Rank 1: Du Huan — Rank 5: Xu Xiake
5. Xu Xiake
Xu Xiake was a traveler and geographer in the late Ming Dynasty of China (1368–1644). He was born on January 5, 1587, in Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province, in eastern China. By that time, China’s feudal system was in decline, capitalism was beginning to emerge, and there was a growing atmosphere of exploring nature and emphasizing field investigation. Xu Xiake followed the trend of the times and embarked on a new path of conducting on-site investigations and studying the laws of nature.
Born into a scholarly family, Xu Xiake developed a love for extraordinary books from an early age. As he grew up, he went against tradition—he did not take the imperial examinations, did not pursue an official career, and had no interest in fame or fortune. At the age of 21, he began his travels. For over 30 years, he braved many hardships, and his footsteps covered most of China. He explored many scenic spots, historical sites, mountain ranges, rivers, local customs, and cultural relics. During his explorations, he insisted on traveling on foot and rarely rode horses or took boats, which allowed him to reach remote and secluded areas rarely visited by others, as well as deep mountains and wild lands. He recorded and described his observations on the spot. His records were all written in the form of travel diaries, meticulously documenting his daily journeys and findings, sometimes including his insights and commentary on the characteristics of various regions. He had keen powers of observation and an indomitable spirit that feared no hardship. Some described him as climbing like a monkey and exploring caves like a snake. Particularly notable was his skill as an essayist—his descriptions of natural scenery were vivid and moving, full of appeal, and his accounts of various geographical phenomena were precise, concise, and incisively detailed. It was for these reasons that his field exploration records gained attention from some people and, as literary works, were widely copied and circulated. After his death, his writings were compiled and edited into a book titled The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake.
The Travel Diaries of Xu Xiake is a geographical masterpiece in diary format, which later evolved into over 30 hand-copied and printed editions, totaling more than 620,000 characters. It includes travelogues of famous mountains, journeys in the southwest, specialized essays, and poems, covering topics such as geomorphology, geology, hydrology, climate, flora and fauna, historical geography, socio-political economy, and ethnic customs. It is particularly rich in content related to geomorphology, hydrology, and plants—sections that also hold the greatest geographical value. It is the world’s first comprehensive and systematic work to document and explore karst landforms.