--- description: An antique map of China gifted by the German Chancellor to China's President is at odds with how China views its historical boundaries title: Map of China: Angela Merkel's Gift to Xi Jinping Causes Controversy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e3041cd7281dfae/698688a655a85980d8a8013a/481183563.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Maybe Heads of State Shouldn't Give Maps as Presents by [Emily Rauhala / Beijing](/author/emily-rauhala/) ## Emily Rauhala / Beijing Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 2, 2014 10:26 AM CUT  German Chancellor Angela Merkel presents Chinese President Xi Jinping with a a map of China from the 18th century at the Chancellor's Office on March 28, 2014, in Berlin German Chancellor Angela Merkel presents Chinese President Xi Jinping with a a map of China from the 18th century at the Chancellor's Office on March 28, 2014, in BerlinBPA/Getty Images by [Emily Rauhala / Beijing](/author/emily-rauhala/) ## Emily Rauhala / Beijing Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 2, 2014 10:26 AM CUT Chancellor Angela Merkel probably meant well. In Berlin last week, she [gave](http://www.smh.com.au/world/angela-merkels-historical-china-map-flap-20140402-zqpje.html#ixzz2xi2Ugifz "undefined") her guest, Chinese President Xi Jinping, a 1735 map of China made by esteemed French cartographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville (1697–1782). The map, part of a series by d’Anville, was based in part on information gleaned by Jesuit missionaries. It was well regarded at the time and [republished](http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03085694.2014.845949#preview "undefined") for decades to come. A perfect gift for a visiting dignitary, right? You would think so. But ever since the exchange, China’s Internet has been buzzing about the gift. Why did Merkel choose this particular item? What was the message in the map? For students of Chinese history, the date jumps out. This was the height of the great Qing dynasty, specifically the year when the Qianlong Emperor ascended to power. He presided over a military expansion west and north, but his death, in 1799, is associated with the period of decline that followed. And then there are the boundaries. The [1735 d’Anville map](http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2014-03-31/031029827894.shtml "undefined") shows “China proper” as a landmass separate from areas like Xinjiang, Tibet, Mongolia and Manchuria. The island of Hainan is drawn in a different color, as is Taiwan. This depiction is utterly at odds with how history is taught here. Chinese students learn that these areas are [inalienable](http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/999999999/t36717.htm "undefined") parts of China, and that they have been for a long, long time. One netizen [described](http://weibo.com/1829496883/ADz0Dm55q "undefined") the map as a “slap” from Merkel. “We always say some regions are inalienable parts of China since ancient times, but Merkel told us that even in 18th century those regions still did not belong to China.” Another reasoned that it was the mapmakers, not Chancellor Merkel, who messed things up. “Merkel has no special connotation,” they [wrote](http://weibo.com/1829496883/ADz0Dm55q "undefined"). “At that time German priests \[sic\] were not allowed to travel in such areas.” To complicate the matter, at least two different versions of the map have been circulating online. State news wire Xinhua seems to have [published](http://www.sd.xinhuanet.com/news/2014-03/31/c%5F1110029830%5F5.htm "undefined") an [entirely different version](http://www.sd.xinhuanet.com/news/2014-03/31/c%5F1110029830%5F5.htm "undefined") of the map, prompting an entirely different set of theories. Tibetan activist and blogger [Tsering Woeser](http://www.pen.org/defending-writers/test-first-name-test-middle-name-test-last-name/tsering-woeser "undefined") spotted the difference and pointed it out on her Facebook page. To express her dismay at the deception, she used a Chinese idiom that might be translated as “they are so good at perpetrating fraud!” More literally, the phrase means “to steal the beams and pillars and replace them with rotten timber.” The lesson: maps mean different things to different people. And history is made of shaky stuff. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/46414/angela-merkel-xi-jinping-china-germany-map/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/46414/angela-merkel-xi-jinping-china-germany-map/"},"headline":"Maybe Heads of State Shouldn't Give Maps as Presents","datePublished":"2014-04-02T10:26:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:05:12.732Z","description":"When German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave Chinese President Xi Jinping an antique map of his country as a gift during his recent visit to Berlin, she couldn’t have known what a stir it would cause","url":"https://time.com/46414/angela-merkel-xi-jinping-china-germany-map/","keywords":["China","Xi Jinping","Maps","Germany","Map","Xinjiang","Tibet","angela merkel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e3041cd7281dfae/698688a655a85980d8a8013a/481183563.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Rauhala / Beijing"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e3041cd7281dfae/698688a655a85980d8a8013a/481183563.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chinese President Xi Jinping Visits Berlin","caption":"Chinese President Xi Jinping Visits Berlin","creditText":"BPA/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/46414/angela-merkel-xi-jinping-china-germany-map/","name":"Maybe Heads of State Shouldn't Give Maps as Presents"}}]}] ```