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243
ACTA CARSOLOGICA 32/1 17 243-254 LJUBLJANA 2003
COBISS: 1.01
Prejeto / received: 22. 4. 2002
1
Karst Research Institute, ZRC SAZU, Titov trg 2, SI-6230 POSTOJNA, SLOVENIA
e-mail: natasa.ravbar@zrc-sazu.si
THE EARLIEST CHINESE KARSTOLOGIST XU XIAKE
PRVI KITAJSKI KRASOSLOVEC XU XIAKE
NATA©A RAVBAR1
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244
Abstract UDC: 551.44(510)(091)
Nataπa Ravbar: The earliest Chinese karstologist Xu Xiake
The first real scientific exploration of karst and karst caves in south China was undertaken by Xu Xiake (1587
- 1641). Chinese karst was studied by Xu Xiake for more than thirty years. He described his journeys to
almost half of the territory of the Ming dynasty in his book ≈Xu Xiake’s travels« (≈Xu Xiake youji«), that
was first published in 1642. He dedicated a lot of time to the research of the underground world by describing
subterranean rivers and lakes as water resources. He also made ground plans of some caves, marked their
entrances and described different shapes of speleothems. He first described different ways of climbing in
caves and methods for cave research. Altogether he visited over 300 caves. Xu Xiake first described different
types of the tropical karst and focused on the characteristics and reasons of the tower hills origin. He intro-
duced the term fenglin (peak forest), which is still used in the scientific literature. However, he is not only the
father of the modern speleology, karstology, geomorphology and geography in the Chinese scale but in a
worldwide sense.
Key words: history of karstology, history of speleology, Xu Xiake, China.
IzvleËek UDK: 551.44(510)(091)
Nataπa Ravbar: Prvi kitajski krasoslovec Xu Xiake
Prvega pravega znanstvenega raziskovanja krasa in jam na obmoËju juæne Kitajske se je lotil Xu Xiake (1587
- 1641). Kras je prouËeval veË kot trideset let ter obiskal preko 300 jam. Svoja popotovanja po skoraj polovici
ozemlja tedanjega kitajskega cesarstva je opisal v knjigi ≈Xu Xiakejeva potovanja« (≈Xu Xiake youji«), ki je
bila prviË objavljena leta 1642. Velja za najzgodnejπe razprave o krasu in je napisana v obliki dnevnih zapiskov.
Opisal je podzemne reke in jezera, vodne vire, narisal je tlorise nekaterih jam in zabeleæil njihove vhode ter
opisal razliËne oblike speleotemov, naËine plezanja po jamah in metode raziskovanja jam. Prvi je opisal
razliËne tipe tropskega krasa ter se osredotoËil na znaËilnosti in vzroke nastanka stolpastih vzpetin. V literaturo
je vpeljal izraz fēnglín (gozd vrhov). Zato Xu Xiake ni oËe moderne speleologije, krasoslovja, geomorfologije
in geografije le v kitajskem merilu, temveË tudi v svetovnem.
KljuËne besede: zgodovina krasoslovja, zgodovina speleologije, Xu Xiake, Kitajska.
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245
KARST IN CHINA
China has the largest karst areas in the world. They are so diverse that one can find almost all
sub-types of the karst phenomena there. The areas of carbonate rock extend over one seventh of
the state territory, which makes up to 1.250,000 km
2
(Zhang 1980; Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995),
and amounts to approximately one fourth of all carbonate rock areas in the world.
Karst areas are developed from the coral reefs at the 7° N up to Xiao Hinggan mountains at
the 48° N, from Pamir at the 74° W to the Taiwan islands at the 121° E. Karst surface expands
from the atolls of the South China sea up to the high mountains and plateaus of Tibet and Hima-
layas. The most distinct features are on the Shanxi province plateau on the north and on the
Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau on the southwest of the country (Yuan 1991).
The most important karst types in China are tropical and subtropical karst in the south and
southwest of China, karst in the temperate semi-arid region in the north, and high mountain and
plateau karst in the west of China. In addition there is coastal and isolated karst in the dry temper-
ate and humid temperate belt.
