Author: Wang Wencheng
After 28 years, Xu Xiake ran the equivalent of 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government in China today, leaving more than 600,000 words of "Xu Xiake's Travels", vividly depicting many scenic spots, wonders and customs, folk customs, social life, and has very important research value in tourism, geology, literature, animals and plants, ecology, economy, politics, religion, society and other aspects. Especially in tourism, scientific expeditions and culture, it is a milestone. Therefore, Xu Xiake has become a "tourist saint" for thousands of years, a household name, and there is no doubt about it.
In fact, Xu Xiake is also a world-renowned "bookworm". On the occasion of the "5.19" tour festival in Ninghai today, you may wish to nag and nag as a souvenir.
In The history of our country, there are many "bookworms", and the more famous ones are Qu Yuan, who "reads hard in the cave", Jia Kui, who "steals from the fence", Guan Ning, who "cuts the seat and sits separately", and Fan Zhongyan, who "cuts the porridge and draws porridge".
Qu Yuan was born into the declining nobility of the Chu State, deeply influenced by the elders who were full of economy, eager to learn from an early age, determined to serve the country. In order to reduce the disturbance of outsiders, he hid alone in a cave not far from home, studied hard for three years, and read and memorized the Book of Poetry thoroughly, laying a solid literary foundation for his later creation of Chu Ci.
Jia Kui (贾逵), courtesy name Liang Dao, was a native of Xiangling, Hedong (present-day Linfen, Shanxi). He has long served as the assassin of Yuzhou in the State of Wei, "repairing military brigades outside and governing civil affairs internally", and his political reputation is outstanding. When he was a child, his father died early, and he struggled to make ends meet with his mother's handymanship. His mother had no time to take care of him, but fortunately her sister took care of him. My sister often took him to the side of the school, listened to Mr. Teacher's lectures across the fence, listened and listened, and memorized famous works such as "Zuo Zhuan", "Four Books", and "Five Classics".
Guan Ning, a native of Zhuxu (present-day Linqu, Shandong) in Beihai County, Eastern Han Dynasty, was a descendant of Guan Zhong, a famous hermit and scribe, who wrote the Treatise on Family Names. From an early age, he concentrated on learning. Once, he was studying with his friend Hua Xin, suddenly encountered a convoy of dignitaries and dignitaries passing by, Hua Xin ran to see the liveliness, Guan Ning turned a blind eye, and deeply felt that it was different from Hua Xin's ambitions and interests, so he sat separately from him and parted ways! Later, the Cao Wei regime repeatedly recruited Guan Ning, and he insisted that he should not, just for learning!
Fan Zhongyan was a great thinker, politician and writer of the Northern Song Dynasty. His "Record of Yueyang Lou" "worries and worries before the world, and enjoys the joy of the world after the world", which is recited for posterity. Fan Zhongyan's father died when he was two years old, and his mother remarried to a family surnamed Zhu. The Zhu family did not provide him with schooling, and he ran to the monastery by himself, working while studying hard. In order to save food and time, the porridge is cooked every day, and when it is cooled, it is divided into four pieces, two pieces are taken in the morning and evening, and the pickles are filled with hunger. It is by relying on this tenacious perseverance and tireless spirit of learning that it will eventually become a great instrument of the country.
Chinese culture has a long history. There is no shortage of examples of hard reading cold windows. "Hanging beam thorn stock", "chiseled wall borrowing light" and "sac fluorescent snow", deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, spread as a beautiful talk. Throughout the ages, like Qu Yuan, Jia Kui, Guan Ning and Fan Zhongyan, he has become a "book idiot" in the world, and Xu Xiake is also one of them!
(1) Collect books for generations, and only books are treasures. Xu Xia was directly subordinate to jiangyin (present-day Jiangyin, Jiangsu). Zu Shang is a rich man in Jiangnan, who collects books and enjoys the reputation of "Qingjiang Literature Giant Room".
Before settling in Wuteng, Jiangyin, Xu Gong, the first ancestor of the Xu clan, served as the governor of Kaifeng Province, collected a large number of Central Plains documents, and then moved south with him, passing on a precious "legacy" with his descendants and opening the tradition of book collection.
Xu Qi, the ninth ancestor of Wu Teng, during the Ming Hongwu years, was entrusted with the mission of Shu, completed his mission, was awarded the title of Yipin official, and then resigned from the official and returned to his hometown, founding the "Xinyuan Book House", which contains thousands of volumes of literature and is well-known.
After that, he built a book house and a library building from generation to generation, and enjoyed it tirelessly and became a common practice. Among them, Xu Qi's grandson Xu Yuanshou built the "Ten Thousand Scrolls Building" on the largest scale. Xu Xiake's ancestor Xu Jing was also a master of books, and was known as "the richest collection of books, which was in mu tian" (mu tian refers to the imperial palace library). He named the bookstore "WestWood" and had a collection of nearly 10,000 volumes.
Xu Xiake's great-grandfather Xu Qia, from childhood under the guidance of Xu Jing, studied hard from an early age, failed to do so in the imperial examination, only donated a small official, but also built a "Huzhuang Book House", which inherited most of the books in the "Xiwu" Book House.
