Cultural Changes Reflected from the Travel Concept of the Scholars in the Late M

Abstract. The period of the late Ming dynasty can be praised as the most prosperous travel time of scholars in the history of China. During the period of the late Ming dynasty， the violent changes of social politics and economic structure made the scholar class' life outlook and value changed fiercely， and they begun to lay emphasis on open freedom and material/spiritual enjoyments and also cultivate both body and mind through travel activities. In the violent changes of the society， the tourism concept of the scholars in the late Ming dynasty gives a reflection to the unique meaning of the times， namely containing the cultural changes of both ideology and politics.

Key words： The Late Ming Dynasty； the Scholar Class； Travel Concept； Cultural Changes

Since the late Ming dynasty， the corrupted and dark government and the low admission rate of the imperial examination system had made the ability of the government in controlling scholars weakened， while the separation and unbalance of the whole scholar class with the acquaintanceship of the government had forced them to seek self-esteem and happiness only in travel activities. To the late Ming dynasty period， a stream of humanism enlightenment thought finally emerged in the feudal society. The enlightenment thought reflected a cultural meaning different from the previous time and made the value and life outlook of the scholar class changed， and thus the behavior way of the scholar class was influenced and also a travel boom was born among the scholars in the late Ming dynasty. Progressive thinkers such as Zhi LI called to dispel the darkness of reality with rational sunshine， oppose despotism， pursue equality， and value the truth and individuality liberation. All these provide fertile soil for the cultural changes.

1. Ideology Cultural Changes Reflected from the Travel Concept of the Scholars in the Late Ming Dynasty

The travel concept of the scholars in the late Ming dynasty gives a full reflection to the ideological and cultural changes. These scholars were passionate with travels and enjoying the natural world， but their difference from the traditional scholars was that they were not bounded by secular things and desired to meet the spiritual needs in the process of travel the scenic spots. In the ruling years of Emperor Wanli， Hongdao YUAN， a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination and also the leader of WU County of Jiangsu Province， used to say， "Dying in a pile of cold stone was better than dying on a warm bed" [1]1144. This was enough to reflect the enthusiasm of Hongdao YUAN in travel. He hoped to enjoy the favors from the natural world in travel， but not to be bounded by official circles. He mentioned， in the Book Written with Dun WU， that a phoenix would not enjoy the same nest with an ordinary bird； a Kylin would not work with an ordinary horse； a real man could live alone in the world and make his own ears comfortable， so he would not let others laugh or cry and contain his nose and head [2]253； a male parrot naturally loved mountains more than a golden cage fettering its body； a turtledove would be opposite to its natural instinct if it died in a rice beam but not in barren mountain and weed. Therefore， it can be known that animals can allow them to live comfortably， but how do persons live in the fetters and handcuffs of dresses and official's salary？ All these can be sniffed for a person actually [3]127. Moreover， Hongdao YUAN， in the letter of inviting his friend Changru QIU to have a travel， also expressed his infinite love for travel： "I do not have enough money to present you travelling in a foreign land， but you have alcoholic drink and tea in hands to enjoy beautiful Lake Taihu to travel， stones at Lake Tongting to climb， so you will not feel lonely" [4]96. This can fully prove that he paid more attention to spiritual pursuit and desired to seek self-esteem in the process of touring mountains and rivers. Therefore， unconstrained life full of energy and unique character was the ultimate goal pursued by Hongdao YUAN， and this was greatly different from the attitude of the traditional scholars.

Similar to Hongdao YUAN， Siren WANG a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination and a writer in the late Ming dynasty， hoped to leave home and go sightseeing for enjoying mountains and rivers and fully gaining a spiritual satisfaction. This reflects the supreme pursuit of Siren WANG in beautiful sceneries of monuments. He thought， "I feel I am like children to stay at home and have courage to go out， so I am a bee inferior to fish and bird， and feel not only betrayed to the natural life and also shamed when seeing great mountains". Later， Siren WANG named his travel notes in east Zhejiang with Calling Travel， and thought a man could not live without travel and also the significance of touring the beautiful sceneries of monuments to life was much greater than money and power.