The most widely developed karst phenomena lie within the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou
and Guangxi in the southern and southwestern part of China, where tropic and subtropic karst
prevail. This area covers more than 320,000 km
2
. The main landscape features in the tropic and
subtropic monsoon climate are cones and pillars, rising over the alluvial valleys, plateaus with
deep river canyons among them, sharp karrens in stone forests, terra rosa, long caves and large
speleothems. Karst of the temperate semi-dry climate in the north stretches in the provinces Shanxi,
Hebei, western Henan, central Shandong and west of the Weihe River in the Shaanxi province,
and is normally covered by loess. Alpine karst and plateau karst appear on the Tibetan (Qinghai-
Xizang) plateau and surrounding hills in the western Sichuan and Yunnan province and also in
the Kunlun Mountains. Karst features appear above the upper forest line at the elevation of 4,000
- 5,000 meters (Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995).
THE HISTORY OF KARST RESEARCH
THE CHINESE AND WESTERN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT KARST UNTIL
THE 17
th
CENTURY
The beginning of the development of the Chinese civilization in what is today called Chinese
territory, in Chinese Zhongguo (the country of the middle), goes back to the Neolithic age, when
the settlements in the Huang He valley started. Although, the region of the southern China, where
the vastest karst areas appear, was colonized later than the central part between the rivers Chang
Jiang and Huang He, the karst phenomena were known very early (Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995).
The people were inhabiting the karst caves already in early prehistoric times and have left many
traces there. People used to live in caves because of convenient local climate and protection.
However, caves were less attractive for the people in the tropics than for those living in the
temperate and arid climate.
Discoveries of human remains in the caves are important material evidences about human
development. They were protected against decomposition and outer impact by the constant cave
Nataπa Ravbar: The earliest Chinese karstologist Xu Xiake
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climate and cave sediments. Many archaeological sites of Sinanthropus are found near Liuzhou in
Guangxi province, in the caves of Yunnan and Guizhou province (Yuan 1991). The ancestor of
the Chinese is the so-called Peking man (Sinanthropus pekinensis), whose traces originate from
the Mindel-Riss period (before 200,000 - 300,000 years ago). The name of Peking man originates
from the first archaeological site in a karst cave, called Zhoukou dian cave in the vicinity of
Peking, where many skull pieces have been found. First explorations took place in 1924, when
the skulls were excavated 70 meters deep below the todays’ surface. Peking man already knew
how to use tools for tilling and how to use fire. Scientists believe that the Peking man lived more
than 500,000 years ago. Unfortunately, the original remains, except the teeth, have been secretly
lost during the war and only copies remain (Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995; KovaË 2001).
The caves have always represented holy places, where different cults have been worshiped.
Temples and statues in the caves are reported from the whole South and East Asia. This is why
Fig. 1: Map of Jiuyi Mountains in Hunan province was drawn in 168 BC - world’s oldest picture
of the peak forest and the oldest coloured silk map in China (Xu Xiake yanjiu wenji [Anthology of
Xu Xiake’s studies] 1986).
Sl. 1: Zemljevid gorovja Jiuyi v provinci Hunan iz leta 168 pr. n. πt. - prvi prikaz stolpastega
krasa na svetu in hkrati najstarejπi barvni zemljevid na Kitajskem, narisan na svilo (Xu Xiake
yanjiu wenji [Zbrana dela o Xu Xiakejevih raziskovanjih] 1986).
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247
easily accessible caves are full of cultural objects and coins. Today in some places caves with the
flowing water represent sources of drinking water.
Karstology in China has a long tradition. At the beginning the interest for nature and its
phenomena prevailed. Special landscape features attracted great attention, but karst as a complex
phenomenon was not yet known. A book about the caves in northern China has been written even
before 221 BC. In the Mawangdui tomb from Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AC) a map of Jiuyi
Mountains in Hunan province was discovered (Fig. 1). It is most probable, that this map was
painted in 168 BC and is the world’s oldest picture of the peak forest and also the oldest coloured
silk map in China (Ren 1984; Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995).
