (present-day Ho Chi Minh City), Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and the wider world trade. For the British Admiralty, reliable hydrographic knowledge of this area was essential: for merchant shipping and naval traffic, but also for colonial connections and the protection of British commercial and strategic interests in East and Southeast Asia.

The chart also reflects a complex colonial and geopolitical space. Hong Kong was British, Macao Portuguese, Vietnam formed part of French Indochina, the Philippines had been under American influence since 1898, Taiwan had been Japanese since 1895, while Borneo was divided among British, Dutch and other colonial interests. The cities along the Chinese coast meanwhile remained of great importance for foreign trade, consular presence and naval traffic; through the ports, commercial interests, treaty rights and Western influence in China were exercised. The chart therefore does not simply show “sea”, but an area where different empires, trade routes and strategic ambitions intersected.

When this edition appeared in 1937, the chart acquired a new significance. East Asia was by then under severe pressure from Japanese expansion. Japan had possessed Taiwan since 1895, had occupied Manchuria since 1931, and in July 1937 the conflict with China escalated into full-scale war. The coast of southern China, Hong Kong, the routes along Vietnam and the connections with the Philippines and Singapore consequently lay within an increasingly sensitive strategic field. This chart shows precisely the area that would become increasingly important in the following years for military movements, trade routes and strategic control over maritime access to southern China and Southeast Asia.

Price: Euro 950,-