Travel History

A quasi due anni dalla sua scomparsa, il Centro Italiano per gli Studi Storico-Geografici, con il contributo del Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell’Università Roma Tre e del Dipartimento di Studi Storici dell’Università di Torino, organizza a Roma un seminario dal titolo “Massimo Quaini e il Centro Italiano per gli Studi Storico-Geografici”.
L’incontro vuole ricordare lo studioso, l’amico, un collega e un riferimento per tutti coloro che si sono ritrovati e si ritrovano nel CISGE. Tra i fondatori del nostro centro, Massimo Quaini ha rappresentato una delle figure intellettualmente più vivaci e critiche della Geografia italiana e in particolare degli studi geostorici.
È sembrato doveroso e importante ripensare al contributo di Massimo Quaini restituendone un quadro articolato attraverso le quattro sessioni tematiche di cui il Centro si compone.
Il Seminario è rivolto in special modo ai giovani in formazione, ai dottorandi delle discipline geografiche e storiche che vogliano comprendere, da un particolare punto di vista, le vicende della nostra storia più recente.
L’appuntamento è per i giorni 24 e 25 ottobre 2019 presso il Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell’Università Roma Tre (Sala del Consiglio, I piano).

Entre 1701 et 1703, au début de la guerre de Succession espagnole, Henry Bentinck (1682-1726), vicomte Woodstock, et son gouverneur huguenot, Paul Rapin de Thoyras (1661-1725), entreprennent un voyage pédagogique – le Grand Tour – qui devait les conduire de La Haye dans les Provinces-Unies à travers les États allemands jusqu’en Italie. Nous éditons la centaine de lettres connues de la correspondance qu’ils entretiennent au cours de ce voyage, avec le père du jeune homme, Hans Willem Bentinck (1649-1709), comte de Portland. Ces lettres apportent des informations sur tous les aspects de la vie quotidienne des voyageurs – sur les coutumes des Cours et des villes où ils séjournent, sur les bruits qui couraient à l’époque sur les événements de la guerre, sur les contraintes du voyage, sur les aléas du courrier et sur les rapports personnels difficiles entre les trois correspondants. Notre introduction porte sur ces différents aspects de la vie des voyageurs et sur la notion de « vie privée » que véhicule la correspondance. Nous ajoutons à ce corpus deux lettres inédites de Rapin-Thoyras à Woodstock de l’année 1721 ainsi que plusieurs lettres d’aristocrates qui envoient à Portland leurs commentaires sur le comportement de son fils.

Michaël Green est chercheur à l’Université de Lodz en Pologne, et chercheur affilié au Centre d’études sur la vie privée [Centre for Privacy Studies] de la Fondation Nationale danoise de la Recherche à l’Université de Copenhague. Ses travaux portent, entre autres, sur les minorités religieuses à l’époque moderne, sur l’histoire de l’éducation et sur la notion et la pratique de la vie privée. Parmi ses publications : The Huguenot Jean Rou (1638-1711): Scholar, Educator, Civil Servant (Honoré Champion, 2015), et les articles « The Orange-Nassau Family at the Educational Crossroads of the Stadtholder’s Position (1584 – 1711) » (2019) et « Bridging the English Channel: Huguenots in the Educational Milieu of the English Upper Class » (2018).

Traduction de l’anglais original de l’introduction et de l’apparat critique par Bertrand Marceau, maître de conférences en  histoire moderne à l’université de Reims.

In the history of travelling and vacationing, the eighteenth century leisure trip (plezierreisje) has often been overlooked. This specific type of tour occurred in the twilight of the well-researched Grand Tour and before
the advent of mass tourism. Research shows this type of trip was enormously popular in The Netherlands during the long eighteenth century. One of the most popular destinations was Cleves. Some thirty contemporary travel journals relating a visit to Cleves have been researched for this article; one in particular, that of the travel society Semper Idem, written by François Hovius, has been studied in depth. The case study of Cleves can clarify the leisure trip’s connections to the Grand Tour, the Bildungsreise and mass tourism, as well as eighteenth-century motivations for travelling related to processes of identity formation and social networking.

