地图上的默会知识——以《中国古航海图》上的外罗为例  

Tacit Knowledge on Maps:A Discussion Centered on the Location of the Wailuo on the Zhongguo gu hang hai tu in the Beinecke Library

作　　者：丁雁南[1] Ding Yannan(Centre for Historical Geography Studies,Fudan University,Shanghai 200433,China)

机构地区：[1]复旦大学历史地理研究中心,上海200433

出　　处：《热带地理》2023年第5期783-794,共12页Tropical Geography

基　　金：国家自然科学基金:历史地理学视域下的南海地区地图史与领土主权(42071192);国家社会科学基金冷门“绝学”项目:航海日志整理与西沙群岛主权研究:以1808年英国东印度公司南海测绘为中心(2018VJX108)。

摘　　要：文章响应关于加强中国地图学史研究理论素养的呼吁,将英国哲学家迈克尔·波兰尼提出的“默会知识”概念引入地图学史研究。古代地图的“成图过程”中包含了并未形诸文字或图像的默会知识,认知和重拾默会知识对于解读古地图具有重要意义。文章以美国耶鲁大学收藏的一套《中国古航海图》为研究对象,其中的几幅地图上多次出现名为“外罗”的岛屿,学者郑永常将其指认为中国西沙群岛中的甘泉岛(或金银岛)。笔者认为这是对地图的误读,外罗所指的实则系今越南中部沿海的李山岛(CùLao Ré)。误读的深层原因在于认识论的局限。近代以来发展出来的科学地图学深刻影响了当代学者,后者对以《中国古航海图》为代表的山形水势航海图上的默会知识的存在缺乏认知,忽视默会知识并进而以现代方法机械地解读古地图上的地理信息。文章说明,严肃的理论探索能够助益地图学史研究的精进和可持续发展。The Beinecke Library of Yale University owns an ancient Chinese sea atlas,Zhongguo gu hang hai tu,which has attracted considerable scholarly interest over the last three decades.In 2018,Wing-Sheung Cheng published his research monograph focusing on this atlas.However,his identification of certain geographical features is problematic;in particular,the Wailuo(外罗),depicted several times in the pages of the Zhongguo gu hang hai tu,is identified as either Robert Island or Money Island in the Paracel Islands.Based on comparison with other sources,which invariably place the Wailuo near the coast of modern Vietnam(CùLao Ré),it is concluded that Cheng misread the cartographic representations of the atlas.In order to better elucidate the causes of this misreading,this paper introduces the epistemological concept of"tacit knowledge,"coined by the philosopher Michael Polanyi(1891-1976),into the study on the history of cartography.Tacit knowledge as a notion has developed different meanings since Polanyi,and is construed as the opposite of explicit knowledge.Matthew H.Edney has championed the investigation of the mapping process rather than simply the mapping practice in the history of cartography.It is argued that the mapping process of ancient nautical charts involved tacit knowledge,which was not fully inscribed into or depicted on the charts.Acknowledging and revitalizing such tacit knowledge is of paramount importance to the study of the history of cartography.Because modern and scientific cartography has transcended and obfuscated the mapping process of ancient sea charts,tacit knowledge is sometimes ignored or misinterpreted,which eventually results in ancient maps and charts becoming seemingly unintelligible.Therefore,the underlying cause for Cheng's misreading of the Wailuo can be attributed to his overreliance on the explicit knowledge drawn on the pages of the atlas,and ignorance of the rich tacit knowledge that was passed down through generations of Chinese seafarers,until it was overtaken by modern sea char

关 键 词：默会知识 《中国古航海图》(耶鲁大学) 地图学史 哲学认识论 

分 类 号：K992[历史地理—人文地理学]