Xu Xiake (1586- 164 1) was a geographer in Ming Dynasty. Ming Hongzu, whose real name is Zhenzhi, was born in Xiake, Jiangyin (now Jiangsu). When I was young, I was fond of learning, reading, classics and geography. In 2002, he abandoned the imperial examination and traveled all over the famous mountains and rivers. He traveled far and wide in northern Yan, Jin, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi and other places, and made preparations for hardships and obstacles, and recorded his observations every day. My goal is to study its formation, hydrology, geology and plants. After his death, Ji compiled it into Travel Notes of Xu Xiake.

Xu Xiake lived in a wealthy gentry family and received a good family education since childhood. He has been fond of reading books such as history, geography and travel notes since he was a child. Thirty-five years of Wanli (AD 1607) was the beginning of Xu Xiake's travel career. At this time, Xu Xiake was bloody, only 22 years old. For more than 30 years, Xu Xiake traveled almost every year. He started from Yanji in the north, went to Fujian and Guangdong in the south, climbed to the top of Taihua in the northwest, and reached the junction of Yunnan and Guizhou in the southwest, covering the then 14 province, that is, the present Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan 16 provinces and Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and other places.