This book is part of a four volume box published at the occasion of the Erasmus Prize 2008, won by Ian Buruma.
It contains reproductions of all the 90 illustrated folios of one of the most beautiful and well known manuscripts of Marco Polo’s "Book on the Miracles of the World" (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, français 2810) and detailed explanatory descriptions on these miniatures, as well as information on the historical background. The book also contains a 45 page introduction on Marco Polo, his book, and travelling in the Middle Ages.

Marco Polo’s Boek over de wonderen van de wereld. Toelichtingen bij de miniaturen, de tekst en de historische achtergronden aan de hand van 86 folio’s van het handschrift van het Livre des merveilles van Marco Polo bewaard in de Bibliothèque nationale de France te Parijs (manuscrit français 2810) door Jan de Klerk en Hanno Wijsman, met een inleiding en een nawoord over het handschrift en de historische context door Hanno Wijsman,
’s-Hertogenbosch (Stichting Erasmusfestival) & Louvain (Peeters), 2008.
243 pages; 100 colour illustrations

Los conceptos de alteridad e identidad han ocupado en los últimos años un espacio central en los debates académicos en torno a la multiculturalidad. Con este libro se pretende hacer una aportación novedosa al debate uniendo dos tiempos y dos espacios que habitualmente han sido estudiados por separado: el mundo europeo y mediterráneo medieval y el mundo atlántico de comienzos de la modernidad. El trabajo parte de una pregunta fundamental: ¿cómo describe el viajero al otro totalmente desconocido en comparación al extraño ya conocido o del que al menos se tienen referencias? Este interrogante dará pie a otros que permitirán al lector viajar junto a Bernhard von Breidenbach, Pero Tafur, Hieronymus Münzer, Leo von Rozmital, Jean de Béthencourt, Fernando de Magallanes o Cristóbal Colón entre otros.

La rivista «Itineraria» apre uno spazio per ospitare ricerche che affrontino temi e testi connessi al viaggio e alla conoscenza del mondo (ma anche al viaggio immaginario, al viaggio simbolico e metaforico, alle visiones, alla geografia fantastica e alla geografia dell'aldilà) in un'ampia prospettiva filologica che, pur privilegiando la tradizione letteraria latina medievale e umanistica, accolga anche da un lato la cultura classica e dall'altro quella in volgare. La tematica di «Itineraria» abbraccia un arco cronologico e culturale molto ampio: ad esempio dalle cosmologie greche ai peripli, dalla letteratura geografica greco-romana alla cosmografia, dalle visiones agli itineraria, dai mirabilia ai romanzi odeporici, dalle cronache delle Crociate ai pellegrinaggi, dalle relazioni di ambasciatori, missionari e mercanti alla cartografia, dai portolani al viaggio immaginario e alla geografia fantastica. Il livello scientifico di «Itineraria» è garantito da un comitato scientifico internazionale, che rispecchia nella sua composizione la pluralità di indirizzi metodologici e disciplinari che la rivista intende ospitare.
Tutti gli articoli sono sottoposti al giudizio di uno o più revisori anonimi. La decisione in merito alla pubblicazione spetta al direttore, tenuto conto del parere dei revisori.
La rivista, che ha periodicità annuale, pubblica articoli nelle principali lingue europee. Ogni articolo è corredato da un abstract in lingua inglese.
"Itineraria" è interamente consultabile on line al sito www.mirabileweb.it.

