Chinese travel writing is a literary genre. All such works contain a coherent narrative of the physical experience of a journey through space towards an identifiable place, written in prose. In later Chinese literary history, however, most travel writing concerns real journeys. Unlike early European travel writing, with its focus on distant, alien, and exotic lands, Chinese travel writing most often describes places inside China. Almost always written in short essay or diary format, the journeys described therein often – but not always – describe trips undertaken for sightseeing purposes. As for content, it can vary considerably, depending on the geographical focus of the narrative and the author’s personal interests. For instance, we might find descriptions of famous landmarks, prominent mountains, local customs and products, and flora and fauna. The ‘literary’ component of these works refers to descriptive and/or commentarial language that is at once personal. ‘Personal’ means active engagement between the author and the place visited and described, which often inspires the traveller to employ an elevated style of language rich in lyrical content.

What were the characteristics of a cultivated man and woman during the Song? Calligraphy, painting, and poetry comprised the visible and audible elements of cultivation that distinguished cultured persons from commoners. These art forms were often individualistic expressions of emotion and personal life, but they could also be used to convey veiled political and social commentary. How did public and private life find expression through cultural forms? How did visual and literary arts convey cultural, social, and even geographical identities? Women as well as men were painters and poets whose works can be used as sources for capturing features of social and cultural life otherwise absent from the historical record. Theater, opera, and storytelling were modes of cultural expression that extended across social boundaries and exhibited regional and ethnic differences as well. The development of drama during the Jin and Yuan eras provides a new source for understanding the intersection of elite and nonelite culture. Tomb artifacts representing theaters and performers as well as the texts of plays are sources that can be used to reconstruct elements of nonelite cultural forms. How did the spread of print technology contribute to the blurring of boundaries between elite and popular culture?