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Chapter 63 244 Xu Xiake Travels and Adventures

When the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil, there was a young man in Jiangyin who was dissatisfied with the government's corruption and refused to take the imperial examination and seek to become an official.He is Xu Xiake, an outstanding geographer in the history of our country. Xu Xiake's name is Xu Hongzu, and Xiake is his alias.He loved reading history, geography books, and albums since he was a child.When he was studying in a private school, his teacher urged him to read Confucian classics. He would often hide the teacher behind his back and put the geography books under the scriptures to peek.

When he was a teenager, his father died, and he decided to travel to the famous mountains and rivers for investigation.But he thought of his mother's old age and no one to take care of her at home, so he didn't dare to mention it. After all, his mother noticed what was on his mind.When his mother found out that he had such a wish, she said to him: "A man with ambitions everywhere, how can he stay at home for me, and be a chicken under the fence or a pony in the stable!" The mother prepared his luggage for him, He also sewed a traveling crown for him.With the enthusiastic support of his mother, Xu Xiake's determination to travel far is firmer.

When Xu Xiake was twenty-two years old, he began to travel away from home.He has traveled to famous mountains such as Taihu Lake, Dongting Mountain, Tiantai Mountain, Yandang Mountain, Taishan Mountain, Wuyi Mountain and Wutai Mountain and Hengshan Mountain in the north.Every time he returned home from his travels, he would talk to his relatives and friends about the strange customs of various places and the thrilling scenes during his travels. Others were too scared to speak, but his mother listened with gusto. Later, when the old mother died, Xu Xiake devoted all his energy to the cause of travel and investigation.At the age of fifty, he embarked on a long journey.It took him four full years to travel through the four provinces of Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan, all the way to Tengchong on the border of our country.He trekked through mountains and rivers, went to many places where no one could go, climbed cliffs, and inspected strange peaks and caves.Once he was climbing over a high mountain, and found a cave on the cliff, and there was no way to go through it.Risking his life, he climbed the cliff like an ape, and finally reached the entrance of the cave.

Another time, when he was in Chaling, Hunan Province, he heard that there was a Maye cave in the local area. There were dragons or spirits in the cave, and people who had no spells dared not enter the cave.Xu Xiake didn't believe in gods and ghosts, so he paid a high price to hire a local as a guide to investigate in the cave.When he was about to enter the cave, the guide asked him who he was, and when he knew that Xu Xiake was an ordinary scholar, the guide backed away in fright and said, "I thought you were a mage, so I dared to enter the cave with you. I'm a scholar, so I won't take the risk."

Xu Xiake didn't give up, and led his servants into the cave with a torch.When the people in the village heard that someone entered the cave, they all flocked to the entrance of the cave to watch the excitement.Xu Xiake inspected the cave for a long time, and did not come out until the torches were nearly burned out.The people around the entrance of the cave were very surprised to see them get out of the cave safely, saying: "We have waited for a long time, thinking that you must have been eaten by goblins." When Xu Xiake roamed the Southwest, besides a servant, there was also a monk named Jingwen as their companion.Once, when they were on a boat on the Xiangjiang River, they encountered robbers who robbed them of all their luggage and belongings. Monk Jingwen died on the way because of injuries.In the end, even his servants left him and fled.But none of these setbacks has shaken his determination to explore nature.

During the journey, Xu Xiake recorded in detail what he saw and heard that day before resting every night. Even when he slept in the barren mountains and forests, he always kept writing a diary by the campfire, leaning on the burden.After Xu Xiake's death in 1641 AD, he left a large number of diaries, which are actually his geographical investigation records.After his on-the-spot investigation, he corrected the errors recorded in the geography books in the past and discovered geographical phenomena that had not been recorded in the past.For example, ancient geography books say that the Minjiang River is the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Xu Xiake found out after investigation that the upper reaches of the Yangtze River are not the Minjiang River but the Jinsha River.It is also like when he visited Yingshan Mountain in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, and found the remains of volcanic eruptions there. During his travels, he investigated the most karst phenomena. Stone milk and other topography are recorded in detail.This is the earliest record of studying karst phenomena in the world.Later, people compiled his diary into a book.This book is not only a valuable document on ancient Chinese geography, but also an excellent literary work!

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