The General History of Chinese Tourism Culture

The following sections are included:

• Preface
• Introduction
• Contents

As an important branch of Chinese culture, its tourism culture, so long-standing, well-established and ever beneficial to all generations as the holistic culture of China, has been part of the overall Chinese culture since its beginning. Seen from this perspective, the search for the origin of traveling culture, as a matter of fact, is the search for that of Chinese culture, which comes down to the origin of Chinese nation. In other words, we are here to solve the issue of Chinese origin. “Across its channel from bank to bank one could not distinguish an ox from a horse”, as quoted in The Floods of Autumn written by Zhuangzi, the ancient track of our primitive ancestors has become so obscure, complicated and confusing. That being said, we may still use findings of archaeology, anthropology and culturology to clear up the confusions and sketch the development of Chinese traveling culture.

The rising period of tourism culture includes the Qin-Han era, and the Wei-Jin-Northern and Southern dynasties era. In this period, the overall Chinese culture had went from the unification of the former toward the diversity of the latter. Tourism culture continued to develop, whether the nation is unified or divided. Tourism here took the form of Qin-Han’s ceremonial tours, uplifting travels, and traveling for patronage, and the Wei-Jin era’s traveling with armies, traveling for philosophy, Taoism and Budhism. The travelers included the emperors like Qin Shi Huang and Han Wu Di, exceptional people like Sima Qian and Zhang Qian, and scholars searching for opportunities, as well as the renowned scholars of Wei-Jin, hermits, Taoists and Buddhist monks. The scholars’ search for patronage underwent three changes, as the phenomenon disappeared in Qin, and recovered in early Han as they vied for the attention of lords, and starting from the middle Western Han they would leave their homes for Chang’an and Luoyang for social climbing. Natural sceneries like Lan Ting and Fuchun River, as well as palaces, gardens and religious buildings became subjects of appreciation. The Qin-Han era had the palaces of Apang, Weiyang, and Shanglin, and the private gardens of Wu Wang’s Chi Yuan, Liang Xiao Wang’s Tu Yuan. In the Wei-Jin era, the former was represented by Hualin Yuan and Xiyou Yuan, the latter by Shi Chong’s Jin Gu Yuan. The religious sites were Taoism’s mountains of Qingcheng, Mao, Longhu, Hezao, Luofu and Pingdu, the Buddhist mountains of Wutai and Emei, and the Baima Temple and Bao’en Temple. The grottos of Mogao, Yungang and Longmen also appeared. On land, Galloping Avenues, Straight Avenue, New Avenues, Baoxie Dao and Yelang Dao created a transportation network around the capitals; the further work on Hong Gou and Ling Qu expanded the waterways; oxen and horse carts were still the main tools for land travel, while the long sculling oars, sails and steers improved seafaring. Relay stations and inns were further developed, with new types including ting chuan, di she, ye she, guest houses and private inns. In terms of the philosophy of tourism, people’s aesthetic awareness had matured, with the formation of the theory of “uninhibited thought” that focuses on spiritual pleasure. The new shizu class of aristocratic scholars, and priests of Buddhism and Taoism were notable travelers. Tourism destinations focusing on culture were developed, including landscape strucrtures, and Buddhist and Taoist pilgrim sites in the mountains. In literature, the genre of traveling accounts was born. These marked the differences to the previous originating period.

The thriving period of tourism culture is Sui and Tang dynasty. During this period, Chinese culture was inclusive with extraordinary splendor. With high energy advanced in the world and strong radiation ability, it had far-reaching influence on the world’s culture, especially East Asia culture. There were rich tourism forms during this period, such as the unique southern tour by dragon boat (created by Emperor Yang of Sui dynasty), the gigantic and vigorous tour of Imperial Sacrificial Ceremonies, the impassioned and vehement tour in frontier fortress, the leisurely tour in the nature and country life, the tour of wandering in the country in pursuit of official career, the Buddhist tour to the West and East, etc. As for the tourism subject, there were emperors of Sui and Tang dynasty (Emperor Yang of Sui dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of Tang dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang dynasty, etc.), intellectuals and literates (intellectuals of ordinary landlord class), monks, etc. As for the tourism object, it had formed a huge system of palatial gardens and gardens distributed widely in the whole country, with Chang’an (today’s Xi’an of Shaanxi), Luoyang, Jiangdu (today’s Yangzhou of Jiangsu) and Lishan Mountain as the centers. In them, the famous palatial gardens included Jin Yuan (Three Palatial Gardens), Daming Palace, and Xingqing Place, etc; private gardens are thriving in Chang’an, Luoyang, Yangzhou, and Chengdu; the natural landscapes such as mountains and rivers in Zhongnan of Shaanxi, Xuancheng of Anhui, Yongzhou of Hunan, and Guilin of Guangxi had been discovered; the landscapes of towers include Guanque Tower, Yueyang Tower, Yellow Crane Tower, Pavilion of Prince Teng, etc. In addition, there were imperial mausoleums of Sui and Tang dynasty; Buddhist tourism landscape, including temples such as Famen Temple, Hanshan Temple; pagodas such as the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, and Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple in Dali; Buddhist sculpture such as the Giant Stone Buddha at Leshan Mountain. As for the tourism medium, the land transportation of the whole country was unblocked again with 5 main post roads radiating outward from Chang’an; the development of waterway transportation mainly manifest as that the Grand Canal was excavated; the hotels included posthouse opened by the government, private hotels, hotels of temples, and foreign hotels set up by alien merchants, etc. The exchange of tourism culture between China and foreign countries became prosperous. Thus, the main differences between this period and the Rising Period include: the tourism form became more diversified, such as the dragon boat tour created by the Emperor Yang of Sui dynasty; the tourism subject has transformed from aristocratic landlord class to ordinary landlord class; for the tourism object, large amount of natural landscape and cultural landscape had formulated; for tourism medium, the post road become well-developed, and the Grand Canal had been excavated. Certainly, the spiritual state of the tourism subject became largely different from the previous period.

