Perhaps the most famous of these was the Han-Dynasty historian Sima Qian. Setting out from Chang'an at the age of 20, he traveled the Yangtze and Huai rivers through Sichuan and the central plains, collecting stories, legends, and historical information while taking in the magnificent scenery and seeing how people lived.
其中最有名的，當屬西漢史學家司馬遷，他在 20 歲那年，輕車簡乘從長安出發，遍遊江淮流域及中原、巴蜀地區，接觸壯麗河山和四方之民的生活習俗，並蒐集歷史傳說及各種史料。