In the same time, the ancient Greeks and Romans were already well acquainted with karst
phenomenon, both from mythology and everyday life. In the literature karst springs are described
very early, because they were important for drinking water supply. Water from the Timavo river
springs in the vicinity of Trieste has also been used to provide drinking water for ships that were
sailing across the northern Adriatic. They were first mentioned in the 4
th
century BC, when they
were described in the nautical guides. Posidonius (135 - 50 BC) studied them in correlation with
the tides and observed the ponor Reka in the ©kocjanske jame caves. Virgil (70 - 19 BC) men-
tioned these springs in his work Aeneid as well (Kranjc 1997).
Chinese civilization was one of the first that started irrigating karst poljes and using karst
springs for capture (Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995). Karst springs in northern China were usefully
exploited for water supply and irrigation very early, which is evidenced by the records on the
turtle shell and bones from the Shang dynasty (16
th
- 11
th
century BC). Jinci karst springs in
Shanxi province have been used for irrigation in 453 BC and were mentioned in the Mountain
Scripture that was written in the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC). It describes many caves,
ponors and underground flows, water springs and other karst phenomena (Yuan 1991). The
Hongshan spring, southwest of the Taiyuan city in the Shanxi province was used in the Song
dynasty (960 - 1279). The rock-sculptured record indicates that the capture of the water was done
between 1040 - 1090. The water was used for irrigation of the 15,200 mu (approximately 1013
ha) of tilling land (Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995). The notes on the cave walls that are in many
places covered with sediments are common in whole China since Sui dynasty (581 - 618) until
Qing dynasty (1644-1912) (Sweeting 1995).
The beauties of Guilin had been appreciated in the early Qin dynasty (221 - 206 BC), when
the first Chinese emperor Qinshi Huang ordered the building of the water channel connecting two
rivers - Chang Jiang and Zhu Jiang. Crossroads near Guilin account for the quick development of
a small village called Shian until the year 111 BC, to develop into a town. From the times of the
Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644) to 1914 Guilin was the capital of Guangxi province as well, but later
it was moved to Nanjing (Sweeting 1995). Geographer Li Daoyuan, who has been living in the
time of Northern Wei dynasty (386 - 534) has described Li Jiang River, Qixing Shan Mountains
and other karst phenomena from this area, such as karst springs, in his book Shui Qingchu. He has
also visited some caves and in his book he has mentioned cave pearls.
Also cave tourism developed very early in China, as the earliest sources about visiting the
cave Qixing dong in the vicinity of Guilin are of the year 590. The natural beauties of Guilin
inspired many poets, painters and other artists for centuries. There will never be enough or too
much verse and paintings that could describe how spectacular this landscape is. Many national
poems sing about “Guilin and Yangshuo being the most gorgeous spot on the Earth”. In 827 the
Nataπa Ravbar: The earliest Chinese karstologist Xu Xiake
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poet Liu Zongyuan explained in rhyme the origin of the peaks that have the shape of bamboo
shoots, the origin of the caves at their foot and the origin of stalagmites (Zhu 1988; Sweeting
1995). The book from the Tang dynasty (618 - 907), published in 899, describes many pictur-
esque places and caves near Guilin (Sweeting 1995).
While medieval Europe had fallen asleep from the karst research point of view, and the knowl-
edge of Classical karst was reposing mainly on antique sources, the Chinese were already inter-
ested in reasons of karst phenomena appearance. Fan Chengda from Song dynasty was the first to
explain the origin of stalactites. In 1175 he wrote: ”Milk water in the cave is constantly dripping
and at the same time the process of condensation occurs.” He also wrote, that stalactites are
hollow in the middle and that they are like a goose feather. This explanation is followed by: ”Milk
covering, white as snow, originates with condensation of stony solution.” (Zhu 1988). There were
also discussions about cave climate (Sweeting 1995).