Song and Yuan dynasties were the “reforming period” of tourism culture. It is a period when the national relations were very complex and sharp. During this period, a deep transformation occurred in Chinese culture, of which the introspection character was formed gradually, and became more and more obvious. Because of the collision and fusion between agricultural civilization of central China, and nomadic culture of north of China, Chinese culture presented a tendency of surging of diversified cultures. For the tourism form, there were tours with worries of the country, tours for investigation to attain knowledge in Song dynasty; the tour of western expedition crossing Europe and Asia, the religious tour introducing western knowledge to the east, tour to foreign countries, cultural tour of intellectuals, etc. For the tourism subject, traveling emperors became less obviously; tour of intellectuals were thriving in Song dynasty, and declined in Yuan dynasty; international religious travelers came forth in large numbers; and there were travelers sailing on the sea, such as Zhou Daguan and Wang Dayuan. For the tourism medium, in the two Song periods, the land transportation didn’t obviously change based on the previous dynasties, but new land vehicles emerged, such as sedan and carriage with oil wall. In Yuan dynasty, there was not only the complete land transportation network with Dadu as the center, but also courier station system with strict management system. In Song and Yuan dynasties, the development of waterway transportation mainly manifested in the connection of the Grand Canal, construction of bridges, such as Luoyang Bridge, Anping Bridge, Lugou Bridge, etc., obvious improvement of shipbuilding technology, and welldevelopment of sailing technology, such as application of compass in sailing; in addition, the construction of courier hotels such as “Sifang Courier Hotel”, “Huaiyuan Hotel”, etc.; and development of private hotels and temple hotels. Thus, the main difference between this period and the thriving period lies in: for tourism subject, the traveling emperor became obviously less; the group of common landowner intellectuals grew stronger, occupied predominant position in tourism activity of Song, and faded out of the stage of tour in Yuan dynasty; international religious travelers became more active; the seafarer traveling around the world emerged. For tourism medium, the courier system extending in all directions and connecting China and foreign countries can lead to Western Region, the Middle East, Goryeo, An’nan, Burma, Russia and other countries in Europe; the technology of shipbuilding and sailing develop a lot. In addition, as a part of tourism subject, the intellectuals suffered deep hurt brought by the conquered nation or national discrimination.