In the 1580s, the Jesuit priest Alessandro Valignano sent four young pupils from the seminary at Arima to tour Europe, in a mission that has since been referred to as the ‘Tensho embassy’ — without a doubt a remarkable episode in the history of East-West contact. The Japanese boys were celebrated and shown remarkable hospitality and generosity throughout their stay in Spain and Italy, and even met Philip II of Spain and the Popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V. This paper explores in what ways can the mission be described as an embassy by recalling comparable embassies in the early modern period, and will propose theories as to why these so-called ambassadors from a distant and unfamiliar land were feted so magnificently by the European political elite.

Units of distance and speed of travel in the second half of the sixteenth century

in the light of Blaise de Vigenère’s treatise The article is an analysis of transport routes published in La description du Royaume de Poloigne by Blaise de Vigenère (1573). The book was a manual, as it were, intended for Henri de Valois and his court heading for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In addition to its chorographic aspect, it also contained an analysis of the Commonwealth’s political system, law and society. The descriptions of the main routes were very good, with the author presenting the roads leading from Paris and Vienna to Kraków, and then to Gdańsk and Vilnius, Polotsk, Orsha and as far as Moscow. On their basis I have been able to establish the difference in units of distance between the various countries (one lieues in France corresponded to 4.75 km, 5.1 km in the Moscow Empire, 7.5 km in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and 8.8 km in the German Empire). Blaise de Vigenère suggested to his reader the borders of states and provinces, which was to be an indication of a possibility of applying various measures of distance. Calculations demonstrates that miles in the Crown were slightly shorter than those in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (7.3 to 7.69 km); the uniqueness of Polotsk is also evident — as a result of very complicated routes miles in the region were extremely short (about 5 km). The averaged mile length in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was 7.5 km. Blaise de Vigenère indicates that the speed of travel from Kraków to Paris should be 42.5 km/day. It was quicker to travel along the main route from Vilnius to Kraków (55 km/day). Barely half of this speed was achieved by carts laden with goods and by people travelling on foot (25 km/day). A skilful rider, changing horses along the way, without any cart or unnecessary load could achieve a much higher speed. Founded by Sigismund II Augustus in 1558, the postal service linking Kraków with Venice was to have reached the speed of 92.9 km/day. In reality it was able to cover only about 62 km/day. Journeys in large groups of carts, with extended transport columns, were much slower. The average speed achieved by the travelling court of Stephen Báthory was 30–35 km/day. Polish-Lithuanian armies (but not individual units) travelled even more slowly, at 7–27.5 km/day.

O texto ensaia as noções de natureza e paisagem assimiladas na primeira semana de viagem de Goethe à Itália (de 3 a 10 de setembro de 1786). Nesses primeiros dias do itinerário percorrido ainda em terras germânicas, ambas as categorias orbitam no universo reflexivo do poeta: enquanto que a natureza dá voz a polaridades afins – empiria e sensibilidade, unidade e multiplicidade, objetivo e subjetivo – a paisagem seria um recorte da natureza apreendido sensivelmente, um quadro da natureza formulado pelo olhar (sentidos) treinado de um observador atento e localizado sobretudo no âmbito da estética. Busca-se, portanto, compreender a paisagem contemplada por Goethe para além das descrições geográficas dos lugares visitados e visualizados, mas privilegiando a conversão da natureza em arte.

En este texto se aborda el estudio de la práctica de la arriería y de los diferentes tipos de transportistas activos en el México colonial. Después de haber presentado las historias de vida de dos arrieros de los siglos XVI y XVIII, se estudia a los diferentes protagonistas de la arriería novohispana: negros, mulatos, indígenas, mestizos. El mundo del transporte del México colonial es una realidad con rasgos específicos que al mismo tiempo comparte un cierto número de elementos con Europa, sobre todo a nivel de los comportamientos y de las temporalidades (sobre todo en los siglos XVI y XVII). Por ser un trabajo de síntesis no es posible resumir la gran cantidad de datos y referencias citadas en este texto. Es suficente señalar que se aborda también el tema de la “cultura de la arriería” y de las prácticas y  creencias religiosas heterodoxas que caracterizan a los transportistas novohispanos. En la conclusión se reflexiona sobre la figura casi folklórica del arriero mexicano, recordando que se trata de una figura en buena parte inventada por los autores "costumbristas" del siglo XIX.

