再造徐霞客 : 民国科学地理学

明代江南世家子弟徐霞客，以个人出游，写成日记式山水游记，其中以云贵地区的记录最为人称道，有奇人奇书之誉。徐霞客生前并未闻于士林，其游记也仅限于江阴为中心的江南文人圈子内部传阅。徐霞客以地理闻名于世是民国之后，丁文江以及竺可桢主持的浙江大学史地系再造的结果，他们以科学主义为利器，以传统为资源，将一位江南乡贤塑造成为一名以科学精神治地理，以实地考察为基础的地理学家，意在将西方地理方法嫁接在中国文本之上，建立中国近代地理学的学术范式。

Xu Xiake (1587-1641), born in an elite family in the region south of the Yangtze River, was a traveler in the Ming Dynasty. His travelogue extensively documented Southwest China's landscape and culture. Yet, Xu's reputation and writings remained less known to the general public throughout the Qing Dynasty. His geographical works were popularized in the writings of Chinese geologist Ding Wenjiang, and Department of History and Geography at Zhejiang University in the early 20th century. They employed scientism to mold their townsman Xu Xiake into a modern geographer with scientific spirits and methodology. By doing so, they implemented Western methodology to the Chinese context and ushered a paradigmatic shift in modern Chinese geography.