Although human beings do not need to hibernate, when the spring is warm and blossoming, we still prefer to go out to see the great rivers and mountains of the motherland and feel the vitality of nature. But like us, go to the next city for a day or two, or even relax in front of the house for half a day, in the eyes of "Yousheng" Xu Xiake, it is all pediatrics. After all, even if he had no job and "no money" at that time, he had tasted the "poetry and far away" of Shenzhou in thirty years.
1. The maverick brother of Jiangdong Gongzi
Xu Xiake (徐霞客), courtesy name Hongzu (弘祖), courtesy name Zhenzhi (振之), was a native of Jiangyin County (present-day Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province). Today, Jiangyin City is famous for Xu Xiake, but few people pay attention to the fame of Xu Xiake's Xu family in the era in which he lived. But in fact, it was this family lineage that was easily overlooked later that guided Xu Xiake to embark on the road of pursuing poetry and distant places.
Xu Xiake's ancestors, the most famous one is probably his great grandfather Xu Jing. At the age of ten, Xu Jing lost two generations of relatives in succession, his father and grandfather, and took a typical "sad early years card". Relying on the xu family's deep economic foundation, Xu Jing not only received a good education and quickly emerged in the field of science and technology, but also had close contacts with other famous disciples and literati in Jiangdong. The famous Tang Yin, Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming, etc. are all Xu Jing's friends.
In the eleventh year of Ming Hongzhi (1498), Tang Yin was xieyuan in The High School of Nanjing Township Examination. Xu Jing, who also passed the exam, went to Beijing with Tang Yin to take the exam the following year. And because it was not bad money, Xu Jing took a large number of servants and Youling all the way to play. Even later when he arrived in the capital, Xu Jing and Tang Yin played around and continued to "scatter wealth", which attracted people's envy.
In the exchange with Tang Yin, Xu Jing once asked Tang Yin to bet on the question. Perhaps it was talent, Tang Yin really said a lot of things. However, it was later rumored that Tang Yin had bought the examiner who had bought the question to learn about the question. The imperial court quickly intervened in this regard, and the result was that Tang Yin and Xu Jing were directly deprived of the qualifications to participate in the imperial examination. After the blow of this flying disaster, Xu Jing not only did not want to muddy the muddy waters of the river, but also set the tone for Xu Shi not to force his children to participate in the scientific expedition.
To Xu Xiake's generation, the tradition of not taking scientific research as the primary choice continues in Xu's family. Because there is no need to carry this big mountain on their backs, when they are still studying in the academy, when other students are struggling for the Four Books and Five Classics, Xu Xiake is leisurely reading the "Notes on the Water Classics" and imagining that he will enjoy the rivers and mountains of the motherland in the future. In addition, Xu's reputation in the Jiangnan area has long been famous for his bookish and fragrant doors but not shiju, when Xu Xiake decided to pursue poetry and distant places, he was not only not condemned, but also had contacts with many celebrities on the way.
Second, the powerful textile mill behind the traveler
If Xu Xiake's family lineage gave birth to his maverick pursuit of poetry and distant ideals, then his small family is the most solid basis to support him to realize his dreams. When Xu Xiake was nineteen years old, his father Xu Youmian died. Because of the previous separation of the family, Xu Youmian's small family did not have much land. Coupled with the fact that Xu Youmian was neither an official nor good at business, the economic burden of the Xu family fell on Xu Xiake's mother, Wang Shi.
Wang was born into a famous family, but called herself a "cloth woman". According to Xu Xiake's own recollection, his mother has been supporting the portal for more than twenty years after her father's death, "the mother is not good to him, and it is good to learn the weaving of women in the field." Under the tide of economic prosperity in Jiangnan, Wang's perseverance and hard work soon paid off - the Xu family's weaving fabrics "smelled of excellence". The Xu family's family business was gradually "revived" under the management of the Wang family, and even returned to its former prosperity.
With Wang's financial support, we can also understand why Xu Xiake has hardly worked for more than thirty years, but has the money to visit most of China's rivers and mountains. And the Wang family not only gave Xu Xiake material support, but also gave Xu Xiake important spiritual encouragement. After Xu Youmian's death and Xu Xiake's filial piety for three years, Xu Xiake wanted to pursue poetry and distant places while not resigning from the Wang clan. However, the Wang clan encouraged Xu Xiake's boy to be in the four directions, and also personally made a "long-distance travel crown" for Xu Xiake. In this way, Wang Shi can be regarded as the promoter of Xu Xiake's first step, and also the founder of this "You Sheng".
3. A generation of wandering saints who have traveled for thirty years
From his first trip at the age of twenty-two to his last trip with friends at the age of fifty-five, Xu Xiake spent most of his life traveling through a large area of China except the northwest. Referring to the "Epitaph of Mr. Xu Xiake" made by Xu Xiake's friend Chen Hanhui, Mr. Ding Wenjiang, a modern geologist, made a detailed study of Xu Xiake's travel route.
Xu Xiake's account of the various observations along the way in "Xu Xiake's Travels" is naturally quite valuable. However, compared with other travelers or geographical works, the unique feature of Xu Xiake and his travelogues is that he does not travel for political purposes, nor is it a "publicly-funded travel" that ordinary officials are confined to one place and two places, but an exploration of nature from the heart.
The starting point of Xu Xia's travelogue was to share the joy of realizing her dreams with her mother who supported her in pursuing her dreams. Therefore, under the personal measurement step by step, Xu Xiake was able to use his emotional brushstrokes to make a very creative record of the customs and customs of various places, mountains, rivers, lakes and seas from an angle that no one had noticed before.
Unique perspective, sincere feelings, thirty years of running as a day, Xu Xiake was planted by her fathers to chase the seeds of dreams, and then got the full support of her mother, and finally used half a life to realize her dream. In this way, we, the descendants, can read "Xu Xiake's Travels". Xu Xiake has also become a long-standing "tourism blogger" who has guided the recent tourism trend.
Resources:
Zheng Peikai. Xu Xiake and his family lineage[J].Shucheng,2015,(03):5-18.
WAN Ming. The Monetization of Silver in the Ming Dynasty and the Birth of Xu Xiake, the "Ancient Strange Man"[J].Financial Expo,2019,(03):23-24.