  Dans ce texte on étudie le monde du transport (arriería) et les différents types de transporteurs dans le Mexique colonial. Après avoir présenté deux micro-histoires de vie des muletiers du XVIe siècle et du XVIIIe, on évoque, de façon plus générale, les différents protagonistes de l'arriería néo-hispanique: Noirs, mulâtres, Indiens, métis. Le monde du transport au Mexique colonial se caractérise pour être une réalité avec des traits spécifiques et en même temps pour partager des éléments communs avec le monde du transport en Europe, au niveau des comportements et des temporalités (surtout aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles). S'agissant d'un exercice de synthèse on ne peut pas résumer la quantité des données et des références cité. Il suffira d'ajouter qu'on traite aussi le thème de la “culture de l' "arriería” , des pratiques et des croyances religieuse hétérodoxes que caractérisent les transporteurs néo-hispaniques (surtout au XVIe siècle pour ce qui est de la religiosité). Dans la conclusion on revient sur la figure presque folklorique de l' "arriero" mexicain en rappelant qu'il s'agit surtout d'une figure inventée par les auteurs costumbristas du XIXe siècle.

Growing and diversifying travel practices in the19th century influenced the process of preparation and publication of travel descriptions, which became early searches for cultural and national identity. Attention to the lasting value of the 19th century travel descriptions has already been highlighted in historiography, however, in separate cases, travel descriptions are invoked as important indications for evaluating the information provided by primary sources, recording relics of GDL institutional memory. Thus, the purpose of this article is to reveal reflections of the history of GDL parliamentarianism in travel descriptions of the19th century, assess the insights they provide. It is possible to observe in the research that the value of travel descriptions varies, the descriptions differ in genre, and the range changes from single and minor clues to use of valuable sources of the GDL parliamentarianism history, so in this article an attempt is made to “pause” only for more detailed reflections.
The reflection of the Lithuanian statehood and the early history of parliamentarism, provided in the travel descriptions of Liudvikas Vladislovas Kondratovičius (signed: Władisław Syrokomla), embrace legendary episodes of activities of 13th century dukes, it is purposely constructed by the author in order to be able to portray that the pagan Lithuania conferred with citizens in folk assemblies or in diets (sejms), recognized the primacy of the legislation and law, it was a state that rebelled and elected its leaders and the illusion of a democratic society was actualized as an expression of longing for statehood of GDL and a veiled criticism of imperial politics of the Russian Empire. L. V. Kondratovičius not only mentions episodes of activity of diet (sejm) and dietines (sejmiks) of GDL (mentions the circumstances of the sessions of dietine of Trakai Voivodeship of 1720, 1773), he also mentions the important sources of the history of parliamentarism. The valuable insights about GDL exiles dietines, based on what is probably still a living oral tradition, can be found in travel descriptions published by Stanislovas Moravskis in the middle of 19th century. The author devoted much space to revealing of the specific position of Smolensk Voivodeship exiles during description of Alytus, he mentions the chancellery, dietines, which existed until the end of 18th century (the unique information about the large brick house of dietines that was located near the town hall was recorded), even the contraposition of noblemen in the dietines.

