What were the ways people traveled in ancient times?

In the feudal society of China, the types of travel are also rich and varied, which can be summarized as follows:

(1) Emperor Parade

Imperial cruise was an extremely important form of travel at that time. Moreover, there are many examples in this regard. Among them, Zhou Muwang, Qin Shihuang, Han Wudi, Yang Di, Kangxi and Qianlong are the most typical representatives. Although his reasons for cruising, hunting and hunting are different, they always contain the reasons for pleasure and the desire for leisure and sightseeing, which will inevitably affect the development of travel within the social scope at that time because of the special position of the emperor.

(2) Official travel

Due to political, economic and military reasons, there were many official tours in ancient China. Sometimes, countless officials traveled to and from all parts of China on the orders of the emperor, and even some officials traveled to foreign countries for political, economic and military reasons. It can be said that this is also the early stage of modern official tourism. Among them, Zhang Qian in the Western Han Dynasty and Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty were probably the most influential.

(3) Business trip

The most famous ones are: Silk Road, Maritime Silk Road, Ancient Tea-Horse Road and so on.

(4) Scholars study tour

There is an old saying in China since ancient times, "Read thousands of books and follow Wan Li Road". Therefore, many domestic scholars have experience in studying abroad. They traveled all over the famous mountains and rivers in China, roaming the places of interest, and left many classic works handed down from generation to generation. Among them, Sima Qian, Tao Yuanming, Li Bai, Du Fu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Dongpo and others are typical representatives. Take Li Bai, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty, as an example.

(5) Professional travel

In the ancient history of China, many professional and technical levels were far ahead of other countries in the world at that time, which required many people of insight to devote themselves to professional research. Moreover, many professional studies require certain travel experience, which forms another form of travel, professional travel. Typical representatives are: Li Daoyuan, Xu Xiake and Li Shizhen.

(6) Religious travel

Like many other religious countries, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism were first introduced to our country, and religious travel has been recorded in our country for a long time.

Xuanzang's trip to Tianzhu and Jian Zhen was a beautiful talk based on his firm belief in visiting Japan six times and the positive and important historical significance he achieved when he arrived in Japan to promote Buddhism and China culture.

(7) Festival party and travel

People travel for festivals and so on.