''Xu Xiake's Travels'' () is a Chinese travelogue 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 of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

geographer

Xu Xiake Xu Xiake (, January 5, 1587 – March 8, 1641), born Xu Hongzu (), courtesy name Zhenzhi (), was a Chinese explorer, geographer, and travel writer of the Ming dynasty, 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 and valued 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 deno ...

Writing process

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

provinces of China Provinces ( zh, c=省, p=Shěng) are the most numerous type of province-level divisions of China, province-level divisions in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). There are currently 22 provinces administered by the PRC and one prov ...

. He traveled to Jinling (

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

) in 1611, visited Mount Huangshan, Wuyishan, Baiyue Nine-Bend stream, and

West Lake The West Lake (; ) is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. Situated to the west of Hangzhou's former Hangzhou City Walls, walled city, the lake has a surface area of , stretching from north to south and from east to west. In the lake are four ...

in 1616. He went to Songshan, Huashan, Tai Shan, and

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

. He traveled to

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

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