"The author of the essay has started investigating the writings of Alexander von Humboldt as a member of a German-American research cooperation in 2001. The project was affiliated to the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures in the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS, it was directed by Professor Frank Baron and was aimed at digitizing and electronically publishing the English translations of the works of Alexander von Humboldt. The project entitled The Humboldt Digital Library: A Global Network of Knowledge has come to an end by now, its results are available on the internet, see http://www.avhumboldt.net/index.php?page=136. As an anthropologist and historian of cultural anthropology, the author explored the Hungarian relations of the work of Alexander von Humboldt. She revealed how much he knew about Hungary (its geography, its language and, to a certain extent, its history), and that he not only had personal connections, acquaintances in contemporary Hungarian aristocratic and scientific circles, but he also made trips to Hungary (in 1797 and 1811). It is primarily certain members of the Podmaniczky family – József Podmaniczky (1756–1823) for sure, and perhaps also Károly Podmaniczky (1772–1833) – as well as other Protestant scientists like Pál Almási Balogh (1794–1867) who could function as his closest acquaintances in Hungary. Having a considerable reception in Hungarian scientific culture, the works of Alexander von Humboldt seem to have had an impact upon the emergence of, among others, geography and world ethnology in that country. They were praised by the geographer János Hunfalvy (1820–1888), a pioneer of ethnology/universal ethnography, too. The impact of Humboldt testifies the presence of the French géographie humaine but also a Romantic Gesamtforschung in 19th century Hungary -- research directions that the Hungarian scholars of the age could and did turn against Habsburg science."

In the article, I compare the political space of the Kremlin and residences outside Moscow and focus on the differences of the tsar’s security, social structures, administrative practices, and symbolic conflicts. Social conflict was connected with different publicity. Administrative conflict pointed to the parallelism in the governence. There were two symbolic conflict in the 17th century. On the one hand, the Kremlin as a spiritual and religious center opposed countryside residences as the place of material, economic interests and “amusing” rest. On the other hand, conflict of two types of residences was the traditional opposition of the city and the “spirit desert”. These differences created the conditions for competition between two political spaces and for Petrine transformations.

Contrariamente a quel che si sarebbe portati a pensare di un’epoca caratterizzata dalla crescente burocratizzazione delle istituzioni militari, l’esperienza del viaggio era frequente nelle carriere e nelle vite degli ufficiali europei del secondo Ottocento. Viaggio che non si riduceva ad un’attività routinaria e monodimensionale, o esclusivamente dovuta a ragioni di dovere professionale o rappresentanza diplomatica, bensì ad un tassello quasi obbligato nel bagaglio esperienziale dei giovani ufficiali di stato maggiore, e ad un piacere e ad uno svago per i loro colleghi già affermati.
Le corrispondenze private di alcuni ufficiali del Regio Esercito Italiano ci consentono di esplorare la dimensione del viaggio all’estero, e in particolare nelle grandi città europee, nelle sue diverse sfaccettature ma con un denominatore comune: l’esigenza (o la convenienza) del viaggiare in incognito. Dalla missione segreta e sotto copertura a Londra, al viaggio di piacere nella Parigi dell’Esposizione Universale; dall’incarico semipermanente degli addetti militari d’ambasciata, al vero e proprio grand tour che nel corso di più mesi conduce Enrico Cialdini e due giovani ufficiali da Berlino a Varsavia, a Mosca e Pietroburgo, a Stoccolma, Copenhagen e Amsterdam; vedremo le diverse identità di funzionario, turista e spia di volta in volta combinarsi e avvicendarsi in virtù della relativa invisibilità del viaggiatore.

Prince Sanguszko (1680–1750) was one of the most powerful and richest Polish magnates of the Saxon period, therefore he travelled extensively on business. His Treasure Book of 1726 enables precise reconstruction of his travels from January to August. As the analysis shows, Prince Sanguszko’s 22 travels in that period can be divided into regional (short-distance) and interregional (long-distance) ones. The first kind included travels to his main regional residences, the second kind included visits to estates within regions. In the course of his travels Sanguszko moved at an average speed of 29 km per day and he covered the distance of 2324 km. It can be estimated that throughout year 1726 his annual distance equals even 3500 km. This indicates that Paul Charles Sanguszko was one of the most mobile magnates of the entire Old-Polish period. Moreover, the number of Sanguszko’s retinue can be determined as 230 people: both courtiers and private troops. The last issue is the cost of travel. As shown in the calculation, the full cost of Sanguszko’s travels amounted to 1391 zlotys. Since it was only 4% of his semi-annual budget, travelling does not seem to be a serious expense for Polish magnates of the Saxon period.

