Xu And Lijiang Local Culture Study

Xu's Travel Notes, which now is considered as the epitome of travel notes in Chinese history, records the famous traveler Xu Xiake's 33-year tours in the Ming Dynasty. Xu began his travels at the age of 22, and, during the later 33 years, his footprints covered 19 provinces of China, leaving us with his travel notes of 600 thousand words of his difficult tours of observations. Xu had his special status in history: his book is regarded as one of the 20 masterpieces representing Chinese culture, and he has its name on the list of 40 celebrities in modern and ancient times.Xu spent his rest years traveling in southwestern China. He developed a close friendship with Mu Zeng, the chief of Naxi People in Lijiang, and made his vivid descriptions of Lijiang during his stay. Though up to date Lijiang has its honor of three titles of "World Relics", there had been few words about it in Chinese historical books before Xu Xiake. Staying at Lijiang for 16 days, Xu wrote down about 10 thousand words and vividly depicted various aspects of life and production in Lijiang in the later period of the Ming Dynasty, which later became an important material for Lijiang's application for the titles of "World Relics". With the rapid development of Lijiang's economy, further research on the parts about Lijiang in Xu's Travel Notes will certainly advance the exploitation of the local culture in Lijiang.Based on previous studies and threaded with Xu's travel in Lijiang,this thesis concentrates on his observations and his contributions to the local culture of Lijiang. It consists of the following four parts:The first part makes a brief review of previous studies on Xu Xiake, which has developed into a new discipline in history studies. It reviews the Xu's biography, the difficult and enduring production of his travel notes and previous achievements on Xu Xiake.The second part focuses on Xu's travels in Lijiang, covering the reason for his travel to Lijiang, the process of his tour in Lijiang and some information about Mu Zeng, the chief of Naxi People. Then it makes a review of previous studies on the parts about Lijiang and analyzes the value of the present study in four aspects.The third part is the body of the thesis. Based on Xu's descriptions of Lijiang's culture, this thesis discusses the cultural communication between Xu Xiake and Mu Zeng from five perspectives: the strict and complete administration system By Mu Chieftains, the local surnames of Naxi People at that time, the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism in Lijiang, the identification of place names and the diet customs mentioned in Xu's Travel Notes. Further, the thesis points out the positive significance of Xu's Travel Notes in Lijiang's application for the titles of "World Relics", the reconstruction of Mu Mansion and the protection of "Moksa Woods" (a Buddhist relic).The rest part first explores the demonstrational role of Xu's heroicbehavior to Chinese People's spirit and then analyzes Xu's four regrets in Lijiang, offering some suggestions for future studies.The booming of Lijiang's tourism, on the one hand, owes to its unique geographical environment, on the other, the profound cultural prestige in Lijiang, particularly Naxi Culture. The present popular saying, "culture is the foundation and economy is the goal", vividly reveals the relationship between tourism and culture. The development of Lijiang's tourism has taken advantage of its access into the list of "World Relics," and "The Ancient Lijiang City" and "Dongba Culture of Naxi People" are strong supports for its tourism. The purpose of the present study is to exploit the tourist resources and enrich Lijiang tourist market so that a continuous development can be achieved in Lijiang.