1field diary of Tibetan wood during his inspection in Yadong County, Tibet in June, 975. The picture on the right shows the sketch of Molari Peak in Himalayan hills.
Hand-painted sample acquisition card for Tibetan herdsmen-Hymenolepis gigantea
Hand-painted Tibetan specimen collection card-Snow Lotus
In 2000, Tibetan wood collected fungal specimens during an investigation in Caiyanghe Nature Reserve, Simao, Yunnan.
The pictures in this paper are all selected from "A Journey to Mountains and Rivers: A Journey to the Discovery of the Roof of the World-Notes on Scientific Investigation of Tibetan Wood"
Reader's theory
After reading three books "A Journey to the Mountains and Rivers: A Journey to the Roof of the World-Notes on the Scientific Investigation of Tibetan Wood" for the first time (hereinafter referred to as "A Journey to the Mountains and Rivers"), I sent a message in the circle of WeChat friends: It is not easy for Jiangsu Phoenix Science and Technology Publishing House to publish such a book. There are several unexpected places in this book. 1. There are such scientists in China. The publishing house is willing to publish such a book. It took a lot of effort to do it so well.
Internationally renowned mycologist
This one-volume and three-volume masterpiece photocopies the contents of domestic scientific research in Zangmu's Diary of Field Investigation 15. The publishing house organized staff headed by experts from the editorial board to record all diary manuscripts and make necessary revisions and translations (mainly for species names, etc. ), as well as a small number of editor's notes and guiding texts. Of course, there are preface and appendix.
More than ten days have passed, and the book review has not been written yet. I have been reading the book (from front to back, from back to front, over and over again), and my mind has been turning. How can I comment on such a special book? Formal book reviews are probably inappropriate, at least not for me to write. This book is very special. As far as the content is concerned, it involves plant taxonomy, fungal taxonomy, geography, scientific research notes, diaries, painting, calligraphy, scientific culture, historical data collation and so on. It is numerous, complicated and has a long time span, which provides readers with various angles and opportunities to appreciate comments. By rights, I should write from the perspective of history of science, history of science and culture or plant natural history. But is this the most important thing? I think this book has the strongest feelings in these aspects?
Zang Mu was born in Yantai, Shandong Province on 1930 and died on 201year. On the eve of the founding of New China, he was admitted to Soochow University run by the American Church to study biology. After graduation, I taught in many schools, mainly in moss, and I met, fell in love and got married with Li Xingjiang because of studying moss. But later, Tibetan wood mainly studied not moss but large fungi, which is what people usually call mushrooms. Looking back, I have seen "Tibetan Fungi" published by the Science Press edited by him before, but it has nothing to do with the specific author. In this book, the preface of Wang Wencai, Hu Zonggang, Zeng Xiaolian and Li Xingjiang, the introduction and introduction of the editor, and the four appendices at the end of the book, especially Hu Zonggang's articles, provide necessary and rich information, which can help readers understand a broader background. From this, we can get a basic meaning. Zangmu is the founder of fungi collection and research in southwest China and an internationally renowned mycologist. He has done a lot of scientific research and scientific research services in his life. For example, he founded the Yinzi Caobiao Library of Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He collected more than 13800 fungal specimens, 24500 lichen specimens and 1200 lichen specimens. Under his direct efforts, Yunnan Botanical Studies, Fungi in Hengduan Mountain Area, Dictionary of Cryptosporidium Plants in China, Fungi in China, Volumes I-II of Boletus, China Grand Ceremony, Biocode, etc. Successfully published.
Learn more about plant taxonomy
Zang Mu's professional academic achievements in his life focused on fungi, and hundreds of published records listed in Appendix III were also clearly targeted at fungi. However, the three-volume book A Journey to Mountains and Rivers is not limited to this. Aside from art, scenery, nationality and culture, I pay special attention to one detail: the author is very familiar with and professional in general botany. For example, the Latin scientific names of plants written by the author "casually" can be seen everywhere in the scientific research notes starting from the first volume of1May 27, 975. Not one or two, but hundreds; Not one family or two, but many plants.
How difficult is it to write down the exact names of plants in a notebook? Sometimes it is difficult, especially in places where the research level is not high. From 65438 to 0975, people knew little about Tibetan plants, so the country launched the first comprehensive scientific research on Tibet. I wonder, as a member of the expedition, how many plants Zangmu knows in the wild, how did he recognize them, how could he accurately classify families, genera and even species, directly write Latin scientific names, and some even include information about naming people? If there are only a few target species, this is not surprising. Just lock in advance and do your homework. But this is obviously not the case, not a small number but a large number, and it is impossible for all of them to be locked in advance. At that time, I may have brought some reference books with me for reference, but even so, it is amazing to write such rich and professional notes, which shows that the author knows enough about the wild plants in the investigation area. At first, I even suspected that some notes were "made up" afterwards, but after comprehensive analysis of the details, it was determined that at least the main part was completed at that time. This can't help but make people admire Zang Muyuanbo's knowledge of plant taxonomy. Later, he did not do special research on narrow botany, and basically did not publish any works on narrow botany. But his botanical foundation is there, which constitutes his basic literacy as a scientist. This foundation, like his literature, art and humanistic skills, appeared as a broad background, supported his core professional research and made his unique life.