The period during the Ming dynasty and the (early) Qing dynasty was a turning point for China’s culture of tourism. During this period, capitalism had begun to bud and was developing slowly while Chinese feudal society had passed its peak and entered its late period. The sun had set on the culture of the period. However, as the buds of capitalism were developing, latent heterogeneous elements grew within Chinese feudal culture. For the first time Chinese and Western cultures had both mingled and come into conflict with each other. With regard to the forms of tourism during this period, there were cruise excursions, picturesque landscape tours, suburban excursions, scientific expeditions, tours to frontier fortresses, journeys to the west to promote Chinese culture and develop friendly relationships, tours taken by adherents of the former dynasty as tribute to it and as an expression of their ambition, etc. Among the people who were touring China were emperors (Kangxi, Qianlong, etc), diplomatic envoys, scholars of the former dynasty, ordinary citizens, scientists, exiles, etc. Of the period’s tourist destinations, a great number of admirable attractions remain, including the Great Wall; palatial gardens such as the Summer Palace, the Old Summer Palace, the Garden of Everlasting Spring, and Emperor Kangxi’s Summer Mountain Resort in Chengde; private gardens such as the Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Lingering Garden; imperial mausoleums such as the Xiaoling Mausoleum of the Ming dynasty, the thirteen imperial mausoleums of the Ming dynasty, the three Mausoleums outside Shanhaiguan Pass, and the Eastern Qing Tombs and Western Qing Tombs; and religious buildings such as the Wofo Temple in Beijing, the Fuhu Temple at the foot of Mt. Emei, the Taoist building complex in the Wudang Mountains, the three main monasteries in Lhasa, the Tashihunpo Monastery, the Kumbum Monastery, and Eight Outer Temples. With regard to the infrastructure of tourism, courier routes and stations had changed remarkably. A relatively effective system of courier routes had developed, while roads were being laid out more sensibly than they had been in the past. In the early Ming dynasty courier stations had been renovated to become more effective, but during the mid and late Ming dynasty and into the Qing dynasty the courier stations declined due to wars and rampant corruption. Yet while the courier stations declined, private inns continued to thrive and offered more thoughtful services than they had during former dynasties. During the reign of emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, these courier stations again flourished, only to decline once more after the opium war and eventually die out in 1913 when the system of courier stations was abolished. At the same time, private inns thrived in the early Qing dynasty, only to also decline after the opium war. Guild halls started in the Yongle period of the Ming dynasty and reached the peak of their prosperity in the Qing dynasty. To some degree these guild halls served in the same manner as private inns. In the turning period of tourism culture, China made substantial progress in navigation and shipbuilding which provided the necessary elements for Zheng He’s voyages to the west. Trends of thought for pursuing individual liberty, valuing feelings more than principles, and breaking the unity upheld by Neo-Confucianism all led to an increasing prevalence of group excursions in sole pursuit of mental stimulation. China’s scientific expeditions were at their highest level since the Song and Yuan dynasties; tours made by emperors grew vigorously; courier stations had undergone ups and down, declining after the opium war and then disappearing; guild halls serving as private inns had come into being and thrived. Added to all of this, places of cultural interest were springing up and theories of tourism (known as “you dao”) were becoming richer and more mature. Whether looking at tourism, tourists, destinations, or infrastructure, the period during the Ming and Qing dynasties is no less than a turning point for China’s ancient culture of tourism.

The transformation period of Chinese tourism culture refers to China between 1840 and 1949. During this period, China was invaded by the major powers of capitalism and became a semi-colonial and semifeudal society. At the same time, class conflicts and contradictions between various ethnic groups in China gradually intensified. Undergoing both internal and external strife, China faced “a drastic change never before seen in history” and entered a period of unprecedented transformation. Amid Chinese and western culture shocks and conflicts, western culture with its obvious strengths gained an upper hand. National salvation became the focus of Chinese society. It was inevitable that modern tourism was touched upon by the events of this period. With regard to the forms of tourism, there was outbound travel for the purpose of learning advanced science and technology from western countries in order to build a strong China; domestic travel for expressing worries about the country’s future and seeking encouragement from nature; and inbound travel made by western missionaries to introduce western culture and science to China. Outbound travel could further be divided into travel made by scholars for the purpose of furthering their studies and increasing their knowledge, travel made by government officials for diplomatic missions and official visits, and travel that occurred due to the political exile of patriots. Among the people who traveled were scholars, government officials, politicians, ambassadors, merchants, missionaries, and explorers. Regarding tourist destinations, western colonists introduced parks to China while Chinese and foreign private gardens were constructed on a large scale. Modern western villas became commonplace in cities that were opened up to the outside world, for example, the development of scenic spots on Mt. Lushan and in the Beidaihe River area were profoundly influenced by western culture and great achievements were made in such developments. Of the famous historical sites that belong to modern China, a great many remain, including the mansion of Prince Zhong of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Suzhou, the former site of Wuchang Insurrectionary Army Government, and Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum (Zhongshan Ling) in Nanjing. With regard to tourism infrastructure and facilities, construction of roads and railways, the development of ship routes, and the emergence of new vehicles including cars, trains, steamers, and airplanes, all greatly facilitated travel. New-style hotels, Chinesewestern restaurants and other new tourism facilities emerged in China. These hotels and restaurants underwent radical changes at the beginning of the 20^thcentury, which reached a peak in the 1920s and 1930s. Famous hotels and restaurants included Beijing’s Beijing Hotel, Grand Hotel des Wagons-Lits (Hua Feng Hotel), Xishan Hotel, China Hotel, Shanghai’s Palace Hotel, Victoria Hotel, Sassoon House (Peace Hotel), and Park Hotel. Travel agencies emerged in China and this symbolized the rise of modern tourism. In short, various aspects and levels of Chinese tourism culture in modern times were greatly affected by western culture and tourism began to change radically. Thus, Chinese tourism culture entered its period of transformation.

The following sections are included:

• Endnotes
• Index