Among the enlightenment thoughts in the late Ming dynasty， free and open awareness guided the behavior ways of the scholars and also gave them a transcendental spiritual realm. For example， Xiake XU and Siren WANG not only owned travel experience of multiple aspects， but also made deep researches on the travel places. Xiake XU， famous sightseer， departed from the traditional concept （i.e. Do not travel far if parents are alive） of thousands of years， so he left his mother and home for 30 years to keep away from secular ideas and travel for long tours. Meanwhile， he was one of the very few examples not receiving governmental subsidies. Therefore， his actions did not accord with official ways， so paths and delicious food might be unnecessary for his climbing and wading； he would jump and crouch to the extremely endangered top of a mountain； at the remote hole， he would try all means to escape from it even though there were snakes； he slept between trees and stones without thinking the poor ways and regretting his travel； if feeling hunger， he had grass as food without sheltering from wind and rain， fearing of tiger and wolf， fussing about travel period， and seeking a partner， but only insisted on travel according to his own idea and body. Therefore， since ancient times， only he achieved [5]378.

Similarly， Lu ZHANG， landscape painter in the late Ming dynasty， possessed a very deep feeling on the grass and trees in the natural world. He spent a lot of time on travel for better painting works. It was recorded that in east China， he traveled frequently at sea and high mountains， enjoyed the sight of sunrise， visited the hometown of Confucius； in south China， he traveled at rivers and lakes， walked on JIN Mountain and JIAO Mountain， and explored YU Hole； therefore， he was deeply touched by the changing-over conditions （e.g. high mountain and rock， fierce spring， crossed trees and stones， and happy swimming of fish） of all in the world， and then he was deeply lost in these things for a long time and made good ideas for writing the infinite things in the world [6]65.

From the above analysis， it can be seen that the ideology of the scholar class in the late Ming dynasty had been changed essentially. That is， their pursuit of being an official was gradually weakened， but their pursuit of new things was more urgent apparently. Ultimately， the vision field of scholars was broadened by travel activities， and the scholars were promoted to attain content in spirit.

2. Politics Cultural Changes Reflected from the Travel Concept of the Scholars in the Late Ming Dynasty

In the early Ming dynasty， CHENG and ZHU's Neo-Confucianism tool the dominant position in the ideological circle， and the "Four Books （the Great Learning， the Doctrine of the Mean， the Analects of Confucius， and Mencius）" and the "Five Classics" annotated by Xi ZHU were the works officially assigned by the government and the criterion for admitting new officials in imperial examination. After the middle Ming dynasty， social conflicts gradually became acute and all kinds of crisis were deepened， and the darkness in governmental official circle made a great number of scholars unintentional in the prospect of being a governmental official so that the admission rate of the imperial examination was very low. The ruthless eunuchs and blades were on a rampage in society. Therefore， the scholar class was forced to be faced with deposal， exile， court beating and even the survival crisis of being executed to death. In addition， the idle administration of emperor， the fierce factionalism， the unrest political situation， blood rain and malicious wind， and the falling verge of Ming society forced the scholars in the late Ming Dynasty to be in a very sorrow social environment. Therefore， they tried to defend their life values and go against the alienation of society on human nature through using recessive rebellion practices.

The travel concept of the scholars in the late Ming dynasty gives a full reflection to the politics cultural changes. Due to political darkness， a great number of talented scholars were rejected by the government， and fell in low spirits after dedicating themselves to the service of their country. Then， they began to keep far away from politics and make a sightseeing tour， but no longer make efforts to chasing fame. In the process of travel， power and interests seemed to be the external things of the scholar class. The special political environment forced the scholars in the late Ming dynasty to experience and consider the meaning and value of life. Xiake XU， famous sightseer， did not feel any interest in the "Four Books" and "Five Classics" since the youth. What he cared about was "the ancient books about topography， mountain and sea maps， and everything about great travel actions". This idea promoted him to abandon the pursuit of high official positions and richness and set up the ambition of traveling in the world. It was recorded that a real man should be ambitious about the great natural world for witnessing the wonderful sea and beautiful mountains， but not limited by his small home； if a man only desired for the unrealistic goals in the face of actual situation， how could him own a greater pursuit？ Therefore， the indifferent attitude of Xiake XU toward politics and official prospect promoted him to engage in travel investigations in the whole life and always keep indomitable even if he encountered all sorts of unpredictable difficulties.

