dc.description.abstract | As a renowned traveler in Late Ming, Wang Shixing’s travelling and his Wu Yue You Cao and Guang Zhi Yi were still having their representation till early Qing. Through Wang Shixing’s plenty of traveling experience and his background of being officer, this study uses him as a case to research literatus’ official travel life in Late Ming.
For literatus leaving hometown for official appointment, official travel usually represents an away-from-home situation that each officer has to face. However, due to the common practice, official travel resulted from official appointment becomes the most popular leisure activity among officers in Ming Dynasty. Through the research into Wang Shixing, this study clearly points out that official travel in this time, because of the change of social environment, is more entertaining. This apparently relates with the development of culture of literatus class, which becomes a meaningful cultural phenomenon of Mid-Late Ming.
This study also uses Wang Shixing’s officer experience as a case to discuss the real condition of officer’s travelling for official appointment in Late Ming. Wang Shixing’s conducts while being the magistrate of Queshan County are a way to understand the governance mode of Late Ming magistrates. Besides, his participation in political struggle while being an officer in the Ministry of Rites is a method to examine the difficulty that Ming Shenzong faced in balancing the political party powers in the central government after Zhang Juzheng’s death. Also, in mid-late Wan-li period, the factors of Ming Shengzong’s negligence of politics and fierce party struggle in central and local government in his regime can be found in some traces.
The reputation of literatus is formed by his works and direct and indirect interaction with his readers. This study also investigates Wang Shixing’s social circle and the process of shaping his image to examine the collusion within literatus which is used as a way to demonstration. With the communication with Wang Shizhen, Wang Daokun, and other members of Baiyu Club, Wang Shixing not only founds his reputation in the literary circle. Also with the publishing of Wu Yue You Cao and Guang Zhi Yi, he successfully shapes his image that he is good at excursion. The fashion of travel, the officer cultures and the practices in literatus class interrelated in Late Ming can be quite incarnated in Wang Shixing’s life.
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