There no existing records that show when nationwide maps started to be published. During the Lee Dynasty, most maps were just drawn roughly, not in a scientific way. Towards the end of the Dynasty, the scientific map printing method developed more and more. The scientific map printing originated from the Donggukdae Map and the Separated Maps of the Eight Provinces, and one of the methods used was a Baekricheok method. That method was used from the late era of King YEONGJO to the early era of King SEONJO. The first complete map, published by using this method, was the Eight Province Geography Book. The Eight Province Geography Book was published during the era of King SEJOng of the Lee Dynasty, and it is the oldest Human Geography Book of Korea.

Let's find out the background of that era when the Eight Province Geography Book was published.
As the Lee Dynasty was established, there was a re-organization of the administrative regions, and the Country was divided into 8 Provinces. To represent these changes, new maps were made. Those newly made maps were the Nationwide Map made by Leehoi in 1402(King Taijong Year 2), the Eight Province Map by Jeongcheok published in the era of King SEJOng, and another Eight Province Map by Yangsungji published in the era of King SEJO.
The most definitive version of these maps was the Dongkuk Map made by Jeongcheok and Yangsungji in the era of King Seongjong. After that, the Dongkukdae Map was made by Jeongsanggi in the middle of the 18th Century, and this blank 200 year period until the appearance of the Dongkukdae Map was considered as the black period for printing of maps. However, in reality, more than 100 different kinds of maps had been published during that period. The reasons for this absurdity came from the facts that many owners of old maps were quite reluctant to show their possessions to scholars, and also that the study of maps of that period required a huge amount of work, searching through the huge volumes of records, such as the Lee Dynasty Silrok and others. In also placed a heavy burden for the scholars, resulting in scarce studies on that subject.

Compared to other Kings, King SEJO had put a lot of effort in the printing of good maps, and it was Yangsungji who had been a great help to King SEJO. Yangsungji received the order from the Suyangdaekun in 1453(King Danjong Year 1) to prepare the nationwide map, 8 province maps, and others. He led the Sangjikun to all the places in the Country to prepare for the maps, just like Jeongcheok did.

Right after King SEJO acceded to the throne, King SEJO ordered Yangsungji again to prepare for the editing of geography books and the maps. Yangsungji completed the printing of Dongkuk Map along with Jeongcheok in 1463(King SEJO Year 9). This Map is thought to have served as the standard map for map printing, until the appearance of Dongkukdae Map published by Jeongsanggi. However, the Dongkuk Map has not been found. But luckily there is the Chosunbangyeok Map, which is the National Treasure No. 248, and which succeeds the line of good maps. Other than these nationwide maps, the regional maps had been published several times in the early Lee Dynasty. Especially, the maps covering the northern regions had been published a lot more than others. In the Hasam Province, on the front gate of each government office, a copy of that Map was displayed, and the Dongram Map was included in the Dongkuyeojiseungram. This Dongram Map was made by Yangsungji, and it consists of the Eight Province map, the Map of Ju and Hyun in 8 Provinces, and the Map of Rivers and Mountains in 8 Provinces.

Now, let's find out about the Paldojiriji(Eight Province Geography Book), which is the oldest map published during the Lee Dynasty.
The Shinchan Eight Province Geography Book was made by Yoonhoi, Shinjang, Mangsasung, and others in 1432(King SEJOng Year 14), and it is the oldest human geography book published in Korea. It was said to contain the details of geography, population, soil conditions, etc of 8 Provinces, but, unfortunately, it has not been found yet. However, both SEJOngsilrok and Jiriji, which had been made by lightly supplementing and correcting the Kyungsang Province Geography Book, which had been one of the base data for The Shinchan Eight Province Geography Book, which still exists today.

After the Shinchan Eight Province Geography Book was published, it was re-edited again in 1478(King Sungjong Year 9), and it played a big role in establishing the academic foundation for human geography.
On Aug. 12, 1455, the year King SEJO acceded to the throne, he ordered Yangsungji of Jimhyunjeon Jikjehak to prepare geography books and maps of the Country. Upon receiving the order, Yangsungji started to prepare the geography books of each Province. On January 6, 1478, more than 20 years after the King's order, Yangsungji presented the Eight Province Geography Book to King Sungjong.
According to the Lee Dynasty Silrok, this Kyungsangdosokchanjiriji was the basis for preparation of the Eight Province Geography Book, and also the Eight Province Geography Book. In return, it was the basis for preparation of all 50 books of Dongkukyeojiseungram. The Dongkuyeojiseungram was made by adding the poems of famous Korean poets to the Eight Province Geography Book in 1481.
the Eight Province Geography Book was completed by Yangsungji in the King Sungjong Year 9, after extensive investigation on 27 kinds of articles. This book could be called as the final complete edition of all the geography books during the early period of Lee Dynasty. It also contains the details of each region such as: signal fire towers, stations, distances to Seoul, kinds and produced volumes and qualities of mines, locations of islands, length of waterways, etc.

A map shows a lot about the period it was published. In technical perspectives, the indication methods and precision of the map reveal the surveying skills of that period. But, a map sometimes reveals much more than that, only if one looks into the map with his or her eyes wide open.