''Xu Xiake's Travels'' (徐霞客游记) is a Chinese

travelogue Travelogue may refer to: Genres * Travel literature, a record of the experiences of an author travelling * Travel documentary A travel documentary is a documentary film, television program, or online series that describes travel in general or t ...

book, written in the 17th century. It consists mainly of essays describing the travels of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

geographer

Xu Xiake Xu Xiake (, January 5, 1587 – March 8, 1641), born Xu Hongzu (), courtesy name Zhenzhi (), was a Chinese travel writer and geographer of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), known best for his famous geographical treatise, and noted for his bravery ...

. Over 34 years, Xu produced more than 600,000 words, including works such as "Guizhou tour diary" and "Yunnan tour diary". This book offers detailed descriptions of geography, hydrology, geology, plants and other phenomena. It is also respected for its literary qualities and for its

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...

Writing process

Xu Xiake traveled 22 years after he married in 1607 until his death in 1640. He reached all 16

provinces of China The provincial level administrative divisions () are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. There are 34 such divisions claimed by the People's Republic of China, classified as 23 provinces (), five autonomous regions, four munici ...

. He traveled to Jinling (

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

) in 1611, visited

Mount Huangshan Huangshan (),Bernstein, pp. 125–127. literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui Province in eastern China. It was originally called “Yishan”, and it was renamed because of a legend that Emperor Xuany ...

, Wuyishan, Baiyue Nine-Bend stream, and

West Lake West Lake (; ) is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and natural/artificial islands within the lake. Gushan (孤山) is the largest natural is ...

in 1616. He went to Songshan,

Huashan Mount Hua () is a mountain located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province, about east of Xi'an. It is the "Western Mountain" of the Sacred Mountains of China, Five Great Mountains of China and has a long history of religious sign ...

, Tai Shan, and

Wudang Mountains The Wudang Mountains () consist of a mountain range in the northwestern part of Hubei, China, just south of Shiyan. They are home to a famous complex of Taoist temples and monasteries associated with the Lord of the North, Xuantian Shangdi. The ...

. He traveled to

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

during 1625–1627 and Fujian in 1628. During 1636–1640, he was away from his home.

Description

''Xu Xiake's Travels'' has 22 sections. Xu Xiake's travels at times put him in danger. His persistence led others to invent the term "spirit of Xu Xiake". ''Xu Xiake's Travels'' corrected many mistakes about Chinese roads, described many plants and how the wind speed and air temperature affect plants.

Writing process

Description

References

Further reading