Appreciation of the “oriental charm” of China’s rare and endangered plants

? An interview with Meng Bai，

president of Xueyuan Publishing House

Reporter： What are the reasons for your decision to publish the Paintings of China’s Rare and Endangered Plants Volume I Fern amp; Gymuosperm （hereinafter referred to as \"compendium\"）？

Meng Bai： I have been engaged in the publishing industry for more than 30 years. In the first ten years or more， I had focused on physical geography， ecological environment protection， and other fields， having a better understanding of China's ecological environment， animals and plants. As a publisher and editor， I have been thinking about how to lead more people to understand and appreciate the beautiful ecological environment， and to reach a consensus on the protection of wildlife. Can one arouse people’s interest in plants through their own appreciation of plants？ The best way to do so would be through a compendium.

On the other hand， as Xueyuan Publishing House focuses on publishing more books about Chinese traditional culture and art， I came up with an idea： combining traditional culture and art with ecology， animals and plants to create a new style of publication. Han Qide， president of Jiusan Society， has always been paying attention to and supporting the integration of science and culture and art. In organizing the publication of other books in the past years， we have met many people in the painting and art circles， and gradually developed an idea： creating an compendium of paintings about China's endangered plants with high artistic appreciation value and vividly showing the form of the endangered plants using traditional Chinese painting techniques.

Since 2012， we had been discussing this matter with a number of painters， botanists and geographers. We had also discussed it with art designers and editors of the publishing house many times. After each discussion， our idea got more detailed and clearer. We officially started to take on this topic in 2015.

The reason for choosing the theme of endangered plants is the same as our original intention of \"rescuing intangible cultural heritage\" in past years. That is， to record them before they disappear. Therefore， when we considered the themes， we didn’t choose plants from the perspective of which are most beautiful but focused on endangered， rare and valuable plants. This would not only make the compendium have artistic and scientific significance but also have social significance.

The so-called the popularization of science has two functions， one of which is to offer people knowledge. In the current Internet age， this function has declined， and people can learn knowledge as long as they can surf the Internet. Another important function that is often overlooked is to arouse the sympathy of readers in the object of promotion， so as to reach a consensus. We hope that through our compendium， readers will be able to gain some understanding of endangered plants， and then cherish and even participate in the activities for protecting them. In fact， this is a very important function of the popularization of science that has been neglected in recent years.

On the one hand， this compendium shows the artistic expression of Chinese painting; on the other hand， it demonstrates what rare and endangered plants there are in China， so that the public can cherish and protect them. The purpose of the topic was made on the basis of these two ideas.

Reporter： How do you define this book？ Is it a science book or an art book？

Meng Bai： When we produced and published this book， our original intention was based on the two ideas above. So， this compendium is both artistic and scientific， or scientific and artistic. As for which idea is more important， I prefer to put its artistic aspect before the scientific one. Because what this compendium tries to express is artistic appeal， a sense of beauty. The main task of this compendium is to show and display these plants artistically through artistic techniques. They are made for the public to appreciate rather than to lead them to identify plants after reading this book or have an in-depth understanding of their properties and various features.

In the traditional Chinese paintings of the past， painters did not care much about whether the objects painted were realistic or not. Instead， what they wanted to do was to express a kind of glamour or feeling. In the 21st century today， compared with their predecessors， painters should be more progressive. This progress will be revealed in the composition， color and techniques， as well as the perspective relation， and the relation between light and shadow that the traditional Chinese painting lacked in the past.

Why do we also pay attention to its scientific aspect when giving priority to the artistic aspect？ Because the compendium must be scientific， and we need to truthfully and vividly present the image of endangered plants. Another function of this book is to let readers understand the appearance features， details， and some special classification features of plants from the perspective of biological taxonomy through paintings and the attached text. Because of this， when selecting the composition of a certain plant， we had to decide whether to present its shape during its flowering period or fruiting period， and whether to draw a twig， a leaflet， or the whole body of the plant. The selection criteria depend on how to show the taxonomic characteristics of plants， rather than entirely from an aesthetic point of view. For example， for a certain plant， we only present a few leaves in the compendium. Because the taxonomic characteristics of this plant are revealed in its leaf margin， vein， or petiole while those characteristics of some plants are reflected in the color of its stamens and petals. When painting each plant， the starting point or perspective and pure artistic performance is different if its whole plant or part such as trunk， branches， or leaves， and fruit are chosen.

