Heaven is Round, Earth is Square - Map of China: Decoding the Secrets of a Vanished Cartographer - page 135

Zhang Huang was from the same province as Luo Hongxian. They were men of
different generations. Luo was already twenty-three by the time Zhang was born
in 1527, and by reaching the remarkable age of eighty-one, he would outlive Luo
by forty-four years. Being of the next generation, Zhang was part of the cultur-
al and intellectual ferment during the first half of the reign of Emperor Wanli
(1573-1620).LuoHongxiandidnotlivetoseethistumultuousera,whenelitetaste
veered away from the intellectual and moral conservatism of Confucianism. The
prizeoflearningstillremainedapostinthecivilservice,buttheprosperitycreated
byaburgeoningcommercialeconomypushedmanymoreyoungmenontothebot-
tom rung of the examination ladder than it could accommodate. Many looked else-
where - to Buddhism, some even to the Christianity that Jesuit missionaries were
trying to introduce to China - to make sense of the world in rapidly shifting times.
Zhang Huang responded creatively to these challenges in part because, unlike
Luo, he failed the exams. The path to public service was thereby closed. This fail-
ure brought the benefit of insulating him from the crushing factionalism and op-
portunism of court politics. More importantly, it left him free to become one of the
great scholars of his generation. Rather than disappearing down the rabbit hole of
writing commentaries on the classics or wearing himself out schoolmastering stu-
dents for the examinations, he embarked on several major enterprises. His views
ontheworldwereincreasinglysolicited,soin1567-theyeartheemperorallowed
Moon Harbour to re-open for foreign trade - he built Purification Hall, where on
the 25th of every month he lectured on topics ranging from Confucian philosophy
totheworkingsofthecosmos.Withinayearhundredswereshowinguptohearthe
great man thinking aloud.
At least a decade before he began his lectures, Zhang had started working on
a massive project to amass all knowledge of nature and society into a compendi-
um that would summarise the state of the world. It would take him twenty years
to compile. Zhang was so focused on this work, it was said, that 'he hung a lamp
above his desk and did not let his pen fall from his hand summer or winter, day
or night, for many years running. A swarm of mosquitoes could descend on his
limbs and body and he wouldn't even notice them.' The title, Tushu bian , means
'CompendiumofTextsandIllustrations',butIcallitthe Documentarium :avirtual
aquarium of essays, documents, illustrations - and maps.
The Documentarium came to occupy roughly the same position in the world
of Ming books as Purchas his Pilgrimes did for the English reading public. The
books' content is different, but both authors aimed their material at a broad reader-