How did people travel in ancient times, and what is the difference between them and modern people?

Tourism, as a kind of social activity, is also a way for people to relax their lives. Beautiful scenery and happy mood can always bring people relaxed. However, tourism is by no means exclusive to people now. The birth of tourism was originally painful. As early as primitive times, people had to migrate and leave their homes in order to survive. And the cruel thing is that this migration is not voluntary, but also permanent, and you can't choose to stay, you can only leave with the crowd. After the birth of travel, it originated from the separation of business. People realized that business could not be equated with agriculture, animal husbandry and handicrafts, so the development of business prompted businessmen to travel around and visit everywhere.

Ancient Travel

Naturally, the earliest travel was in the period of slave society, because at this time, the division of labor between industries was more clear and commerce was more developed. More importantly, the stability of social order has created conditions for people to travel, that is, it is more convenient to move in space. At the same time, most ancient tourism was not for relaxation, and sometimes it was an ordered tour or a business trip. For example, the ancient emperor's parade, Qin Shihuang, who unified the country, Emperor Yangdi, who was ambitious, and Emperor Qianlong, an old man in the Qing Dynasty, all had related activities. Its purpose is not only to visit the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers, but also to include political purposes, to understand the folk customs, to deter the world and so on. As an official, he also has the phenomenon of traveling on business, such as Zheng He's voyage to the Western Ocean and Zhang Qian's trip to the Western Regions. This kind of travel has the main purpose, just the characteristics of traveling by the way. In addition, there are literati tours, religious travel and so on.

Ancient merchants

However, it is undeniable that travel activities have always existed, but unlike being an entertainment project alone now, in ancient times, tourism was not a subjective behavior, but a passive choice. However, the ancient people's hedonic spirit is beyond people's understanding, and there are still many literati and poets who send their feelings to the mountains and rivers. The next step is to talk about what they need to do when traveling. Do you want to make a strategy when you leave

Do ancient people need a strategy when they travel? Getting lost and raiders is not a problem now, but it was different in ancient times, and it is easy to encounter danger with a little carelessness. The precipitousness of mountains and rivers and the influence of weather can be the influencing factors of ancient people's travel, not to mention the wolves, tigers and leopards and all kinds of dangerous injuries. Therefore, the ancients need to make full preparations before going out. The first thing is to choose a good day, which is the auspicious day of the ecliptic. Ancient emperors naturally didn't have much to worry about when they went on patrol. For example, every time Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, military department planned in advance in every detail. Then, as a single individual, he can't enjoy the treatment of the emperor, so he can only find his own way.

The Book of Mountains and Seas

The way to take out the travel dates is the yellow calendar, and after the Ming Dynasty, there was a divination book specially for traveling. After determining the date, it is the arrangement of the route and the preparation in advance. What is needed in the preparation is the map and the understanding of the mountains and rivers, as well as the money, food and medicine that need to be prepared. These are covered in The Classic of Mountains and Seas. Although it is an ancient myth book, it still involves a lot of knowledge about geography, plants, animals, witchcraft, medicine, folk customs, nationalities and so on. It can be said that it is a grand place in Wang Yang. Therefore, in the case that this kind of technology was not developed in ancient times, Shan Hai Jing can be regarded as the first travel guide and an encyclopedia of tourism.

Xu Xiake's Travels

In addition to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the experience of predecessors is also particularly important. The famous Xu Xiake can be said to be the originator of travel enthusiasts. Xu Xiake devoted his life to all directions and spent 3 years, traveling all over half of China without anyone's support. And recorded the scenic spots, wonders, folk customs and so on, leaving the Travel Notes of Xu Xiake, which is also a masterpiece of ancient people's travel reference. Means of transportation

The choice of means of transportation is naturally the most important thing for travel, but the ancient technology was not as developed as it is now, and the sightseeing was mainly mountains and rivers. Unlike the winding mountain highway, there was no natural gift except steep peaks and cliffs in the past. Therefore, the ancients used a primitive method to travel and visit, that is, walking. Of course, walking can also be a Malay alternative, but it will never change this more mobile way. In addition, the natural river is used as the passage and the way of taking a boat is adopted. The advantage of taking a boat is that it is fast, but it has many restrictions on life and is very dangerous. For example, Xu Xiake once left "The Story of the Xiangjiang River Encountering Thieves"; Recorded his painful experience of being robbed by boat.

Ancient people traveled on foot

Besides these two kinds, there were other means of transportation such as ox carts and horse-drawn carriages, but this was only limited to big traffic, that is, it could run normally on the official road, but not every post station was in the scenic spot, so it was more convenient to walk in most cases. What to prepare for ancient travel?

I finally solved the destination and travel mode, but I still can't travel with confidence. Most of the ancient people traveled on foot, which led to the inability to go home for a year or so. So ordinary clothes must be prepared, and the most important thing is medicine and so on. Xu xiake mentioned the travel articles he was carrying in the book "the door of the Xiangjiang river was stolen":

"I took the leftover leather and hung it in the trunk, among which there were six books of" Qing shan tie "collected by my family, iron needles, tin bottles and Chen Yongqing pots, all of which were heavy, and the thieves couldn't get rid of them, so I urgently needed to take them into the bag. When it was broken, all the fruit cakes were thrown at the bottom, but Cao Nengshi's three books of Places of Interest, four books of Yunnan Records and ten books of Xu Xiake's Travels were all burned. Everything in its cabin is also burned and abandoned. "

Unfortunately, Xu Xiake met a robber, and his luggage and belongings were searched, mostly clothes, letters and dry food. All this is easy to say. The hardest thing is that it is also difficult to wander around the mountains and rivers. In ancient times, people were very interested in the loss of population, so they would not easily allow people to leave their homeland. For example, in the Ming dynasty, "farmers don't go out for a mile, they go out at dusk, and the way to work and rest knows each other"; Agricultural producers can only face the loess with their backs to the sky, and they will be found if they go a little further. And once it is more than a hundred miles away, it needs an official document, that is, a road guide. It's a crime to leave without a witness.

Xu Xiake

Therefore, the ancient people's travel was arduous, far from what we thought. At the same time, when we envy ancient travel without buying tickets, think about the convenience brought by modern technology. Moreover, ancient travel is not as pure as we are now, but more often it is an ideal behavior. Xu Xiake once determined that "a gentleman should live in the blue sea and dusk the sky"; Similarly, Li Bai's visit to mountains all over the world, Zhang Qian's mission to the western regions and so on are also the embodiment of men's ambition in all directions, so it is said that the ancients traveled differently from today.