Xu Xiake (1587-1641), named Hongzu and courtesy name Zhenzhi, was an outstanding geographer and traveler in the Ming Dynasty of my country. He was born in a declining gentry family in Nachang Village, Mazhen, Jiangyin. He was extremely intelligent and well-read when he was young. He gave up his official career at the age of 22 and began to roam the motherland. In 34 years, he visited famous mountains and rivers in 16 provinces and regions, and made achievements in research on mountains, waterways, geology, landforms, etc. that surpassed those of his predecessors. He is a pioneer in the world's investigation and research of limestone landforms. "Travel Notes" written by Xu Xiake is known as an eternal and wonderful book by a wonderful person through the ages. There are many cultural relics related to this preserved in his hometown.
Xu Xiake's former residence
Xu Xiake's former residence is located at the east end of Nanchang Village. It was built in the Ming Dynasty and renovated in the early Qing Dynasty. It has a hard top and the original house has four entrances and four exits on both sides. Wing, covering an area of ??1,000 square meters. The former residence was comprehensively renovated from August 1985 to October 1987. There are three entrances and two sides, maintaining the original appearance of the former residence. The first entrance is seven bays wide, six bays deep, and 5.8 meters high. A plaque "Former Residence of Xu Xiake" written by Lu Dingyi hangs in the middle, and a bust of Xu Xiake is placed on the back of the screen. The second entrance is five rooms wide, six bays deep, and 5.8 meters high. It displays various karst specimens of Xu Xiake's life and deeds, as well as papers and monographs written by modern experts and scholars. The third entrance is five bays wide, eight bays deep, and 6.8 meters high. In the three bays of the main hall is a plaque of "Chongli Hall" written by Shen Peng, and inscriptions by modern celebrities are displayed on the walls. The east and west study rooms display more than 40 landscape photos of "the places Xu Xiake visited". In 1993, the Jiangyin Municipal People's Government and the China Xu Xiake Research Association held the "Xu Xiake Memorial Exhibition" in the capital, which was a great success.
Podocarpus
In the east courtyard in front of the main hall of Xu Xiake's former residence, there stands a Podocarpus with thick stems, bare branches and lush green leaves, which was planted by Xu Xiake. The current tree is 6.50 meters tall and has a root diameter of 2.2 meters. The trunk requires two people to hug it. It has a history of more than 400 years.
Qingshan Hall
About 500 meters south of Xu Xiake’s former residence, there is a Ming-style building. It is surrounded by water on three sides, facing east from the west, with three open rooms and a depth of 10 bays. It looks antique. A plaque of "Qingshan Hall" written by Zhu Muzhi hangs high in the middle. A lifelike statue of Xu's mother and her son is displayed in the hall. 76 stone carvings and a summary of "Qingshan Hall Tie" are embedded in the north, west and south walls. Woodcut side. This is the famous "Qingshan Hall Stone Carving" at home and abroad. Qingshan Hall was originally a church built by Xu Xiake when he was 34 years old in the 48th year of Ming Dynasty (1620) to celebrate the recovery of his mother from a serious illness. The name of the hall was taken from the poetic meaning of "April is clear and the rain is clearing, and the Nanshan household is clear". He also happily commissioned a painting of "Sunny Turning to Nanshan" to be hung inside. This is how "Qingshan Hall" got its name.
Xu Xiake's Tomb
In the backyard of Qingshan Hall is Xu Xiake's Ming-style relocation tomb. It was rebuilt in 1985 according to the map attached to the "Xu Family Genealogy". The cemetery area is 745 square meters. In the middle is a corridor made of bricks, and on the left and right are two winding paths made of cobblestones. Both sides are planted with Podocarpus five-needled pine, juniper cypress, ground cypress, red maple, green maple, white magnolia and magnolia grandiflora. Roses, camellias, osmanthus, wintersweet and other famous flowers from the south of the Yangtze River. There is a 2.7-meter-high statue of Xu Xiake in front of the altar at the end of the corridor. There is a monument on both sides of the statue.
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