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The Travelogue of Xu Xiake ( xux-iake youji) , written in diary form , records the ob-servations of Xu Xiaoke ( b.1587-d.1641 ) as he traveled in many provinces of China during the Ming period ( 1368 -1644 ) .The travelogue pro-vides detailed descriptions about the geography , hydrology , geology , plants and animals of the re-gion where he travelled , and makes a unique con-tribution to the study of geography and literature . The author , using the incisive insight of a Jiang-dong ( an area on the south of Yangtze River be-yond Fuhu and Nanjing ) literati recorded the cul-tural and natural geography with exquisite and beautiful words , leaving a rich multidisciplinary source . The Travelogue of Xu Xiaka is the earliest book to describe the karst landform , and examine its formation process .It is recognized as the first professional work in the world which contains a de-tailed investigation and scientific description on the features, types and formation causes of Karst ca-ves, as well as the distribution of various types Karst landform and their regional differences . Hence, The Travelogue of Xu Xiaka without a doubt , holds an important position in the history of geology, and is a precious source for later geogra-phers and archaeologists . In addition, The Travelogue of Xu Xiaka cor-rected some mistakes related to the source of the Yangtze River which had been recorded in Chinese historical texts compiled before the Ming dynasty . Through practical investigation and exploration , he refuted the old saying “minshan daojiang” ( the Min Mountain is the source of the Yangtze ) , a say-ing which was not doubted by Chinese scholars foralmost a thousand years , i.e.ever since the com-pletion of shangshu · yugong ( The Book of Histo-ry) .Xu Xiake affirmed that the Jinsha River was the direct source of the Yangtze .Qian Qianyi , a famous scholar in the Ming period made comments on The Travelogue of Xu Xiaoke, saying: “ ( It ) provides additional information and annotations that have not yet been included in the ‘jing ’ and‘zhu’ , and also includes information that the ‘yu-gong’ ( ‘jing’, ‘zhu’ and ‘yugong’ are all classics of ancient China ) that‘yugong ’ ) had not yet reached .” Qian Qianyi also praised The Trave-logue of Xu Xiake by saying that “the true words , the great words , and the mysterious words should be transmitted instead of being lost” and regarded it as “the best travelogue in all of history ”.He said that “Xu Xiake is a miraculous person in his-tory, and his ‘travelogue’ is a miraculous book in history .” History has proven that Qian Qianyi ’ s praise is not exaggerated .The Travelogue of Xu Xiake actually made magnificent contributions to various disciplines , including geography , tourism studies , travelogue literature , and ecology studies . Moreover , The Travelogue of Xu Xiake recor-ded various flora of China , and discovered the in-fluences of landform , climate, and wind speed with regard to their distribution and time of bloom-ing.Xu Xiake carried out a practical investigation of the volcanic vent of Tengchong in Yunnan .He recorded scientifically the nature of the red pumice stone which erupted from the volcano , and ex-plained the causes for its formation .He also gave a detailed description of the geothermal phenomenon near the volcano area .His learning style was total-ly different from the traditional one in that he advo-cated learners to step out of the classroom , to make practical investigations , and write knowledge gained from the field into a great diary -style book with simple but beautiful prose . Since the Ming and Qing dynasties , The Trav-elogues of Xu Xiake has been cited as one of the important Chinese classics , and Xu Xiake has be-come one of the most famous historical cultural fig-ures.The Travelogue of Xu Xiake is not only an immortal travel literature , but also an encyclopedia which reflects society in the later Ming Dynasty . For more than three hundred years , experts and scholars have carried out extensive research on Xu Xiake and his travelogue .At present , the studies on Xu Xiake and The Travelogue of Xu Xiake have formed a special international academic topic called “Xuxue” ( the Study of Xu Xiake ) , and have also become an integral part of the study of the Chinese classics . For many decades , and especially during the most recent ten or twenty years , scholars have ex-tensively researched the contributions of The Trave-logue of Xu Xiake from a multi -disciplinary per-spective, including geography, history, tourism, literature and ethnology .Following this continued in -depth research on The Travelogue, people have been concerned with and uncovered its scien-tific significance and social values . Its multiple values are noted constantly . The Travelogue also contains many brilliant accounts of the history , ethnic relations , politico-religious relations , war and peace , natural land-scapes, and cultural and natural landscape of the Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibetan region, including as well the regional economy transportation routes , cities and towns , minority peoples , customs