Aside from the two works just mentioned and Hsu Jen-hsiu's descriptions of nature see on his exploring trips, the field of "depicting nature through words" was barren.
從文學史上看，在《旅次札記》及《守望的魚》之前，只有徐仁修的一些蠻荒歷險記，對自然動植物樣態略有描述，除此之外，「以文字探索自然」這條路途上，是一片荒蕪。