Relief model

A raised-relief map or terrain model is a three-dimensional representation, usually of terrain, materialized as a physical artifact. When representing terrain, the vertical dimension is usually exaggerated by a factor between five and ten; this facilitates the visual recognition of terrain features.

If the account of Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BCE) in his Records of the Grand Historian is proven correct upon the unearthing of Qin Shi Huang's tomb, the raised-relief map has existed since the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE) of China. Joseph Needham suggests that certain pottery vessels of the Han dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) showing artificial mountains as lid decorations may have influenced the raised-relief map.

The Han dynasty general Ma Yuan made a raised-relief map of valleys and mountains in a rice-constructed model of 32 CE. Such rice models were expounded on by the Tang dynasty (618–907) author Jiang Fang in his Essay on the Art of Constructing Mountains with Rice (c. 845). A raised-relief map made of wood representing all the provinces of the empire and put together like a giant 0.93 m² (10 ft²) jigsaw puzzle was invented by Xie Zhuang (421–466) during the Liu Song dynasty (420–479).

Shen Kuo (1031-1095) created a raised-relief map using sawdust, wood, beeswax, and wheat paste. His wooden model pleased Emperor Shenzong of Song, who later ordered that all the prefects administering the frontier regions should prepare similar wooden maps which could be sent to the capital and stored in an archive.

In 1130, Huang Shang made a wooden raised-relief map which later caught the attention of the Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi, who tried to acquire it but instead made his own map out of sticky clay and wood. The map, made of eight pieces of wood connected by hinges, could be folded up and carried around by one person.

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