中英雙語話中國歷史名人 第83期:徐霞客

Xu Xiake (1587~1641) was a descriptive Ming Chinese travel writer and geographer noted for his bravery and humility.

徐霞客(1587~1641)，地理學家、旅行家和文學家，以勇敢謙遜著稱。

He visited southwestern China extensively for years.

他花了很多年在西南地區考察。

With an ancestry in Jiangxi, he was born Xu Hongzu, as the second son of Xu Yu'an and Wang Ruren.

徐霞客祖籍江西，名宏祖，徐豫庵和王孺人的第二個兒子。

It was often commented that it was his mother's encouragement to travel that shaped Xu's predilections.

人們常說是他母親的鼓勵形成了徐霞客的愛好。

His sobriquet is Zhenzhi.

徐霞客字振之。

Xiake was an alternate sobriquet given to him by his friend Chen Jiru and it means "one who is in the sunset clouds".

霞客是他的朋友陳繼儒給他的取的號，意思是“日落時的彩霞中的人”。

His other friend, Huang Daozhou, also gave Xu an alternate sobriquef: Xiayi, meaning "untrammelled in the sunset clouds".

他的另外一個朋友黃道周也給他取了個號:霞逸，意思是“在日落時的彩霞中無拘無束”。

Xu Xiake, after 30 years of traveling, wrote many travel diaries on famous mountains and other places, with a total of 600 000 characters.

徐霞客遊歷30年，寫了60萬字的遊記。

After his death, these diaries were compiled into a book called The Travel Diaries of Xa Xiake.

他去世後，這些遊記經後人整理成書，就是著名的《徐霞客遊記》。

The book is mainly about his observation during his travel from 1613 to 1639 and provides detailed records of geography, hydrology, geology, and plants.

《徐霞客遊記》主要記述了他在1613年至1639年遊歷期間的觀察結果，提供了有關地理學、水文學、地質學和植物的詳細記錄。

The book is highly accomplished in both geography and literature.

《徐霞客遊記》既是地理名著又是文學佳作。

As a literary work, the book vividly portrays the landscapes amid narration, hence imbuing it with a strong real-life flavor. Through applying dynamic description and personification, the travel diaries were more delicate and paid more attention to details than did their predecessors, boasting a high artistic and aesthetic value.

作爲文學作品，《徐霞客遊記》於敘事過程中穿插生動的風景描寫，具有強烈的現實意味，使用了動態的描述和象徵，比原來的同類作品更加精緻、更注意細節，具有很高的藝術價值和審美價值。

Besides, a large glossary and rich rhetoric techniques were employed to express the author's feelings.

而且，作者爲了表情達意應用了大量的術語和修辭技巧。

While recording his travel experiences in his diaries, Xu Xiake also related the lives and customs of local people as well as the distribution of ethnic minority groups, which was seldom seen in official history.

在記錄旅遊經歷的同時，徐霞客還記下了少數民族的分佈情況以及當地人民的生活和習俗，這些在正史裏是很難見到的。

Hence, this book is also valuable in the study of history and nationalities.

所以《徐霞客遊記》對研究歷史和民族也很有價值。