Similar to Xiake XU， most scholars in the late Ming dynasty kept an indifferent attitude toward high official positions and richness and were addicted in travel among mountains and rivers. Sheng HUANG used to prepare for taking imperial examination in the capital of the Ming dynasty， but met with Rucheng TIAN. Therefore， Mr. TIAN greatly talked about the beauty of the West Lake to HUANG， and HUANG was touched and promoted to forget the imperial examination. Then， HUANG was whole-hearted to travel around the beautiful West Lake and felt no tired in a few months， and also called himself as "the man in the Five Mountains". Thus， Rucheng TIAN described Sheng HUANG as "mountain man"， praised him to only love mountains and rivers without caring about fame， and thought the poorness of Sheng HUANG became very wonderful after travelling among mountains and rivers with a shin body and encountering many kinds of dangers.

In the late Ming dynasty， official tasks were assigned to the scholars. However， in the condition of political darkness and hopeless official prospect， what these scholars pursued was the free liberation of mind and soul， while travel was an enjoyment in soul and also the solace and liberation in spirit. Siren WANG travelled at SONG Mountain during the break of official business when being the leader of a county， and also went to many famous mountains such as TAI Mountain， HUA Mountain， and HENG Mountain after receiving official tasks at other places. Xiyan QIAN used to say the previous identity of Siren WANG was an old monk in Emei Mountain to love travel very much.

However， it can also be seen that the travel activities of the scholars in the late Ming dynasty were a reflection for them to escape from reality. Hongdao YUAN was keen to travel in the whole life， and a great amount of contents criticizing the political reality were contained in his travel notes； he proposed the theory of natural disposition and intelligence and pursued the liberation of ideas and personality. Moreover， Hongdao YUAN seemed not to care about the political corruption as well as internal and external problems in the late Ming dynasty， and therefore he climbed the Tiger Hill for six times when governing the WU County for two years. This seemed to contain the same cultural implication with Siren WANG to travel the Five Mountains. This choice could be explained as a helpless to internal and external problems in the late Ming dynasty. However， the scholar in the late Ming dynasty was not blindly addicted in mountains and rivers. On the contrary， they possessed the unique moral integrity of the scholar class. Siren WANG was a typical example， and he used to say that the feelings from great mountains， land， sky and rivers were immortal. Siren WANG greatly hated treacherous court officials who endangered the dynasty， and therefore died after going on a hunger strike when the militaries of the QING Dynasty conquered Shaoxing.

3. Conclusion

In the history of China， the scholars passionate on travel were numerous. However， the most travel notes were produced in the late Ming dynasty compared with other dynasties. The travel concept contained in these travel notes gives a reflection to the cultural changes of the society in the late Ming dynasty.

As a Chinese saying goes， reading a million books is like traveling a million miles. Therefore， the scholars in the late Ming dynasty attained spiritual satisfaction as well as an expansion in self-consciousness. However， in the travel boom， famous sightseers such as Xiake XU， Shizhen LI， Guangqi XU， Siren WANG， and Hongdao YUAN were cultivated； they were keen to exploring the natural world， thus promoting their life value to be realized in the cultural changes during the period of severe social rage. Therefore， it is said that enlightenment thought brought a cultural attitude and a value orientation different from those of previous people to the scholars in the late Ming dynasty. In the process of cultural changes， the scholars began to advocate a free and open attitude towards life. They were indifferent to fame and wealth and addicted in travel. However， the root of the feudal system had been very deep. Therefore， the scholars in the late Ming dynasty could not raise a powerful ideological emancipation trend， and also could not promote the transformation of the feudal social system.

References

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