明代中葉的文壇領袖王世貞，一生不僅積極參贊旅遊書寫，也嘗試以既存的遊記文學體裁來開拓旅遊繪畫的新格局。而由他監製以京杭運河宦旅為主題的《水程圖冊》，即為此一企圖心下的產物。乍看之下，此冊似與當時盛行的名勝紀遊圖相類，然究其實，卻應當是一種型態有別的「行程日記」體差旅圖。從景點的地理分布看，全圖不再以呈現一山一湖或一郡一邑勝概的面面觀為主，轉以鋪敘旅程沿線各站為務，且這些站點亦多非觀光遊覽勝地，而大半是府縣城池、稅關、巡檢司、驛站、水閘或管河公署等官方行政、交通及河工建置。顯示旅遊類山水圖演進至此，亦與唐宋以降遊記文學的發展相呼應，實已分化出「紀遊」和「紀行」二體，來描摹不同類型的旅遊活動。

Known as a leading literary man, historian and art patron in Ming China, Wang Shizhen (1526-1590) not only was a prolific travel writer, but also keen to reinvent the genre of travel literature in pictorial form. Such cross-medium endeavors might be best exemplified in his pictorial travel album Shuicheng tu, originally entitled Jixing tu (pictorial travel journal). Commissioned around 1574, this album contains 84 topographic paintings to record his journey through the Grand Canal to assume his new position in the Ming imperial court. Although it has been frequently discussed under the rubric of “jiyou tu” (tourism painting), a prevalent type of travel painting which flourished in the sixteenth-century tourism boom and was created primarily to amuse a leisure-seeking audience, in actuality, the entire album rarely shows much interest in exploring tourist attractions such as scenic spots, historic places and pilgrimage sites. Nor does it intend to depict sightseeing or other recreational activities. Instead its main focus is on a journalistic delineation of the administrative and transportation infrastructures as well as river control system along the canal, including prefectural and county seats, customs offices, police stations, courier stations, sluices, dykes, and those staff and laborers hired by the government to maintain public facilities. In other words, what it represents no longer meets the criteria of “jiyou tu.” Rather, its preference for chronicling daily itineraries of official trips or local geographic features, cultural heritages, socioeconomical life, and traffic conditions along public transportation routes bears a much closer resemblance to the narrative frameworks and thematic choices of “jixing lu” (travel journal), a well established literary subgenre since the Song dynasty. It indicates that, following the footsteps of travel literature, the formats of travel painting were also xpanded and further diversified to accommodate different types of travel during the mid-Ming.

王世貞; 水程圖; 京杭運河; 紀遊圖; 紀行錄

Wang Shizhen; Shuicheng tu; the Grand Canal; tourism painting; travel journal