The earliest literature describing the wonders of the nature in Shilin stone forest was written
in 1382. It was followed by scarce records of the local historical events in that area. In 1614 some
research has been accomplished in the Ziyun cave, that had later also been visited by the famous
speleologist Xu Xiake (Kranjc & Liu 2001).
THE CHINESE KARSTOLOGIST XU XIAKE
The first real scientific exploration of karst and karst caves in south China had been under-
taken by Xu Xiake (1587 - 1641). He was born in Jiangsu province, in a family of intellectuals,
which is why he was very well educated and had a fairly easy access to the scientific books.
He lived in the time of Ming dynasty collapse, with widespread corruption in the empire,
economic collapse and financial crisis. The court was prodigal, officials corrupt, and workers and
farmers discontented because of additional taxes. There was also a nation-wide rejection of the
examinations for the officials among the intellectuals. Xu Xiake was not interested in having a
career as an official. He decided rather for the exploring and traveling across his own country.
In the year of 1636 he started his four year journey to study thoroughly geomorphologic and
underground features of the karst landscape in southern and southwestern China. Accompanied
by his servant he visited Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, where car-
bonate rocks cover more than 500,000 km
2
(Fig. 2). Afterwards he became very sick and was
forced to return home, where he died the next year.
Chinese karst was studied by Xu Xiake for more than thirty years. As a pioneer of Chinese
speleology he had visited over 300 caves, more than any of his predecessors or contemporaries
worldwide. He had described his journeys to almost half of the territory of the Ming dynasty in
his book ≈Xu Xiake’s travels« (≈Xu Xiake youji«), that was first published in 1642. This book is
considered as the earliest discussion about karst and was written as daily notes. It represents a
diary of his trips, where he has noted all his observations. Beside his speculations about
geomorphology, speleology and biology, he described the history of karstology and speleology in
China as well. He dedicated a lot of time to the research of the underground world by describing
subterranean rivers, lakes, and water resources. He has also made ground plans of some caves,
marked their entrances and described different shapes of speleothems. He first described different
ways of climbing in caves and methods for cave research.
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249
Fig. 2: Xu Xiake’s travel in Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces (based
on Microsoft Encarta World Atlas, 1998, drawn by N. Ravbar).
Legend: 1. Xu Xiake’s journey, 2. city, 3. country’s border, 4. Chang Jiang River.
Sl. 2: Xu Xiakejevo popotovanje po provincah Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou in Yunnan
(na podlagi Microsoft Encarta World Atlas, 1998, sestavila N. Ravbar).
Legenda: 1. Xu Xiakejevo popotovanje, 2. mesto, 3. dræavna meja, 4. reka Chang Jiang.
Xu Xiake tackled his observations with a great amount of doubt in the interpretations that
were used at that time. He was very studious and curious. One can read his notes more as a work
of a researcher from the 20
th
century, than notes of a scolar from the 17
th
century (Hu 1991). This
worldwide masterpiece contains more than 600,000 characters (about 1500 pages) and describes
karst geomorphology and caves in south China very carefully. ≈Xu Xiake’s travels« were very
accurate for the time of Ming dynasty and presented detailed descriptions of the caves that Xu
Xiake had visited. In 1982 the book has been reprinted in classical Chinese (Sweeting 1995).
European research about the karst landscape origin has developed independently of research
in China and there have been no contacts between the two. The progress in exploration in the
West was reached in the late 15
th
century, when first descriptions about the underground world
from the geographical, geomorphological and geological point of view appeared. These are also
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the basic topics of the ≈Xu
Xiake’s travels«. However, Xu
Xiake is not only the father of
the modern speleology,
karstology, geomorphology and
geography in the Chinese scale,
but in a worldwide sense.
Xu Xiake was the first to de-
scribe different types of the
tropical karst and focused on the
characteristics and origins of the
tower hills. He introduced the
term fenglin (peak forest), which
is still used in the scientific lit-
erature. In 1637 he traveled in
the area of Guilin, where he vis-
ited more than hundred caves in
only 51 days (Sweeting 1995).
