In the intersection of Chinese and foreign geographical knowledge during the Ming and Qing dynasties, scholars often referred to both Chinese and foreign maps to verify the river systems of the southwest region. However, blind trust in the content of these maps led to the long-term continuation and dissemination of some incorrect understandings in ancient Chinese literature. Taking the perceptions of “Jiahu” and “The Yarlung Zangbo River is the same as the Dajinsha River” as examples, ancient maps provided intuitive references for geographical spatial information, but they also incorporated the mapmakers’ subjective imagination and cultural misinterpretations. Therefore, when using maps in geographical verifi cation, it is necessary to cross-check them with textual sources and critically examine them within the context of knowledge production and transmission, in order to avoid the pitfall of disconnecting cartography from historical reality.