John Speed, 1626, Kingdom of China

This map is hilarious for a variety of reasons. It’s funny to see how people in 1626 viewed the Far East as one jumbled, interchangeable mass.

First, the panels on both sides of the map depict various “Chinian’s”. That’s right, Chinese people were called “Chinian’s” and looked oddly caucasian.

Second, the Americas is shown on the direct right of China (upper right corner of map). If only it were so close, it would minimize the traveling time between the two countries.

Last but not least, there is a giant evil carp rising from the depths of the ocean in the right side of the map.

Basically, it’s the 1626 version of Godzilla (which has now replaced the evil carp as the default scary Asian monster).

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