I specifically required that each plant had another painting that revealed its habitat. Plants have their habitats and can only grow in certain environments. Some are called understory plants， which can only grow under trees and will die as soon as they are exposed to the sunshine; some plants must be exposed to sunlight every day， and they will die as long as they are covered. There are more examples. When we present a gymnosperm or some kind of fern， we need to make it clear whether it grows at waterside， in rock cracks， on accumulated thick soils， in the woods or on the grasslands. We also need to tell whether the environment is relatively dry or humid， and whether it grows at high elevations or on the plains. It will be a failure if the factors of their habitat and community are ignored when promoting the knowledge of plants. What we want the readers to know should not just be the specimens， but the plants.

Then， two paintings of a plant together with the attached text would make our compendium more scientific. The so-called \" element of being both artistic and scientific\" is actually mixed together in every step in the creation， including selection of approaches， ways of planning， and details. If it is purely an artistic book， we will only need to consider which part of a plant looks good， how to draw it， which angle looks beautiful.

Reporter： Why do you make this book a cooperation between authoritative experts and painters？ The book involves a great deal of scientific knowledge of plants， so how do you ensure the precision of its content？ In editing the book， what is the process you follow to coordinate the work of academic advisors， painters， and editors？

Meng Bai： Because of the goal of making it both artistic and scientific， we do not merely reply on painters or scientists to complete this compendium. The production stages of this book reflect the cooperation between artists and scientists （academic advisors）.

In the first stage， scientists were responsible for selecting what plants to present， identifying rare and endangered plants in China， making a list of plants， and then classifying plants. The first volume that has been published is on ferns and gymnosperms， and the following two volumes will both be on" angiosperms. After producing the list of plants， we invited some experts to examine the draft and put forward suggestions on the revision of the list.

In the second stage， we collected data of the plants that had been included in the list. Textual material included scientific description of plant features and habitats. We also collected photos. Because plants change over the four seasons， we need different photos that showed different angles， positions and seasons. Therefore， we had to collect as many photos of each plant as possible. This is the step of data preparation， which was done by botanists.

As for the third stage， we invited several painters who are good at plants painting to examine them. Several aspects went into choosing a painter， such as painting style， effects， and the candidates’ understanding of science. Considering it might take a long time to draw such a long book， our original idea was to divide the plants into several groups and divide them among the painters. But when we examined the candidates， we found this method was not feasible. First of all， it was not easy to find satisfactory enough. Secondly， it was not very scientific to request all painters to paint in the same style. But the book required a unified style of painting. As a result， we finally selected one single painter. That meant a longer time for creation， much longer than we originally scheduled.

After the examination， we came to the fourth stage： official creation started. The creation was divided into several stages. In the first stage， we asked the academic advisors to communicate closely with the painter. First， we asked the academic advisors to describe the plant to be drawn， and to point out which characteristic or part of this plant was relevant to its scientific attributes or taxonomic characteristics. In the second stage， the painter conceived and drew the ink line drafts based on the collected data and the advice of the academic advisors. Then the painter communicated with the academic advisor to see if the draft reflected the expected plant characteristics. If it was approved， the painter could paint it. After completion， the painter asked the academic advisor to check if there were any scientific errors. At this point， the painting of this plant was finished. Hundreds of plants were painted in strict compliance with this procedure.

