The annual Arbor Day is coming as scheduled, and the significance of Arbor Day is, of course, more than just planting a tree. Trees are unusually close to us humans. Deeply rooted in nature, history and civilization, this species has a far more far-reaching past and future than humans.
For a long time, our relationship with trees and with nature has been in a very contradictory situation. Humans, while saying they recognize the importance of trees, are constantly cutting down trees. The consequences of this behavior are well known: soil erosion, flooding, extinction of species, and the decline of regional civilizations. Cherishing trees is the protection of our human beings, because each tree is precious to the whole community.
The Story of the Tree, by Richard Mayby, translated by Biyu Wu, Kai Chen, and Xianglin Shi, February 2021 edition of Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House.
The planet works without living trees – the origins of agriculture, the creation of cities, the creation of fossil fuel-dependent energy systems, all at the expense of cutting down trees. Trees, which in the industrial age were wildly plundered natural resources, have become loyal partners in helping humanity resist global warming in modern times. The total number of trees in the world has been on a downward trend over the past 5,000 years, but we can never completely abandon them, not only because they provide the oxygen we need to breathe, but also because they make us aware of ourselves.
As a companion piece to The Weed's Tale, The Tree's Tale continues Richard Mayby's usual light-hearted approach to writing, exploring the delicate relationship between man, nature, and history. The author writes from the beech and tells the history of the tree, and the story of the creatures associated with it, such as hyacinths, orchids, fungi, deer, and badgers. Through the different positioning of trees by humans in different ages, the author reveals the changes in the natural and social history of Britain and even europe as a whole.
"Song of trees", by David George Haskell, translated by Zhu Shiyi, reviewed by Lin Qiang and Sun Caizhen, Drawing by Nian Gao, The Commercial Press, July 2020 edition.
By documenting trees and the sounds reverberating over them, David George Haskell tells the story of trees and human-inhabited communities. The author brings his keen observational power to the intricate biological networks that surround more than a dozen different trees around the world, exploring the connected communities of plants, fungi, bacteria, animals, and birds, and focusing on the place of humans in these networks. Every living organism is not only sustained by biological connections, but also by these relationships. This networked outlook on life enriches our understanding of biology and promotes our thinking about human nature and ethics.
Wherever they are, the song of trees stems from the relationship between lives. A tree appears to be an individual, but its life is not discrete. The memory of life told by the tree shows that life is a huge network of relationships to which we humans also belong. Cities (from Manhattan to Jerusalem), forests (Amazon, North America and the East) and areas on the front lines of environmental change (eroded coastlines, burned hillsides and war zones), each show us how human history, ecology and well-being are closely linked to the life of trees. Each chapter in the book deals with the singing of a tree, describes the properties of these sounds, the story of what forms them, and our physical, emotional, and intellectual feedback on them.
The Creation of Things: The Story of Man and Tree, by Robert Payne, translated by Zhang Zhenxu, Xinmin Shu 丨 Guangxi Normal University Press, December 2017.
The book's author, Robert Payne, and his family live in the black mountain woods of South Wales and live a quaint life back to nature. One cold winter morning, Payne cut down a near-perfect ash tree and took it to look for various carpenters to see how many kinds of artifacts the tree could make. On the main island of England, Ireland, Austria and even the United States across the ocean, Robert witnessed the exquisite craftsmanship of the craftsmen and obtained 44 exquisite artifacts. These items include axe handles, wheels, wooden bowls, bows and arrows, sleigh skateboards, Irish cricket bats, American baseball bats, desks, and other traditional small daily necessities. These lost craftsmanships, the long-standing connection between humans and nature, have entered the daily life of today under Payne's pen.
This journey with the ash tree made Payne deeply realize: "A tree shows the current life form, but the story of a tree tells the past years, and the closeness and harmony between people and trees in the long past years." For the sake of our own needs, we must re-establish a reverence for nature that has been forgotten and abandoned. ”
Those Trees That Have Lived For a Long Time: Exploring the Extraordinary Life of the Ordinary Tree, by Fiona Stafford, translated by Wang Chen and Wang Biting, unread Explorer 丨 Beijing United Publishing Company, May 2019 edition.
This is a book about "trees", and the author's writing style is also very similar to the shape of trees - with "trees" as the root, the branches extend to mythology, history, ecology, religion and private emotional resonance, the branches are intricate, full of interesting discoveries, unique insights and profound philosophies about trees, and also lead readers to think about the relationship between people and trees, the relationship between people and the environment, and the relationship between people and nature.