and historical sites of this region .The historical facts related to Tibet an areas in the records are among the most worthwhile sections . This article examines , one by one , the histo-ry , ethnic relations , the reincarnation system of Ti-betan Buddhism , the politico-religious relations, and the war and peace efforts in the cross borderregion of Yunnan , Sichuan and Tibet which were recorded in The Travelogue of Xu Xiake when Xu Xiake was traveling in the Naxi area of Lijiang , Yunnan , so as to prove that what Xu recorded in his travelogue truthfully reflects the actual situation of the commerce and trade , political competition , religious exchange between various ethnic groups on the borders of Tibetan during the Ming period . Xu Xiake recorded the paths of eminent monks who travelled between the Tibetan area and other re-gions in a background of increasingly complex and changing ethnic relations .For instance , the emi-nent monks or the Living Buddha of the Karma Kagyu sect constantly went to the capital of the Ming Empire to negotiate the politico -religious re-lations between the central government and Tibetan area .At the same time , Xu also described that the frequent pilgrimages to Mt .Wutai in Shanxi and Mt.Jizu in Yunnan by eminent Tibetan monks and their believers brought mutual trade and cultural exchanges between the Naxi , Han, and Tibetans, and that these pilgrimages created harmonious and stable political-religious relations among the vari-ous ethnic groups .They also promoted a healthy development process by constructing a unified plu-ral country . Originally , Xu Xiake had plans to go to the Tibetan area .However , he was unable to because of the fighting in the cross border region of Yun-nan, Sichuan and Tibet which had resulted from the increasingly complex tensions among the differ-ent religious sects . The Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism was gradually flourishing through the support of the Mongolian Khoshut as a result of the alliance between the Mongolians and Tibetans .The military might of the Khoshut made a fast paced ex-pedition to the south;there were alliances or oppo-sitions from time to time between the Tibetan gov-ernment, the Naxi ’ s Mu clan tusi ( native offi-cial) of Lijiang, Yunnan, the Baili tusi of the Ti-betan Kham area , and various political and reli-gious powers of the Karma Kargyu for their own benefits.Warfare broke out constantly .One yearbefore Xu Xiake ’ s arrival in Lijiang , there was a military conflict between the tusi of the Mu Clan and the armies of the alliance of the Mongolians and Tibetans.The tusi of the Mu Clan of Lijiang, who had once held a ruling position in the Kham area, especially southern Kham , was defeated in this fight.As a result, the Mu clan lost their domi-nant position in the high plateau area of Kkam in Yunnan .The situation of Mu Clan tusi marked a trend of the historical development , and the fight between the Naxi and Tibetans produced a chain -reaction, or even caused a panic for various inland political powers . Because earlier Han Chinese and Tibetan his-torical texts did not record these large -scale his-torical events that happened in the cross -border region of Yunnan , Sichuan and Tibet around 1639, nor did the local literature, such as mushi huanpu ( the Genealogy of the Mu Clan ) include the struggles between the Naxi and Tibetan for fea-ring of losing face from the failure in the fight , lat-er generations are unable to understand the truth of the region ’ s history .However , the author of The Travelogue of Xu Xiake just happened to be trave-ling in this area around this time , and so he recor-ded the historical events based upon his own obser- vations .In doing so , he left the later generations the truth of the local history .Hence, The Trave-logue of Xu Xiake has its own unique historical val-ue in that it restores the true historical situation of the cross-border region of Yunnan , Sichuan and Tibet.He especially recorded the historical culture in his travelogue related to the Tibetan border are-as, such as information about yaks , the tea-horse caravan route , the pilgrimage of Tibetans to Mt . Jizu, and Mt.Wutai Mountain, the system of rein-carnation of Living Buddhas , etc.All of this pro-vides additional information to the Han -Chinese literature written in the Ming dynasty , and even helps to correct some mistakes in the official histor-ical documents in which the information regarding some of the contents were incomplete or even wrong . The late Ming dynasty was an era filled with turbulence and transformation in feudal China . There were increasingly sharp contradictions not only on the political aspects , but also on class and ethnic aspects .However , Xu Xiake recorded the historical truth of various provincial regions and different classes by using his unique diary writing style .This article reviews the historical truths and cultural models of the cross -border region of Yun-nan, Sichuan and Tibetan in the Ming dynasty from the perspective of the examination of historical evidence , and, it will have a unique reference val-ue in the study of Xu Xiake , Tibetology and Naxi-ology .