Tibetan wood is not outstanding in scientific research funds, professional titles, official positions, number of publications and award-winning grades. For example, he is not an academician and has hardly held an official position, but he is admirable and enviable. Moreover, he loves collecting, singing Beijing opera, beautiful Banqiao calligraphy, concise and accurate plant sketches and watercolors, which are all great. Needless to say, just looking at the beautiful Chinese characters and foreign letters written in pen on each page is enough to surprise every reader today: how can it be so beautiful? Why can't I write it? What kind of basic education helps to cultivate cultural people like Tibetan wood? Scientists or intellectuals? This is a problem. Is he a scientist or a scholar? Now it seems that science and humanities can only be one of them, both of which are involved, and they are generally involved. However, the organic combination of science and humanities is really an ideal. In fact, it is not far away, and Tibetan wood is a typical example.
A poetic record of personal life
What are these three books showing? What do people think, and what does Zangmu himself think? There can't be a unique answer to this, but it can be expressed separately. I thought about it for a long time, and the conclusion is that Zangmu is creating a unique work of art, first for himself. It's private, usually for you or a few friends. It was not published before his death. Maybe he didn't even think of publishing. But it must be very important for Zangmu himself, because he spent a lot of effort on it: under extremely difficult conditions-usually at night, he finished writing pictures in his notebook and accumulated one book after another. It is an aesthetic and poetic record of personal life, and it can also be said to be a kind of "loyal" record, but this loyalty does not mean that a person says one thing, depicts nature intact and records the trivial things every year. In fact, the object is carefully selected by the author, and the form of expression is very special, some are intentionally prominent, and some are intentionally ignored. After a long time, people's memory will become blurred or misplaced, but it is different when recorded at that time. Looking through the field record book of that year one day in the future, we can recall and reproduce many scenes. In this sense, it is really something like a diary, but it is more advanced and artistic. They are really wonderful and can be regarded as works of art. Of course, the contents of the three volumes are not all of the same type. My favorite is the first volume. I especially like his paintings "Plum in Yunnan" (65 pages), Rhizoma Arisaematis (69 pages), Peach Blossom (78 pages), Rosa sericea (90 pages), Saussurea involucrata (108 109 pages) and Lycopodium (259 pages). I also dream of writing a good hand.
Importance of local academic accumulation
How to publish such a work? Is it a first-class scientific research achievement? Is it an important and complete humanities academic? Is it a great artistic creation? Is it the manuscript of a great historical celebrity or a scientific giant? Neither! But it's really worth publishing. In today's China, it can be published. Of course, there are also some specific causal impetus, such as the recommendation of Mr. Zeng Xiaolian, a good friend of Zangmu, the specific operation of Ms. Zhou, and the publishing house's application for publishing topics. Of course, these are all important. They are Aristotle's motive and direct cause. This is not what I want to say. This book can be published today because many people agree with its value and scarcity, and it is worth showing to this impetuous world. China's national strength is also increasing. Enterprises have the ability to publish it, and readers have the ability to appreciate and consume it. Such conditions are hard to come by. It can be said that people have been waiting for a long time. Related to this, what is the significance of the publication of "Mountain and River Map"? It is a "useless" book, and I say this not to belittle it, but to praise it. Interesting books are useless! Compared with the current mainstream, what is useful in the future is useless now. Here's to uselessness! The inclusion of this useless book in the "National Publishing Fund Project" just witnessed the steady development and unhurriedness of China society.
Finally, I want to talk about the importance of local academic accumulation. The main field of Zang Mu's life work is macrofungi. He started almost from scratch, and his own involvement is not too early. 1973 ——1975 is mainly used for specimen collection, and Tibetan fungi are published in 1983. By the 1990s, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences had a world-class collection of fungal specimens. On the whole, after more than 30 years of accumulation, relying on the rich natural resources in Yunnan and its surrounding areas and extensive academic exchanges in the international scope, the research on fungi in China has begun to take shape, and a number of talents have been trained. Are you 30 years old or short? I don't think so. It is important to have a good plan, lay a good foundation, stick to it and pass it on from generation to generation. Academic research should be independent, focus on the long-term construction of the country, follow its own ideas, and should not always follow the hot spots of foreigners.
(Author: Liu Huajie, Professor of Philosophy Department of Peking University)