From the Shang and Zhou, to the destruction of the Song, this was the inaugural phase of the history of David's deer in China. As a consequence of human consumption and the utilisation of antlers and meat for medicinal purposes, wild deer are being hunted in significant numbers, which is contributing to a reduction in their population. The second stage spans the period from the Yuan to the end of the Qing. The nomadic people, proficient in equestrian and archery skills, migrated to the Central Plains and transported the remaining deer from the mudflat of the Yellow Sea to Beijing, where they became a target for royal hunting expeditions. The Qing Dynasty rulers viewed hunting deer as an act and symbol of upholding Manchurian characteristics. Interestingly, it was precisely due to this hunting behaviour of the royal families of the Yuan and Qing that the deer obtained its last surviving habitat in China. The third stage commenced in 1980. The Chinese government facilitated the repatriation of the deer from Britain and initiated a breeding programme at Nanhaizi. This was followed by the reintroduction of wild breeding in the coastal mudflat where the species' wild ancestors were last observed. The deer was on the brink of extinction in the wild due to human activities. However, it survived due to the demands of domestication and hunting. Ultimately, it achieved a transition from death to rebirth in China. This historical process provides a comprehensive illustration of the role of "humanity" in the Anthropocene.

Mr Shuai Liu

Although historically, knowledge and learning between the East and the West have always mutually enriched each other through a two-way flow and exchange, we often encounter an awkward historical narrative: during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Chinese intellectual community appeared either to cling to tradition and stagnate or to adopt a passive stance of understanding and accepting. How can we break free from the long-standing 'impact-response' model that has shaped this historical mindset? This study argues that while we emphasize the historical process of 'Western learning spreading to the East,' we often lack an equally detailed and comprehensive historical analysis to support the corresponding narrative of 'Eastern learning spreading to the West.' This obscured path of knowledge dissemination also represents a significant and vivid historical trend. Starting in 1776, the publication of 'Les mémoires concernant des Chinois' included the first disclosure of the last batch of Jesuit observations in China during the latter half of the 18th century, in which the proportion of various forms of natural knowledge (including geography and demography, referred to as 'natural history,' as well as zoology, botany, mineralogy, herbal medicine, and agricultural and pastoral knowledge, etc.) is notably high. Moreover, a fact that should not be overlooked is that when 'Les mémoires' discusses various natural beings found in China, it often highlights the local people's understanding and utilization of them, thereby embodying the characteristics of 'local knowledge.'

G. N. Potanin (Γ·Η·Πотанин, 1835-1920) was one of the most important organisers of Russian expeditions to Asia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who conducted 5 times scientific expeditions between 1876 and 1899. He collected a great deal of precious and indispensable materials on natural resources, geography, ethnic and cultural studies during his expeditions, and these materials richly records of the flora and the traditional knowledge of plant utilisation. Therefore, there collated and analysed plant-related content from first three expeditions organised by Potanin. In his records, the 468 latin names of plants contained were compiled and compared with the currently accepted names; Meantime, he has recorded the folk names of plants using the local languages, and the traditional knowledge of cognition and usage mode by various ethnic groups in the regions he visited is also recorded in detail. It directly or indirectly reflects the local knowledge of the people on the classification, naming, utilisation value of the plants. It is evident that the plant-related content of the expedition of Potanin is comprehensive and detailed.
It must be admitted that this is an important and noteworthy case. So, the purpose of reviewing botanical expeditions by Potanin, is to explore the influence and promotion of his achievements on the development of botanical sciences in Asia. Moreover, at a time when traditional knowledge is increasingly being ignored and forgotten after more than a century, there is profound and vital value in uncovering the knowledge of the plant-human relationship in historical material.

Traditional botanical knowledge (TBK) exists in ethnic and folk cultures around the world and is recorded in ancient books from different historical periods.
"The Secret History of the Mongols" (SHM) is the earliest written records of the Mongols which was written in 1240 AD.
In the section 74 and 75 of chapter II, the SHM described the hard life of childhood Temüjin, who later became the great Genghis Khan, and his family members relied on gathering and hunting livelihood. The gathered wild plants were called in accordance with the pronunciation of plant formerly Mongol names as [ölirsün], [möyilsün], [südün], [čičigina], [qaliyarsun], [manggirsu], [ǰa’uqasu] and [qoqosun].
The results of textual research show that those plant names can correspond with 8 species of wild plant as Malus baccata (L.) Borkh, Prunus padus L., Sanguisorba officinalis L., Potentilla anserina L., Allium victorialis L., Allium senescens L., Lilium pumilum DC. and Allium ramosum L.. Findings from botanical and ethnobotanical field work show that the plants are still distributed in the Khentii Mountains and Onon Rivers area of Mongolia where childhood Genghis Khan and his family lived at that time, and also show that the plants are still traditionally used by the Mongolian people.
SHM involves the information of medieval Mongols’ nomenclature and use of wild edible plants, provides precious materials for history of the Mongolian TBK. This study suggests that SHM is the earliest document to use Mongolian phonetics to record TBK of the Mongolian ethnic group.