Xu Xiake's Geographical Investigation Of Yunnan Buddhist Temples

Xu Xiake is a great traveler,geologist,historian,and writer in the Ming Dynasty of China.His life is"questing for famous mountains and rivers","painting the famous mountains and waters in the world as annals",and he is regarded as"A magical man forever".The book"Xu Xiake's Travels"is known as the"Magical Book forever."Xu Xiake's travel in Yunnan lasted for one year and nine months.His book“Traveling Diary of Yunnan”has more than 250,000 words and is rich in content.It records 191 buddhist temples in Yunnan.The thesis uses these buddhist temples as clues to discuss their geographical distribution and Xu Xiake's geographical exploration activities in its surroundings.The thesis mainly includes the following aspects:The first chapter is about the development of Buddhist temples in Yunnan before the end of the Ming Dynasty.The thesis briefly describes Chinese Buddhism,Tibetan Buddhism,Theravada Buddhism and Nuozha's Esoteric Buddhism's growing up time in Yunnan.Buddhism was introduced to Yunnan during the Tang Dynasty,because it was received by the local governors and people,the buddhist temples in Yunnan reached the early stage in the Dali period,was further developed in the Yuan Dynasty,and reached its prosperity in the Ming Dynasty.The second chapter is about the Yunnan buddhist temples recorded by Xu Xiake and their geographical distribution.By comparing the buddhist temples recorded in the Dian Annals,the distribution of 191 buddhist temples recorded in the Traveling Diary of Yunnan is analyzed.For a macro perspective,these buddhist temples are distributed in the east,south,middle,west,northwest and southwest of Yunnan.The west is the most widely distributed,followed by the middle of the mountain.For the micro view,these buddhist temples involve the 12 provinces of Yunnan,and 11 states and counties.Binchuan is the most,the second is in Tengyue,Dali,and Yunnan.The third chapter is about the achievements of Xu Xiake's geographical investigation of buddhist temples in the east,south,middle of Yunnan.In most cases,Xu Xiake ' s southwestern levy was carried out by feet and eyes.This chapter is based on the Traveling Diary of Yunnan,with the help of local records and other materials,the geographical location and environment of buddhist temples are examined according to Xu Xiake's records,and Xu Xiake's geographical investigation of buddhist temples in east,south,middle of Yunnan is summarized.The fourth chapter is about the achievements of Xu Xiake's geographical investigation on Dali and Yongchang buddhist temples.Jizu Mountain is the fifth most famous buddhist mountain for its buddhist temples.Xu Xiake recorded about 30 temples,21 buddhist convents.20 quiet rooms,3 tower courts.3 halls,2 huts,3 courts,2 xuan in Jizu Mountain.Combined with Jizu Mountain Annals in Kangxi,the Traveling Diary of Yunnan's geographical location of these buddhist temples are restored.It sums up a series of geographical investigation activities of Xu Xiake in Dali,Yongchang buddhist temples and its surroundings.