Travel Journals
Won’t it be pleasant to encounter some unfamiliar birds in a trip? Birds flying, singing, nesting, mating, or preying. When the global travel prevailed in the 19th century, European ornithologists travelled around the world to visit birds, and the distant East was a popular destination. Meanwhile in Asia, scholars and artists experienced interesting encounters with birds in their domestic trips.
- Title
- Xiyu wen jian lu: ba juan by Qishiyi 《西域聞見錄：八卷》 七十一 著
- Description
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Under the reign of emperors Kangxi and Qianlong (1661-1796), troops of the Qing dynasty conquered the Western Regions (the ancient name of the west part of modern China and some nearby regions). To enforce his governance, Emperor Qianlong sent scholars to participate in local constructions. A new type of travel journals recording the unique landscape and cultures the scholars viewed on their way to the Western Regions emerged and populated. This journal was finished in 1777, written by one of the scholars travelled to the Western Regions under the pen name “Qishiyi” (translated as "Seventy-one").
In this travel journal, Qishyi records his encounters with several birds, including the snowcock and eagle habituated in the mountain regions. He might have eaten some of the birds—he mentioned a kind of chicken, which he called “tree chicken-raven,” that is “許味甚美(xu wei shen mei)” (tasted very good). - JHU Catalyst
- Item sets
- Encountering Birds in Books
- Title
- Birds of Asia by John Gould 1853
- Description
- British ornithologist John Gould composed this large edition of Birds of Asia in the mid-19th century, an unfinished work at his death. The work is an accumulative intellectual piece. Gould’s illustrations are based on journals of numerous ornithologists travelling to Asia and accessible specimens. He includes detailed descriptions of birds with direct quotations and casts a special attention to paint the background as the depicted birds’ local environment.
- JHU Catalyst
- Item sets
- Encountering Birds in Books