Fiona Stafford, a professor at oxford in the UNITED Kingdom, loves to walk in the woods and always feels suffocated if she stays indoors for too long. For Stafford, trees have endless appeal. She can feel the rhythm of life on the branches of the tree, and she knows the character and schedule of each tree.
Seventeen common trees are described, including yew, cherry, catalpa, olive, cypress, oak, ash, poplar, holly, false Norwegian maple, birch, horse chestnut, elm, willow, hawthorn, pine and apple tree. Focusing on the close connection between humans and trees for thousands of years, the author uses a relaxed and interesting brushstroke to lead readers through history to understand trees, revealing the historical flow, cultural significance and important influence of these trees in Western civilization from folklore, natural science, literature, cultural history, European art, religion, ancient mythology and modern medicine, and daily use.
"Tree Language", by Richard Bowers, translated by Chen Lei, Nine Days Translation 丨Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing House, July 2021 edition.
If the tree on this planet could speak, what would it tell us? From chestnut trees in the Brooklyn countryside to the Fuso legends of Eastern China, from scientists with language barriers to American pilots who fell into trees during the Vietnam War, a paralyzed Indian game development programmer, a psychologist who doubts human nature, an engineer with mysterious relics and heard ancient legends, and a female college student who died. Nine unrelated stories from different countries and different era backgrounds finally came together to form this story.
The book has won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the Faulkner Prize Short List, the 2020 Rezzoli Foreign Fiction Award in Italy, the Auckland Prize for Excellence in Literature of the International PEN Association of the United States, and the Howells Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. After reading the book, Bill Gates commented: "This is one of the most unique novels I have read in recent years, and it makes me want to know more about trees. Despite some extreme views on protecting forests in the book, I was still struck by the enthusiasm of each character. It changed the way I thought about trees. ”
The Secret Life of Trees: How They Survive and How They Depend on Us, by Colin Tachy, translated by Yao Yuzhi, Peng Wen, and Zhang Haiyun, The Commercial Press, June 2015.
This is a book that is mainly related to tree science, using the means of modern science to tell us about trees. Much of the book is about how trees are born, their types, their growth and distribution, and their causes; how they survive in nature, and how they compete and cooperate with the creatures around them. In the last chapter of the book, it's about how we should use trees and what they can provide for us.
Author Colin Tutch, a PhD in biology from the University of Cambridge, began cultivating saplings in his garden at the age of 11 and became a cactus grower by the age of 18, marking his lifelong love for trees. While studying at Cambridge, he began to write popular science. This book combines Colin Tuatchi's knowledge and affection for trees, from the rainforests of Costa Rica, Panama and Brazil to India, Australia and New Zealand, China, the United States... As Rao Zihe, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a structural biologist, puts it, "For trees, our romantic pursuits and our utilitarian pursuits often put our relationship with them in an awkward position... This book is not only rigorous in knowledge and profound in exploration, but also lyrical in writing, with small stories that occur between nature ups and downs, and true love for nature that reveals the tip of the pen, which reads like both scientific treatises and romantic poems. ”
The Secret Life of the Tree, by Peter Worleyburn [Germany], translated by Zhong Baozhen, April 2018 edition of Yilin Publishing House.
Did you know that trees can talk? Acacia trees warn each other, reminding their companions to spread toxins in their leaves and drive away the nibbling giraffes. Did you know that trees are also afraid of marrying the wrong man? Sweet cherries will prevent male pollen and pistils from falling in love with each other on the same flower, only strange male pollen can explore the fragrance, and love can blossom and bear fruit... In the forest, there are surprising things happening all the time: from time to time, there is a communication and exchange of information between trees. Not only do they raise their offspring lovingly, but they also selflessly care for their elderly, frail or sick neighbors.
Trees have the ability to perceive, but also have emotions and memory. Each tree is precious to the community as a whole and deserves to survive as long as possible. Peter Worreben, who aspired to become the guardian of natural resources in his childhood, wrote thirty-six incredible wonderful stories in the forest with his beautiful and idyllic brushstrokes and his own practical experience, interpreting the magnificence and desolation of tree life in detail, and the words were filled with tranquility and wisdom from the depths of the tree's soul. Wolleben points out that the older the tree, the faster it grows. If humans want to use forests to combat climate change, the best thing to do is to respond to the demand of nature conservation organizations: we must give forests a chance to age slowly.
Author | Ho An Ann
Edit | Li yang
Proofreading | Zhao Lin