Abstract: This paper briefly looked back the history of Cartology from the three stages of ancient times,recent times and modern age,introduced the map product and main results of each stage,emphasized the formation and localizations of traditional Cartology ,and expatiated the progress,characteristics and advantage of modern Cartology. All this show that Cartology is a science of vitality.
Key words: Cartology;Traditional cartology;Thematic map;Geographic information system;Cartographic database;Computer-aided cartography