Xu Xiake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Xu Xiake
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Portrait of Xu Xiake
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| Born |
Xu Hongzu
5 January 1587 |
| Died | 8 March 1641 (aged 54) Jiangyin, Nanzhili, Ming China
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| Occupation | Explorer, geographer, travel writer |
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| Chinese | 徐霞客 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Xu Xiake (born Xu Hongzu) was a famous Chinese explorer and writer. He lived during the Ming dynasty, from 1587 to 1641. Xu Xiake is best known for his amazing travel diaries.
He spent over 30 years exploring many parts of China. He wrote down everything he saw and experienced. His detailed notes helped people understand China's geography much better. After he passed away, his travel records were put together into a book called The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake.
The Chinese navy even named a ship after him, the Xu Xiake. This shows how important his work was!
Contents
Who Was Xu Xiake?
Xu Xiake was born in a place called Jiangyin, in what is now Jiangsu province. His birth name was Xu Hongzu. His parents were Xu Yu'an and Wang Ruren. Many people say his mother really encouraged him to travel. This support helped him become the great explorer he was.
His friends gave him special names. One friend called him Xiake, which means "one who is in the sunset clouds." Another friend called him Xiayi, meaning "untrammelled in the sunset clouds." These names show how much he loved nature and freedom.
Xu Xiake's Journeys
Xu Xiake traveled with a helper named Gu Xing. Their journeys were often very tough. Sometimes, he was robbed and lost all his belongings. But local scholars and Buddhist monks often helped him out. They would give him money, and in return, he would write down the history of their temples.
He explored many different parts of China. He went from the snowy mountains of Sichuan to the warm, green jungles of Guangxi and Yunnan. He even traveled to the mountains near Tibet. Xu Xiake wrote about all his adventures. His notes gave us a huge amount of detail about the places he visited.
Xu Xiake's Amazing Travel Records
Xu Xiake's travel diaries are a massive work. They contain about 404,000 Chinese characters! This was a huge amount of writing for one person in his time. He often walked to explore the different provinces of China. He wrote down many details about the land. For example, he noted the locations of small gorges and different types of rocks.
His work was very organized and accurate. He even included precise measurements. Later, a person named Ding Wenjiang translated his work into modern Chinese. When you read it, it sounds more like a modern scientist's report than something from the 1600s!
Discoveries in Geography
Xu Xiake made some very important discoveries about China's geography.
- In Guizhou, he found the true starting point of the West River.
- He also figured out that the Mekong and Salween rivers were separate. They had their own water systems, not connected to each other.
- Perhaps his most important discovery was about the Yangtze River. He realized that the Jinsha river network was the real source of the Yangtze. Before him, people thought other rivers like the Min or Yalong were the main source. He corrected a mistake that was hundreds of years old!