Xu Xiake described cone hills
fengcong. Fengcong can be
translated as peak cluster and is
represented by different forms of
elevations that rise from the
same foundation. They are inter-
Fig. 4: Chinese post stamp, published in 1987 at the 400
th
anniversary of Xu Xiake’s birth.
Sl. 4: Kitajska poπtna znamka, izdana leta 1987, ob 400.
obletnici Xu Xiakejevega rojstva.
Fig. 3: Xu Xiake’s statue in front of the Institute for geology
of karst in Guilin (Photo: N. Ravbar).
Sl. 3: Xu Xiakejev spomenik pred Inπtitutom za geologijo krasa
v Guilinu (Foto: N. Ravbar).
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251
rupted by intermediary depressions, valleys and dolines (Zhu 1988). Already 350 years ago Xu
Xiake noted that the stone mountains stretched in the area of south China from Luoping in Yunnan
province to Daoxian county in Hunnan province (Yuan 1991). He was also researching popula-
tion on karst, trying to explain meteorological and climatic phenomena, he introduced karst ter-
minology in the literature and suggested some methods of field research.
Xu Xiake traveled through other parts of China as well. He was particularly interested in river
stream and was one of the first that made cross sections of rivers and mountains. He was research-
ing the watershed and river system of the Chang Jiang River and reached its source by following
its stream upwards. In the same way he discovered the sources of the Xi Jiang River and proved
that the Mekong and the Salween rivers are two independent streams. Xu Xiake’s notes are pre-
served in 16 notebooks, which contain more than 690,000 characters (Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995).
Because he lived almost hundred years before J. V. Valvasor, and because his achievements in
many places surmount Valvasor’s observations in his ≈Die Ehre des Herzothums Krain«, Kranjc
worthily calls him “Chinese Valvasor” (Kranjc 1987).
Xu Xiake has a high reputation in his country. Many monuments have been set up in his
honor, one of which stands in front of the Institute for geology of karst in Guilin and one in front
of the Huangguoshu waterfalls in Guizhou province. In 1986-87 at the 400
th
anniversary of Xu
Xiake’s birth a symposium in his honor was held in Nanjing.
Even though the karst areas in China cover more than million km
2
, half of which is tropical
and subtropical karst in the south of the country, there have been no large and important re-
searches on the karst area done after Xu Xiake until the late 19
th
or early 20
th
century. In history
this exceptional landscape has delighted mostly poets and painters, who often depicted it. Karst
stone pillars with a couple of pines and a pavilion on the top remain one of the main tourist
attractions and the subject of the modern investigations.
The karst research in China started to develop in the early 20
th
century. Even though it has
been developing separately from the studies of karst in West, nevertheless many concepts and
results are nearly the same.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHINESE KARST IN THE WEST
The knowledge of China and its culture has never been easily accessible for us, not only
because of the geographical distance and relatively rare contacts in the past, but mainly because
of the language barrier. This is the reason Chinese geomorphologists are not able to express their
results of research and ideas in a form that would be comprehensible to the wider number of
karstologists who belong to other nations. The translations are very unsatisfactory and sparse.
Because of the civilization self-sufficient, self-contained Middle Kingdom and difficult access
foreign karstologists start to push on very late. It has been mostly terra incognita for them; this is
why the impressions of one or another have been strongly deformed by their wrong interpreta-
tions.
At the beginning of the new era interest in nature and natural phenomena in West has in-
creased again. Classical karst became known in particular, mainly because of the geopolitical
situation of that time, when the railway Vienna -Trieste over the Karst was built. Printings had an
important role in the popularization of Karst. By the end of the 18
th
century it has been understood
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that limestone solution is basic for karst and afterwards some of the most typical karst areas in
Europe were described.
Not before the end of the Chinese - Japanese war at the end of the 19
th
century and not before
the end of revolution in China, foreign scientists have been offered a few opportunities to explore
karst areas; especially they have been focusing on the archeological discoveries in the karst caves.
