NEW BERBERIS SPECIES NAMED AFTER NAXI BOTANTICAL EXPLORER ZHAO CHENGZHANG, A PROTAGONIST OF THE PAPER ROAD
Zhao Chengzhang 趙成章
A new species of Berberis (or Barberry) is to be named after Zhao Chengzhang, an enormously accomplished early twentieth century botanical explorer from Nvlvk’o or Xuesong Village. Zhao Chengzhang was the boss of a crew of Naxi ethnicity explorers from Nvlvk’o who worked with British botanist George Forrest to scour Northwest Yunnan for flowers for British gardens.
Zhao Chengzhang is featured in The Paper Road: Archive and Experience in the Botanical Exploration of West China and Tibet. Neither his full name nor the extent of his accomplishments were known until the research for that book.
The new species, Berberis Zhaoi, is from the eastern flank of the Yulong Xueshan, the great mountain range that towers above Zhao’s home village. The type specimen was almost certainly collected by Zhao’s gang of Naxi explorers. The species will be published by the Missouri Botanical Garden in “Revision of the Berberis of China” by Julian Harber.
Berberis Forrestii, one of the species that Berberis Zhaoi resembles and has been misidentified as. Berberis Forrestii is named after George Forrest, who employed Zhao Chengzhang and the other Naxi botanical explorers
Zhao Chengzhang and some of his fellow botanical explorers, on the road
THE PAPER ROAD RECEIVES 2013 JULIAN STEWARD AWARD FOR BEST MONOGRAPH IN ENVIRONMENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY
From the Anthropology and Environment section of the American Anthropological Association web page:
“Univ. of Michigan anthropologist Erik Mueggler awarded Julian Steward Prize
The 2013 Julian Steward Award went to Erik Mueggler for his 2011 book The Paper Road: Archive and Experience in the Botanical Exploration of West China and Tibet (Univ. of California Press).
Erik Mueggler is professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan.
The announcement was made in December at the annual convention by president Glenn Davis Stone.
The Prize committee commended Prof. Mueggler for his lyrical account of the journeys of two early twentieth-century botanists who explored the borderlands between China, Tibet and Burma, and their collaborative relationships with Yunnan villagers. The book presents colonial science as an intimate, personal affair, and shows the effects of local knowledge. The text beautifully infuses biography, ethnography, botany and geography with captivating tales of daring adventure.
