Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
of his time. His writings were copied and read and were considered as the fi nest
literary accomplishment. After his death, his writings were collected and compiled
into a volume with the title
Hsü Xia-Ke's Travels
. It was a collection of more than
400,000 words. It is a pity that some of the contents have been lost during the past
years. The present volume is not the original edition.
The topic was titled “Travels”, but actually it is a classic on geographical research
with very important scientifi c contents. It is important because it opened up a new
way in the study of geography in China, using a thoroughly empirical method.
Its infl uence and achievement in the development of Chinese sciences are unique.
I must confess that it is out of my ability to convey to you the literary value of Hsü's
topic. However, it is necessary for me to explain briefl y what the author had done in
opening up a new way of geographical research.
Even before the time of Hsü Xia-Ke, the study of geography had a long development
in China. There were many topics which may be classifi ed into the fi eld of Chinese
Geography. However, most of these earlier writings and topics were nothing more
than confusing collections of geographical phenomena. Practically none or very few
of them referred to the reasons or factors yielding or infl uencing such phenomena.
Furthermore, most of the writers of this kind of topics were “indoor scholars” who
did not have any fi eldwork experience. All they did was to write topics which were
based on some legends from some miscellaneous documents. Very few of them
were topics of serious research and systematic compilation. The rare exception
probably is the work of Li Tao-Yuan's
A Commentary on the Book of Rivers
published in the sixth century A.D. The fact is that the oppression of feudalism
lasted for so long a time that the level of production was very low, and as a result of
this, geographical research and records were also limited. When it came to Hsü's
time, he broke away from the old tradition and walked out of the small study of his
house and made long outdoor trips with defi nite purposes and preparations. He made
outdoor observations at fi rst hand. With his keen observation he discovered and
accumulated the numerous, colourful geographical phenomena and the knowledge
of the internal causes of these phenomena. For instance, he looked into the nature
and characteristics of rocks, the power of water in erosion, the use and infl uence of
underground water, the shaping and structure of land forms, the changes of tempera-
ture and wind on different levels and latitudes and their infl uences on vegetations,
and many other things which he tried to give scientifi c explanations of their making.
More signifi cant was the travels he made in the latter years of his life when he visited
the southwestern part of China where he systematically observed the special nature of
topography of the great expanse of karstland there, and made classifi ed descriptions
of them. His intense interest in the investigation of the caves in the karstland led him
to go into more than 100 deep caves of which he made very minute observations and
detailed records. For example, he went twice to the eastern part of Kweilin in the
present Autonomous Region of Kuangxi Zhuang, to explore the famous “Seven
Stars Cave”. He investigated and recorded the outside and inside details of this great
cave in a minute way. The “Seven Star Cave” is one of the most mysterious and
complicated caves in the karstland of southwest China. In 1953, some Chinese
geographers surveyed and measured the system of the “Seven Stars Cave” by modern