The karst in China, that is still striking special attention with the researchers all over the
world, was also described by J. CvijiÊ in his work “Das Karstphänomen” (CvijiÊ 1893), even
though he himself had never visited this part of karst.
Balazs related in his paper “Beiträge zur Speleologie des Südchinesischen Karstgebietes”,
that in the period between 1934 and 1938 altogether 86 caves from Asia had been registered, but
none of them from China, even though: “on the karst area of south China, cave paradise, is more
caves than in whole Europe together!” (Balazs 1962).
Very little has been known in Europe and North America about the conditions and origin of
the Chinese karst until the early 70’s, which is proved in the book “Important Karst Regions in
the Northern Hemisphere” from 1972. The most extensive karst regions in the Northern Hemi-
sphere (including south China) are not even mentioned (Herak & Stringfield 1972; Sweeting 1995).
In the ≈Atlas des grandes cavités mondiales«, that was published in 1986 and gives one of the
best reviews of the cave research worldwide, it is written that the biggest Chinese caves had been
visited by the locals hundreds years ago but that systematical cave research, documentation and
analyses of the caves is practically unknown in the whole China (Courbon & Chabert 1986).
Usually caves were not measured and topographic plans were not made, so as the genetical,
geomorphological and chemical features of the underground passages were not made. Much more
attention was dedicated to the subterrannean biosphere, as well to long history of archeological
excavations and researches of the palaeontological remains.
Chinese geomorphologists of the modern era started with the serious exploration of the south
China karst in the time of the Japanese occupation in the 30’s and 40’s of the 20
th
century, when
the headquarters of the state government were moved to southwestern China. Afterwards a quick
development of modern karstology followed (Sweeting 1995). The basis for their research were
≈Xu Xiake’s travels«.
CONCLUSION
The first real scientific exploration of karst and karst caves in south China had been under-
taken by Xu Xiake (1587 - 1641). In the year 1636 he started his four years journey to study
thoroughly geomorphologic and underground features of the karst landscape in southern and south-
western China. He visited Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces, where car-
bonate rocks cover more than 500,000 km
2
(Fig. 2).
Chinese karst was studied by Xu Xiake for more than thirty years. As a pioneer of the Chinese
speleology he visited over 300 caves. He described his journeys to almost half of the territory of
the Ming dynasty in his book ≈Xu Xiake’s travels« (≈Xu Xiake youji«), that was first published
in 1642. This worldwide masterpiece contains more than 600,000 characters (about 1500 pages)
and describes karst geomorphology and caves in south China very carefully. He also made ground
plans of some caves, marked their entrances and described different shapes of speleothems. He
Acta - 32/1 (2003) + slike 5/28/03, 1:54 PM252
253
first described different ways of climbing in caves and methods for cave research. ≈Xu Xiake’s
travels« were very accurate for the time of Ming dynasty and presented detailed descriptions of
caves that Xu Xiake had visited. In 1982 the book has been reprinted in classical Chinese (Sweeting
1995).
Xu Xiake first described different types of the tropical karst and focused on the characteristics
and reasons of the tower hills origin as well. He introduced the term fenglin (peak forest), which
is still used in the scientific literature and described cone hills fengcong. Fengcong can be trans-
lated as peak cluster and is represented by different forms of elevations that rise from the same
foundation. They are interrupted by intermediary depressions, valleys and dolines (Zhu 1988). He
was also researching population on karst, trying to explain meteorological and climatic phenom-
ena; he introduced karst terminology in the literature and suggested some methods of field re-
search. However, Xu Xiake is not only the father of the modern speleology, karstology,
geomorphology and geography in the Chinese scale but also in a worldwide sense.
Xu Xiake’s notes are preserved in 16 notebooks, which contain more than 690,000 characters
(Yuan 1991; Sweeting 1995). Because he has lived almost hundred years before J. V. Valvasor,
and because his achievements in many places surmount Valvasors observations in his ≈Die Ehre
des Hezogthums Krain«, Kranjc worthily calls him “Chinese Valvasor” (Kranjc 1987).
