ABSTRACT
This chapter considers both the increase in the production and circulation of maps and the multiple agendas for which they were made. Maps can serve as records of information, and also as means of constructing an understanding of place, within political or other interested agendas. Maps have been used in military operations, as instruments of political administration and assertions of control over territorial spaces, as guides for travelers or to promote awareness of the geographic or economic features of a locale. Ming gazetteers included maps of local geographic features, often showing the relationship between a town, prefecture or county and its neighboring administrative districts. Provincial gazetteers often aggregated materials, including maps, from the lower units under their authority. While gazetteers were the greatest venues for the appearance of cartographic images during the Ming, maps were also produced in many other forms.
