ABSTRACT
Valuable work in analysing Xu Xiake's use oflanguage has already been carried out, notably in Liang Xiuhong's thesis where he records Xu's use of such rhetorical devices as reduplication and personification? Some of these matters will now be examined, along with other aspects of Xu's language: his vocabulary for contemplation and movement, for investigation, and, finally, for the sublime, a notion which is central to Xu's work. The notion of landscape as a living organism, which underpins Xu's approach to travel, will be referred to, especially the importance of the idea of a 'scene' (jing !V
The language used by Xu Xiake in his diaries reflects the full range of the Chinese travel writer's vibrant diction. In order to show how Xu Xiake used and expanded this diction, references will be made to the work of earlier travel writers and to the most important contemporary writers on geographical matters. Particular attention will be given to Yuan Hongdao, who wrote many
travel diaries and poems, mostly about short trips to well-known sites, and Wang Shixing, who wrote both short travel accounts and longer, more comprehensive and reflective geographical pieces.
