Paola Calanca 柯蘭
Nautical Landscapes: Sailors’ Geographies
Chinese sailing instructions books, at least those available to us, provide only a partial understanding of how the Asian seas were navigated by Chinese sailors. This is because, unlike the European ones, they do not record all the knowledge passed on by the seafarers, in particular the elements that enabled them to move more safely in this space. It is therefore important to try to reconstruct this nautical geography. In order to do this, we need to bring together all the elements at our disposal, which are often disparate, ranging from the search for headlands and promontories to the coastal buildings that may have helped seafarers to locate themselves at sea, including particular marine phenomena's locations. This communication will give some elements of the ongoing reconstruction of these nautical landscapes.