The creation process above sounds simple， but it actually took a long time. Fortunately， thanks to the smartphones and computers， the two sides could exchange information at any time. In creating a painting for each plant， the two sides would communicate once or twice if the creation was simple， and over ten times if complex. Sometimes the painter changed the design of one plant several times. Because the painter thought the painting looked good， but the academic advisor thought the painter failed to accurately reflect its characteristics. When the painter created another painting， the academic advisor still felt it was not good enough. Later， when the academic advisor accepted the painting as the characteristics were revealed，" the painter thought the composition didn’t look good and had to paint it again. In fact， the combination of science and art is a process of mutual check and compromise. All working to produce a work that satisfies everyone.

At that time， in designing the book， we also made reference to many compendiums about plants that had been published at home and abroad （mainly photos， but a few were in the form of painting， mainly foreign paintings， including oil painting， watercolor painting， and gouache painting）.

Since this book is both artistic and scientific， primarily showing the artistic image of plants， we give each plant a \"main painting\" （larger in size） and a \"secondary painting\" （smaller in size）. The secondary painting usually shows what the main painting fails to reveal. For example， if the main painting reveals part of a plant and it is equivalent to a close-up， then the secondary painting may be the shape of its body and habitat. Or conversely， if the main painting reveals the shape of the body， the secondary painting will be a close-up， similar to an \"attachment\" coming out when clicking on the computer screen.

In addition， we also described each plant with words. We have edited the words by replacing some more professional and difficult terms with those that the public will understand， similar to the words on the description signs in botanical gardens and zoos， but more rich in content. Each plant’s taxonomic name， Latin name， distribution locations， shape and property， and the protection level are described in this short description. The amount of information varied from 6-7 facts to 12 depending on the plant. The written descriptions will

assist the compendium in popularising science.

Reporter： How do you define the target readers and sales channels of this book？ Which groups of readers do you want to make this book available to？

Meng Bai： The first edition of our compendium can also be called the master copy. Readers and vendors are targeted in several aspects： first， it can be used as a valuable gift. Books as gifts have more cultural content than other things （such as caterpillar fungus and Maotai）. In particular， this compendium shows the rare plants that are particular to China， it was produced with Chinese painting techniques， and is very suitable for introducing and demonstrating Chinese plants and ecological protection for foreign readers. Second， it can be used as part of collections and exhibits of libraries， museums， and exhibition halls. I have seen many large picture compendiums in some large， medium and small libraries， and museums in the United States and Japan， and they are very popular with the audience.

We want to develop derivative products for the general public， especially teenagers， on the basis of this master copy， which are equivalent to a popular edition. The current compendium is a loose-page edition packed in a box with a size of 52 cm × 47 cm × 9 cm with a weight of 6 kg. The popular edition will be smaller， easier to carry， with a much lower price. We hope it can be available to more young readers， including children.

Before the compendium was published， we had made monthly calendars of \"China's Rare and Endangered Plants\" with some of the painted works for three consecutive years. We also exhibited hanging paintings at a popular science exhibition in Shanghai， all of which were quite popular among readers. We can also derive another series of creative products from its master copy， such as household decorations， or some public decorations， which not only beautify the environment but also contribute towards the popularization of science. In addition， we also want to use the paintings of the compendium as material to produce some practical objects， such as glasses， mugs， dinner plates， coasters， tablecloths， napkins， scarves， bags and so on.

Paintings of China’s Rare and Endangered Plants Volume I Fern amp; Gymuosperm （Hardcover）

Yin Hong as Editor-in-Chief， examined by Liu Quanru， Feng Jinzhao， and Kong Hongzhi， painted by Zhang Hao， written by Hui Cenyi

Xueyuan Publishing House

April 2019

Yin Hong

Yin Hong was a graduate from the Forestry Department of Northwest Aamp;F University. She is a member of Jiusan Society and a senior engineer. She was" former deputy director of the State Forestry Administration and was responsible for wildlife protection and foreign affairs. She is currently vice president and secretary-general of the Central Committee of Jiusan Society， member of the 12th Central Committee of Jiusan Society， member of the 11th CPPCC National Committee， and vice president of the 11th All-China Women’s Federation.