Xu Xiake and The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake
徐霞客与《徐霞客游记》
A traveler and geographer of the late Ming Dynasty(1368一1644) Xu Xiake, also named Hongzu(1587一1641)was born in today’s Jiangyin of East China’s Jiangsu Province. He studied the ancient classics as a small boy and teamed to write the eight-part essay prescribed for the imperial civil service examination，but refused to take part in the imperial examination. Instead，he de-veloped an interest in historical books，especially such books on different places，and devoted himself to traveling all over the country.
徐霞客(1587-1641)，原名弘祖，字振之，别号霞客，江苏江阴人，明代杰出的地理学家、旅行家。童年上私塾时，即听背经书，作八股文。但徐霞客偏偏没兴趣，有兴趣的是看古今史书，尤其是地方志并遍游名山大川。
From the age of 21，Xu Xiake began to travel around and for thirty years he conducted surveys in 16 provinces，leaving his footsteps in virtually every part of the country. In conducting his surveys and investigations，he would never blindly embrace the conclusions recorded in previous documents. Instead，he discovered that the documentations made by his predecessors in their geographical studies were quite unreliable in many aspects.
21岁开始出游，30年间足迹遍及现在江苏、浙江、安徽、山东、河北、山西、陕西、河南、湖北、湖南、福建、广东、广西、江西、贵州、云南等16个省区。在他的调查研究中，他从不盲目轻信前人留下的文献总结。相反，他发现了前人在文献中记述的地理研究有很多谬误偏差。
To ensure that his reconnaissance were real and detailed，he seldom traveled by ship or by wagon. He climbed over mountains and hills and traveled long dis-lances almost entirely on foot.
为了使自己的勘察具体准确，他几乎舍弃了乘车或乘船，而是不畏艰险，徒步跋涉。
Xu’s main contributions to geography include:
他在地理学上的重要贡献主要有:
-A detailed scientific study of the karst landform. Xu visited over 270 caves in the(South China) Guangxi Autonomous Region and in(Southwest) Guizhou and (Southwest)Yunnan provinces，kept records of their directions, height, and depth，and elaborated on the cause of the formation. He was a pioneer in system-alit karst studies in both China and the world.
对喀斯特地貌类型分布和差异，有详细的考察和科学的记述。仅在广西、贵州、云南三省，他亲自探察270多个洞穴，且有方向、高宽、深度之具体记载并初步论述成因，他是中国和世界广泛考察喀斯特地貌的卓越先驱;
-Correcting some mistakes of the records on the source and waterways of Chinese rivers.
纠正了文献记载的关于中国水道源流的一些错误;
-Observing and recording the species of many plants，explicitly putting for-ward the influences that landform，temperature，and wind speed might have on the distribution and blooming of plants.
观察记述了很多植物的生态品种，明确提出了地形、气温、风速对植物分布和开花早晚的各种影响;
-Conducting survey on the vol-cano relics of Tengchong Mountain in South China’s Yunnan Province.Xu kept records of the shape and quality of the red pumice expelled from the volcano，and provided sci-entific explanation on the phenome-non.
调查了云南腾冲山的火山遗迹，科学记录与解释了喷发出来的红色浮石的形状、质地或成因;
-A detailed depiction of the phenomenon of terrestrial heat, the earliest of its kind in China.
对地热现象的详细描述在中国也是最早的;
-An excellent account of the people and places he had traveled.
对所到之处的人文地理情况作了不少精彩的记述。
Xu Xiake contribution to the ancient Chinese geography was unprecedented，especially his detailed narration of the karst landform. His travel journal was tom-piled by the later generations into a book called The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake，which is of high scientific and literary value.
他在中国古代地理学史上作出了超越前人的贡献，特别关于喀斯特地貌的详细记述。经后人编辑的《徐霞客游记》，不但具有极高的科学价值，而且具有很高的文学价值，被誉为“千古奇书”。