REFERENCES
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kutatas 2.- Hungarian caves and karst journal, 3-82.
Cai, Z. X. & W. H. Yang & R. Maire, 1993: Le Géographe Chinois Xu Xiake. Un précurseur de
la Karstologie et de la Spéléologie.- Karstologia, 21, 43-50.
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Courbon, P. & C. Chabert, 1986: Atlas des grandes cavités Mondiales.- Publié avec le concours
de L’union Internationale de Spéléologie et de la Fédération Française de Spéléologie, pp.
256.
CvijiÊ, J., 1893: Das Karstphänomen. Versuch einer morphologischen Monographie.-
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Herak, M. & V. T. Stringfield, 1972: Important Karst regions of the N hemisphere. Elsevier, pp.
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KovaË, M., 2001: Trije zobje pekinπkega Ëloveka.- Gea, XI, marec, 54-57.
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potopisca, geografa, krasoslovca in jamarja.- Æivljenje in tehnika, 38, 38-40.
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PRVI KITAJSKI KRASOSLOVEC XU XIAKE
Povzetek
Prvega pravega znanstvenega raziskovanja krasa in jam na obmoËju juæne Kitajske se je lotil
Xu Xiake (1587 - 1641). Leta 1636 se je odpravil na πtiriletno odisejado z namenom prouËevati
geomorfoloπke in podzemne znaËilnosti kraπkega povrπja na juænem in jugozahodnem Kitajskem.
Obiskal je province Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi in Yunnan, kjer karbonatne kamnine
obsegajo veË kot 500.000 km
2
povrπja (slika 2).
Kitajski kras je Xu Xiake prouËeval veË kot trideset let in kot pionir kitajskega jamarstva
obiskal preko 300 jam. Svoja popotovanja po skoraj polovici ozemlja tedanjega kitajskega cesarstva
je opisal v knjigi ≈Xu Xiakejeva potovanja« (≈Xu Xiake youji«), ki je bila prviË objavljena leta
1642. Ta svetovna mojstrovina obsega 600.000 pismenk (okoli 1500 strani) in podrobno opisuje
kraπko geomorfologijo ter jame na juænem Kitajskem. Opisal je podzemne reke in jezera, vodne
vire, narisal je tlorise nekaterih jam in zabeleæil njihove vhode ter opisal razliËne oblike
speleotemov, naËine plezanja po jamah in metode raziskovanja jam. Knjiga je bila ponovno
natisnjena v klasiËni kitajπËini leta 1982 (Sweeting 1995).
Xu Xiake je tudi prvi opisal razliËne tipe tropskega krasa ter se osredotoËil na znaËilnosti in
vzroke nastanka stolpastih vzpetin. V literaturo je vpeljal izraz fēnglín (gozd vrhov), ki ga πe
vedno uporabljamo v strokovni literaturi. Podrobno je opisal tudi stoæËaste vzpetine fēngcóng, ki
se brez reda dvigujejo iz skupne osnove, prekinjajo pa jih depresije (Zhu 1988). Raziskoval je
tudi poselitev na krasu, razlagal meteoroloπke in klimatske pojave, v literaturo je vpeljal kraπko
terminologijo in predlagal nekaj metod terenskega raziskovanja. Iz tega vidika Xu Xiake ni oËe
moderne speleologije, krasoslovja, geomorfologije in geografije le v kitajskem merilu, temveË
tudi v svetovnem.
Njegovi zapiski so ohranjeni v 16 zvezkih s skupno veË kot 690.000 pismenkami (Yuan 1991;
Sweeting 1995). Ker je æivel nekoliko pred Valvasorjem in ker njegovi doseæki marsikje presegajo
Valvasorjeva opaæanja v primerjavi s ≈Slavo Vojvodine Krajnske«, ga Kranjc upraviËeno imenuje
Kitajski Valvasor (Kranjc 1987).
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