16世纪后半期到17世纪,伴随着大航海及全球贸易的拓展,欧洲迎来了现代地图学的黄金时代。其中最具代表性的作品,出自以安特卫普和阿姆斯特丹为活动中心的尼德兰制图学派。在此期间,欧洲制图学家不但出版了第一幅以“中国”命名的地图,也不断扩充对亚洲、尤其是东亚的地图学表现。但地图学的发展、地图书籍的流行,并不仅仅是地理知识积累的产物。在全球资本主义网络形成的年代,地图既是工具更是商品。尼德兰制图学派的兴盛,与印刷业在低地国家的繁荣、书籍市场的勃兴、制图学家的职业化,以及荷兰东印度公司在亚洲的贸易活动息息相关。欧洲社会对亚洲空间的新的权力关系想象,亦由此展开。从地图与资本主义关系的角度,可探究这一时期欧洲地图学发展以及欧洲对东亚的地理认知。

From the second half of the 16^th century to the 17^th century, there came the golden age of modern cartography in Europe, along with the Age of Discovery and the expansion of global trade. The most representative cartographic works in that period were those made by the Netherlands School of Cartography (尼德兰制图学派) whose activities were centered in Antwerp and Amsterdam. During that period, the cartographers in Europe not only published the first map entitled China, but also constantly expanded their cartographic display of Asia, particularly of East Asia. The development of cartography and the popularity of atlases, however, were not merely due to the accumulation of geographic knowledge. In the era when global capitalist network was taking shape, maps were both instruments and commodities. The rise of the Netherlands School of Cartography was closely related to the prosperity of the printing business in the Low Countries, to the flourishment of the book market, to the professionalization of cartographers, and to the trade exploration of the Dutch East India Company (荷兰东印度公司) in Asia. On these bases also unfolded a new imagination of the power relationship between the European society and the Asian space. From the perspective of the interactions between the function of maps and capitalism, this article thus explores the development of European cartography and the geographical recognition of East Asia by Europe.