Early modernists have explored a range of mobile practices taking place in cities: from religious and civic rituals to the multisensory experience of traversing streets and squares. Research has also shown the pivotal role played by cities as hubs where people came and went, ideas circulated, and goods passed through. Yet mobility did not just “take place” in cities. In presenting a new collection of articles on the subject, this paper suggests that urban spaces were more than just a stage for the streams of trade and migration. Rather, mobility had a transformative effect on cities: it assigned new meaning to urban locations, altered the ways in which space was ordered, and often refashioned the built environment itself. In addition, the paper argues that the relationship between movement and urban spaces was reciprocal: by channelling the flow of people through spaces of control and reception, cities shaped mobility as much as mobility shaped cities.

The perceptions of all those writing about ethnographic Others have invariable been colored by earlier texts. Long before we encounter other peoples face-to-face, our sensitivities have been shaped by the ethnographic imagery of explorers' accounts, sea captains' logs, travellers' tales and touristic brochures. Travel literature, as a genre, is rich in ethnographic imagery. Until recently, its role in shaping our own perceptions has been largely overlooked. This article critically examines the shifting portrayal of the Toraja of South Sualwesi (previously Celebes), Indonesia, delineating changes in the predominant imagery of Torajas (from 19th century travellers' images of "savage headhunters" to early 20th century colonial Dutch depictions of them as "gentle children," closing with an examination of Torajas' representation as "heavenly kings" in today's tourism literature. While these characterizations are not monolithic (at any given time there are multiple images) certain images are more prevalent than others. I argue that changes in the dominant imagery are neither arbitrary nor whimsical. Rather, the various dominant images in these different historical eras are linked to the specific missions of the early explorers, colonial administration and, later, the Indonesian state. Ultimately, the article suggests that these varied images serve to encourage and justify the imposition of new orders (e.g. colonialism, Christianity).

Prinz Constantin von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1758–1793), der jüngere Bruder des regierenden Herzogs Carl August, brach 1781 zu einer »Grand Tour« nach Italien auf. Aus Rom beschrieb Constantin im November 1781 frei nach Winckelmann die Eindrücke der Kunstwerke auf seinen »Geist« und sein »gantzes Wesen«, die ihm »eine neue Menschwerdung in Rom« ermöglichten. Somit griff Constantin als erster im Weimarer »Kosmos« die Idee der Wiedergeburt aus dem Studium der römischen Kunstwerke auf, die die später zum Topos wurde. Als Musikliebhaber konzentrierte er sich freilich auf Konzerte und Opernaufführungen in Rom und Neapel. In Umrissen skizzierte er so auch das Besichtigungsprogramm des Italienaufenthalts seiner Mutter Anna Amalia in den Jahren 1788 bis 1790. Zugleich bereitete sich in Italien der Versuch des Prinzen vor, aus dem höfisch-dynastischen Wertesystem auszubrechen. Sein Versuch, sich mit einer nichtadligen Lebenspartnerin im Herzogtum Weimar-Eisenach niederzulassen, scheiterte am Widerstand seiner Familie – der Prinz hatte als Ersatzthronfolger für seinen noch sohnlosen Bruder zur Verfügung zu stehen. Deshalb wurde Prinz Constantins Italienaufenthalt trotz seines umfangreichen Bildungsprogramms dem Vergessen übergeben (parallel dazu wurde Johann Gottfried Herders insgesamt negative Italienerfahrung marginalisiert). So sollte schließlich, spätestens seit der Publikation von Goethes Italienischer Reise, das Master narrative von der »Wiedergeburt« in Italien im Sinne einer bestimmten, literarisch geformten Kunstanschauung dominieren.

