| dc.description.abstract | Xu Hong Zu (1587-1647) of the Ming Dynasty started to travel everywhere when he was 22 years old, and his footprints had covered 16 provinces of China. He was well-known as the Chinese traveler, writer, and geographer. He worked so hard to deal with the travel records and then completed “Travels of Xu Xiake” by recording what he saw and heard. All the process and the value of compiling this book is worthy of approval. Xu Hong Zu in his life wasn’t eager for high official positions and riches, but devoted every effort to the travel records. The Chinese literati are unable to get rid of “the imperial examination system” because serving as government officials by passing the examination becomes their necessary choice and career. However, Hong Zu can free himself from the imperial examination, and choose another way of his own life.
This research mainly discusses about Xu Hong Zu’s personal traits, his ability to make friends, and his geographic achievement. The author thought it is an inevitable trend that Hong Zu devoted all his life to the scenery. Hong Zu himself is not interested in attending the imperial examination, but loves the study of the land. He is optimistic but not afraid of the hardship. In addition to the political corruption of the late Ming Dynasty, the bureaucratic collusion, the development of the commodity economy, the tourism prosperity, as well as the encouragement and assistance by his parents and friends and so on. Being at the right place at the right time and with the right person achieves the moment that Xu Hong Zu climbed over mountains near the water and launched his exploration in the geographic observation.
Hong Zu not only deeply observed and described the scenery landform and the vegetation ecology but also specifically depicted the relations between the place and the people, the industrial development, and the village buildings. He was capable of the scientific analysis, inducing the relations between the landforms and the climate, inferring Exogenetic process that shapes the land by rivers, as well as recording the volcanism and landform, and so on. He collated and corrected mistakes in local gazetteers, and carried out scientific and systematic researches of the karst landform in China, and was able to acquire the accurately real data from the limestone caves , which were measured. Moreover, “Chorography of Jizu Hill”（雞足山志） which was compiled by Hong Zu has also become the model for later generations to revise the local gazetteers. Hong Zu’s geographic achievement is not only the great contribution to the development of Ming Dynasty’s geography but also the pioneer of the development of the modern geography.
| en_US |