Xu Xiake's father, Xu Youmian, gave up the middle hall when he separated the family, and insisted on asking for the "Huzhuang Book House" and its collection of books. Xu Xiake grew up in the "Huzhuang Bookstore" since she was a child, and read a lot of books. Due to the rich collection of books, "a comprehensive collection of three religions and a hundred families", up and astronomy, down to geography, all kinds of books, everything is collected. Affected by this, Xu Xiake's interest was no longer in the imperial examination of wealth and fame. He is particularly fond of the Earth Scripture Tuzhi, has the ambition of "the great husband should face the blue sea and twilight", and is determined to travel all over the world, take the earth as a book, absorb knowledge and strength, and make this life worth it! (2) Hunger and thirst, thirst for books. In the thirty-third year of the Ming Dynasty (1605), Xu Xiake's father died, and he was eager to go out to explore the mysteries of the famous mountains and rivers. There is an old mother, and I can't bear to go far. But the enlightened old mother, knowing that her son's ambitions are far away, encourages her son to do what he likes! In the thirty-sixth year of the Wanli Calendar, the twenty-two-year-old Xu Xiake officially traveled. On his luggage, there are always the necessities of life on one end and books and literature on the other. This book includes the "Chronicle of the Unification of the Great Ming Dynasty" and "Hengzhou Tongzhi", "Yunnan Zhi", "Famous Scenic Spots", "Yuanfeng Jiucheng Zhi", "Youdi Zhisheng", "Guilin Palm", "Guilin Shengzhi", "Xi Shi'er", "Baiyue Customs", "Baiyue Zhi", "Guangxi FuZhi", "Xinning Prefecture Zhi", "Wuzhou FuZhi", "Nanning County Zhi", "Duyun Fu Zhi", "Xundian Fu Zhi", "Jinning Prefecture Zhi", "Dali County Zhi", "Yongchang Zhiluo", "Tengyue Prefecture Zhi", "Tengyong Tuzhi" and other local chronicles.
Chen Hanhui quoted Xu Zhongzhao, xu Xiake's brother, in the "Epitaph of Mr. Xiake", as saying, "The book of sexual curiosity, the book that has never been seen in the guest, that is, the money that has not been left behind, and the city has also been disarmed, and it has returned from its own burden, and now it is full of boxes, several than four libraries, and half of the wanderers." ”
Xu Xiake also recorded in his travelogue that he begged Zhang Shoulian's descendants for the "Continuation of the Southern Journey".
Xu Xiake's books are not used to show off, but to seek knowledge and practice. During his long journey, he was very unsophisticated in eating, living, eating mostly coarse tea and light rice, living in the temple corridor, and riding a hitchhiker. But everywhere I go, in addition to diligently remembering, I read hard, and I can't be idle for a moment.
This kind of reading kung fu of sleeping and forgetting food, he practiced from an early age. When he was in private school, Mr. Teaching preached the Four Books and Five Classics on it, and he read the adventure travelogue privately, and he danced with his hands and feet, and he did not regret it when he invited Mr. Teaching to reprimand him.
Today, from the extensive knowledge and solid writing skills of "Xu Xia's Travels", we seem to see a tourist, walking negatively, reading in front of the light, and not alone.
(3) The unity of knowledge and action, the strange book is long-lasting. Xu Xiake lived more than a hundred years later than Wang Yangming, and presumably Wang Yangming's idea of "unity of knowledge and action" had a great influence on him.
Throughout Xu Xiake's life, most of the time was on the road. While traveling and investigating, he bought books and read hard. Always analyze and compare what you get from the book with the field trip. Find out the problem and express your insights!
"Yu Gong" is a famous passage of the "Book of Shang" (a work of "Book of Books"), which was written by someone in the Zhou Dynasty under the name of Dayu, which can be called a classic. "Yu Gong" "Min Shan Guide River", for thousands of years, no one doubted. After conducting a field investigation of the Jinsha River and the Min River, Xu Xiake pointed out that the mistake of "Guiding the River in Minshan Mountain" in "Yugong" should be "Guiding the River in Jinsha River". At the same time, through field investigations, he also analyzed the source and flow of the waterways of the Zuojiang, Youjiang, Dayingjiang, and Lancang rivers, and corrected the chaotic exposition of these rivers in the "Unified Chronicle of the Great Ming Dynasty". Comrade Mao Zedong spoke highly of this: "I don't think he can write so well when he doesn't run around?" This is not only a scientific work, but also a literary work. "Xu Xiake is not only superior, not only books, but only objective and true."
In dealing with the relationship between "knowing" (theory) and "doing" (practice), Xu Xiake successfully grasped it. He often read the local chronicles before the field trip, try to understand the situation, and use "knowledge" to guide and plan the "line". Then, through "walking", that is, field investigation, analyzing and correcting the accounts in the books of predecessors or filling in the gaps, it is called "true knowledge" and "unity of knowledge and action"!
Xu Xiake's historical contribution is enormous. He wrote a lot of works in his lifetime, and the more than 600,000 words of "Xu Xia's Travels" that have been left behind today are only a part of the surviving part. His scientific expedition travelogue is estimated to be more than 2 million words, and it is very regrettable that it has been lost for various reasons and cannot be seen by future generations. In addition to travelogues, he also helps people write chronicles, biographies, and can be said to be works and shoulders!
It is this part of the travelogue that has survived, which is enough for him to become a "Chinese tourist saint", a "ancient qiren", a geographer, an explorer, and a literary scholar.
"Xu Xia's Travels" opens up a geographical system to observe nature and objectively and vividly describe the correct direction of nature. It is not only a geographical masterpiece that systematically examines the geomorphology and geology of the motherland, but also a huge tourist that vividly describes the scenic resources of China, and a literary masterpiece with beautiful words beyond the world!
That's enough, unbeatable. It should be called "book saint", in order not to mix with the calligraphy of everyone Wang Xizhi, let's call it "book idiot". Xu Xiake, Daming unified "You Sheng" and "Book Fool", Ancient Strange People, Hundred Generations Of Fang!
Author: Wang Wencheng is an advisor to the Xuxiake Research Association of Ninghai County