張德彝為晚清特殊外交人物，自1866年以同文館學生身分隨行出國，至1901-1906年任出使英義比國大臣，共歷八次出洋，停留海外27 年。旅外期間他每日撰寫日記，留下二百餘萬言的《述奇》作品。 《述奇》包含大量航海日記，張德彝慣用「如鏡如畫」敘述，詮釋出模糊籠統的海上美景，紀實的海洋景物反而具備虛幻情境。隨著航海經驗的積累，他從傳統認知的比附轉為科學化、數據化，建構出一個接近西方的海洋世界。 張德彝再現的航海生活極為多樣，暈船之苦與狂風巨浪，被認定為冒險專屬勳章，屢屢安然度險，被他視為君主海神與西方科技共同之功，反映出傳統與先進的矛盾。至於個人自然審美經驗與船上娛樂活動的參與，則呈現出一種新╱舊、靜╱動並存的歡樂感。

Zhang Deyi is a special diplomat in late Qing dynasty. He went abroad as a student of Tung Wen College since 1866, until he was appointed ambassador to UK, Italy and Belgium from 1901 to 1906. He experienced 8 times to go overseas and stayed for 27 years in foreign countries. In the period of travelling overseas, he wrote a diary daily and left a work - Drafts on My Fantastic Experiences Overseas - of more than 2 million words. This work contains considerable journals on his voyages. He preferred to use vague way to describe sea views, but used detailed and clear records with unreal atmosphere to give account of the special marine creatures and natural phenomena. With the accumulation of sailing experience, his descriptions turned from analogy with traditional knowledge to scientific and numerical descriptions, and then construct an ocean world view which was closer to the west. Drafts on My Fantastic Experiences Overseas reproduces extremely diverse marine lives. He thought that storms, huge waves and the pain of seasickness were identified as the exclusive medals of adventure and regarded that he experienced calamities safely because the help of emperor, sea gods, and western science and technology. This reflects the contradiction between tradition and modern. Appreciation of the natural scenery and participation in recreational activities on board are two things that brought him happiness which show coexistence novelties vs. nostalgia and static vs. dynamic states.