1、1Cultural Changes Reflected from the Travel Concept of the Scholars in the Late Ming DynastyAbstract. 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 p
2、olitics 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
3、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 d
4、ark 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 2unbalance of the whole scholar class with the acquaintanceship of the government had forced them to seek self-esteem and hap
5、piness 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 change
6、d， 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 an
7、d 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 cult
8、ural 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 3the scenic spots. In the ruling years of Emp
9、eror 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“ 11144. This was enough to reflect the enthusiasm of Hongdao YUAN in travel. He h
10、oped 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 w
11、orld and make his own ears comfortable， so he would not let others laugh or cry and contain his nose and head 2253； 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 m
12、ountain 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 officials salary？ All these can be sniffed for a person actually 3127. Moreover， Hongdao YUAN， in the letter of inviting his friend Changr
13、u QIU to have a travel， also expressed his infinite love for 4travel： “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“ 496. Th
14、is 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
15、 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 refle
16、cts 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， S
17、iren 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 5sceneries of monuments to life was much greater than money and power. Among the enlightenment thoughts in the late Ming dynasty，
18、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 fr
19、om 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 a
20、ctions 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
21、 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 6partner， but only insisted on travel according to his own idea and body. T
22、herefore， since ancient times， only he achieved 5378. 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 travele
23、d 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 mounta
24、in 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 665. From the above analysis， it can be seen that the ideology of the sc
25、holar 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 7scholars were promo
26、ted 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 ZHUs Neo-Confucianism tool the dominant position in the ideological circle， and the “Four Books （the Great Learning， the Doctr
27、ine 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
28、 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 i
29、n 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
30、falling verge of Ming society forced the scholars in 8the 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 sch
31、olars 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 a
32、way 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 th
33、e 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 abando
34、n 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 9great natural world for witnessing the wonderful sea and beautiful mountains， but not limited by his small home； if a man only desir
35、ed 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 encountere
36、d 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 c
37、apital 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 f
38、ew 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 1
39、0and 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 tra
40、vel 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 offic
41、ial 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
42、 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
