FAN FA-TI. British naturalists in Qing China: science, empire, and cultural encounter

Abstract

Westerners in Old Canton came into contact with Chinese mer-chants, officials, servants, shopkeepers, and artisans from different so-cial strata. Admittedly, the contact was often limited and controlled, yet it permitted the Westerners to carry on trade, maintain social connec-tions, begin missionary work, and collect natural history specimens. The British in Canton took an interest in horticulture and natural history, both of which were respectable and fashionable intellectual pursuits in Britain. As residents in China, the British recognized the unique access afforded them to the natural riches of the vast empire, and they tried to maximize whatever contact they had with the Chinese to facilitate their collecting and research. Confined in a narrow district, the British naturalists often had to rely on the Chinese to collect specimens, especially in the interior. Be-cause the specimens thus procured were usually few in number or unlikely to survive the voyage to Europe, the naturalists had to find alternative or complementary methods of recording, preserving, and transmitting scientific data. Not surprisingly, verbal descriptions func-tioned as the most common and convenient method. In their letters or reports to the scientific community in Europe, British naturalists in China eagerly related the objects of nature they saw or observed; but these descriptions, often crude and imprecise, were hardly serviceable for technical research. It was not easy to describe in everyday lan-guage particular plants and animals in sufficient detail and precision 40 that the naturalists' scientific correspondents could reproduce in their minds the objects in question without having seen them or any objects closely resembling them. Everyday language seemed to be more useful in communicating certain kinds of information, such as where and how a specimen was found or how best to grow a plant, than others, such as how to determine the identity of a plant. This problem was, of course, not new. It had haunted natural histori-ans for centuries; and by the end of the eighteenth century, highly stan-dardized vocabulary had been developed to describe the observable characteristics of specimens. The precision of the vocabulary was such that educated practitioners could communicate effectively between themselves through written descriptions of specimens in technical vocabulary, for example, botanical Latin. This scientific language obvi-ously was not for everyone; it required education, training, and prac-tice. In the hands of qualified experts, according to many early nine-teenth-century naturalists, written descriptions could be as reliable as, or even more reliable than, pictures. In their view, good verbal descrip-tions spoke directly to the rational mind, whereas pictures, especially the color ones found in popular texts, sacrificed knowledge for sensory pleasure. 1 Yet others argued that pictures, with their strong appeal, could be employed to promote science and invite popular participation in natu-ral history. In an unexpected way perhaps, the scientific activities of British naturalists in China supported this view. Unable or reluctant to describe specimens in technical vocabulary, the naturalists turned to visual representation as a useful alternative. Some British naturalists, prominently John Reeves, took advantage of the local industry of Chi-nese export painting and hired local artists to draw natural history specimens. The drawings were in a distinctive style and bore the visual signature of Chinese export painting. 2 This kind of collaboration was also common in eighteenth-and nineteenth-century India, where na-tive artists, who had adapted their methods and style to the needs of their Western customers, were employed to depict natural history specimens. 3 Natural history drawings thus produced invite us to consider two sets of issues. The relationship between art and science has generated much scholarly interest; and whether it is discussed in the context of museums, anatomical texts, or modern media such as film, the focus is Art, Commerce, and Natural History