Travel logs are a particularly rich source of information when studying
encounters with mythological and legendary beings, but these sources also provide valuable descriptions of actual exotic animals spotted in the visited regions. In this text I analyze encounters with the monstrous and the fantastic "other" in medieval texts. I begin by interrogating the value of "the real" and "the symbolic" in these sources; I continue exploring the origin of monsters and wonders in ancient and medieval literature and I conclude by presenting the descriptions of legendary beings and exotic animals provided by Pero Tafur in his Andanças.

Los relatos de viaje son una fuente de información particularmente rica
para estudiar encuentros con seres mitológicos y legendarios pero también aportan valiosas descripciones sobre animales exóticos asociados a las regiones visitadas. En este texto se estudia el encuentro con "el otro" maravilloso y monstruoso prestando especial atención al valor de lo real y de lo simbólico, explorando el orígen de  lo monstruoso y de lo maravilloso y presentando las descripciones que el conocido viajero Pero Tafur hace en sus Andanças de los seres inverosímiles y legendarios que va encontrando en el camino.

http://pups.paris-sorbonne.fr/catalogue/litteratures-francaises-comparee-et-langue/imago-mundi/un-horizon-infini-ndeg18-coll

Peu reconnus par la critique postcoloniale, souvent assimilés sans nuances aux enjeux géopolitiques du Grand Jeu en Asie centrale à la même période, les récits des explorateurs français du Tibet manifestent pourtant des traits culturels spécifiques dont on se propose ici de mener l’archéologie. Missionnaires, aventuriers, nobles bannis, scientifiques républicains, diplomates, officiers coloniaux, intellectuels et orientalistes éclairés indiquent tous que la culture de l’exploration dont, de 1846 à 1912, ils sont les représentants se conçoit intrinsèquement comme une culture paysagère. Aussi révèlent-ils une évolution originale des savoirs sur le Tibet et des représentations du paysage tibétain qui se découvre progressivement à eux. La description du paysage participe ainsi globalement d’une histoire des sensibilités et d’une histoire des sciences, ce que l’on peut appeler une géosensibilité. Mais la description scientifique du paysage, liée à la pratique du voyage et à une confrontation à l’ailleurs, ne doit pas masquer le primat expérientiel qui lui donne sens. C’est ainsi que le paysage, en tant qu’expérience vécue, en vient à jouer le rôle d’une médiation interculturelle invitant à un renouvellement des questionnaires des explorateurs. Par ailleurs, la description scientifique participe tout autant de différents orientalismes, de différentes perceptions d’un Tibet associé par les voyageurs à un « paysage sacré ». La diversité dont ceux-ci témoignent, mais aussi les croisements de représentations issues d’autres cultures de l’exploration du Tibet – la tradition anglo-saxonne en premier lieu –, nous plongent aux origines de l’« image du Tibet » qui, au loin de la rencontre vivante des explorateurs – la Première Guerre, la Convention de Simla et l’avènement de la république de Chine marquent le terme de la culture française de l’exploration du Tibet –, se cristallisera et s’unifiera dans l’imaginaire occidental du XXe siècle.

One of the earliest civilizations took place in Asia, particularly the East Asian region. As a main result of war, historical travel, such as trading and pilgrimage, influenced the daily life of most people in the region. The Han Dynasty was traced back as the most significant period that triggered travelling activities during the discovery of the Silk Road. Since then, travelling facilities were developed, which consequently led to the increased inter-region movement of people and merchants. This study explores the historical development of travels in Eastern Asia, with a particular focus on the expansion of the Silk Road throughout several dynastic periods of China, as well as its influence on peninsular Korea and Japan. This study concludes that the Silk Road is an important channel for the exchange of tangible and intangible elements between China, Japan, and peninsular Korea as a sinicization process, particularly in the exchange of food, papermaking, and printing technology. An increased understanding of Asia's travel history helps to assess the travelling patterns in the region by revisiting the influence of tourists' socio-demographic factors to include the cultural background with historical elements.