Xu Xiake
The 10th- to 13th-century Song dynasty also saw secular travel writers such as Su Shi (11th century) and Fan Chengda (12th century) become popular in China. Under the Ming, Xu Xiake continued the practice. In medieval Italy, Francesco Petrarch also wrote an allegorical account of his 1336 ascent of Mount Ventoux that praised the act of travelling and criticized ('cold lack of curiosity'). The Burgundian poet later composed his own horrified recollections of a 1430 trip through the Jura Mountains.