Comparison of travelogues of Xu Xiake and Marco Polo using large language models

Travel writing holds an important place in both Chinese and Western literary traditions, yet comparative studies remain limited, especially those integrating spatial, thematic, and emotional dimensions. Prior research has typically treated Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries and The Travels of Marco Polo separately, overlooking key cultural and narrative contrasts. This study adopts an interdisciplinary digital humanities framework that combines GIS mapping, large language models, knowledge graphs, BERTopic modeling, and domain-specific sentiment analysis to compare the two works across geographic, semantic, and affective dimensions. It aims to: (1) map and contrast travel trajectories; (2) extract and compare knowledge structures; (3) identify thematic patterns; and (4) analyze emotional expression. The findings show that Xu Xiake focuses on natural landscapes in southern China, often with rich and affective descriptions, while Marco Polo presents a broader geographical scope, emphasizing commerce, cities, and cross-cultural encounters with a more neutral tone. Both describe cities like Hangzhou and Kunming, yet Xu foregrounds topographical features, whereas Marco Polo highlights urban and societal aspects. Thematically, Xu prioritizes physical geography and natural philosophy, while Marco Polo emphasizes material culture and religious practices. In terms of sentiment, Xu’s writing reveals an emotional arc—characterized by exuberance and awe in early journeys and a more subdued, reflective tone in later stages—whereas Marco Polo maintains a relatively steady emotional register throughout his narrative. These differences reflect distinct epistemic orientations and narrative intentions within Eastern and Western travel writing traditions. The integration of large language models with geospatial and semantic analysis demonstrates a novel computational approach to comparative literary studies.