China and Europe both had a long tradition of studies of the natural world, involving rich exploration, observation, and documentation. This research will explore the different ways in which the botanical world was depicted and illustrated in these two regions, as well as the technologies and scientific purposes that shaped these traditions. By examining the technical and artistic techniques used in such illustrations, as well as the cultural and scientific contexts in which they were created, this paper seeks to shed light on the relations between art and science in the development of an understanding of the botanical world in both China and Europe.
The role of illustrations in disseminating knowledge is also examined, touching upon debates on the use of illustrations throughout centuries in both China and Europe. Social structures and cultural background should also be taken into account. Scientific revolution and collecting the nature takes European botanical books to an unprecedented level of popularity, while Chinese botanical illustrations under the literati tradition developed further into module books. The most elaborate Chinese botanical illustrations found their way in painting manuals. This comparative study enriches our understanding of the development of botanical studies in both regions, offering valuable insights into the intersections of art, science, and culture in the depiction of the botanical world.

This study examines the divergence and commonalities in 18th- and 19th-century approaches to natural studies in Japan and Korea, with a focus on the roles of visual versus textual representations in describing and discussing plants, trees and flowers. In the shared East Asian intellectual environment, both Japanese and Korean scholars shared a critical awareness of the limitations of universal, imported texts from China, like the Bencao gangmu, within their local contexts. However, while Japan developed precise pictorial techniques to document these local differences visually, Korean scholars continued to rely primarily on text-based methods. Japan’s move towards professionalized intellectual communities fostered collective observation and refined pictorial documentation, whereas Korean scholarship retained its text-centric focus and developed distinctive encyclopedic style of writing, which remained highly individualized. This contrast reflects a divergence in the historical development of botanical knowledge. Nonetheless, both intellectual traditions reflect a shared critical engagement with adapting and critically verifying Chinese knowledge to account for their own material environments. By comparing these two trajectories, this study highlights the nuanced ways in which both Japan and Korea localized universal knowledge to fit their own unique flora, shedding light on the diversity within East Asian intellectual practices of the era.

As many studies have noted, Modern historians of science and missionaries visiting China have considered classical Chinese academia to be scanty in botanical content. An exception is Wu Qichen’s (1789–1847) Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao (hereinafter ZWMSTK), published during the late Qing dynasty (specifically, in 1848), which marked the transition from herbology to botany in East Asia. This period witnessed the publication of the earliest Japanese textbook to introduce Western botany, Shokugaku Keigen (Principles of Botany), in 1834 and Chinese translations of some English botanical textbooks by a British missionary, such as Zhiwuxue (Botany), published in 1858. ZWMSTK’s most distinctive feature—and the reason for its high reputation—is its exquisite line drawings. Wu Qichen started a good government career in 1816, when he proudly became the “Number One Scholar” (zhuangyuan). However, after losing both of his parents in the 1820s, he spent eight years mourning in his hometown. During this time, he cultivated and observed many plants. He later served as governor of Hu-Guang (1841–1843) and subsequently as a local administrative chief throughout southern China. During this period, Wu not only encountered many southern plants but also possibly exported paintings or some Western illustrated botanical books. Neither the book’s preface nor his biography clarifies why he decided to author and publish this book. In this presentation, I will attempt to offer a new understanding of ZWMSTK through an analysis from the perspective of the Ming-Qing dynasty’s Confucianism to consider a reason for his decision to make the book.