I have long heard of a legendary figure named "Locke".
In the summer of 2008, when I visited Locke's former residence in Yuhu Village (Xue artemisia Village) in Baisha Township, Lijiang, Yunnan, my friend Tian Song recommended Locke to me. He had been following Locke's study of Naxi culture and wished I could follow Locke's natural inquiry.
A few years later, when I had the opportunity to visit Hawaii, I remembered Tian Song's words, so I took locke's idea, and then the application report written in the name of studying Locke was quickly approved. During my year in Hawaii, I visited the large house where Locke lived in his later years, paid homage to his modest cemetery, and had the opportunity to climb the mountain to see many native plants that Locke had inspected, the best of which were the subfamily Hemiliaceae and some species of the Sandalwood family.
I perused Stephanne B. Sutton's Biography of Locke (The Ascetic Journey, published in 2013 by Shanghai Science and Technology Education Press). During a visit to Locke's executor, Paul R. Weissich (1926–2018.01.24), at foster botanical gardens, mr. Old took out the small suitcase that Locke had often used during his lifetime and showed me many of Locke's small relics. When I returned to China in 2012, I wrote the article "Rock and the Taxonomic History of Hawaiian Sandalwood Plants" and published "The Flora of Sandalwood Island: A Hawaiian Plant Diary". Now, I am lucky enough to see Li Ruirong's ("Hanama") very beautiful 300-page "Rock Line" naturalistic masterpiece. All of this made me know more about Locke and admire Locke.
1960 Locke, courtesy of Liu Huajie (gifted by Locke's executor during his visit to Hawaii)
A specimen of Euphorbia collected by Locke in 1908
Locke Line Plants; Flowers; Chongqing University Press; September 2022
In the Chinese world, there are actually two "Lockes", sometimes mispronounced in conversations. One was the Austrian-American Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884–1962.12.05, Chinese also known as Joseph Locke) and the other was the Englishman John Locke (1632-1704). The former is a naturalist, the latter is a philosopher, and I like both very much, they are very solid and reliable. This book deals with, and discusses in the previous paragraph, the first Locke, locke as a naturalist.
Why is there a special emphasis on his naturalist status? Because I like naturalism and naturalists? Not all of them. The day after Locke's death, the obituary published by the hawaiian local media said that "the world-famous naturalist Locke died yesterday in Honolulu at the age of 79" (Honolulu Advertiser, December 1962), and the title of the obituary also mentioned that he was a naturalist. Throughout Locke's life, he was an authentic naturalist, and the scope and method of his research were exactly the same as those of Darwin and Wallace. Locke also had titles such as botanist, plant collector, scientist, explorer, geographer, photographer, ethnologist, etc., and was the most appropriate naturalist in comparison.
What type of book is Li Ruirong writing? In my opinion, it is an extraordinary work of naturalism that pays homage to the naturalist Locke. The name "Rock Line" is full of outdoor enthusiasts and naturalists' reverence for Locke.
About half a year ago, Rui Rong mentioned walking the "Rock Line" to me, telling the exciting wilderness experience. In particular, I was shown two photographs of the 210 pages of the book", one taken by Locke in 1926 and the other by Rui Rong in 2020. After many days and nights, nature is still nature, allowing the vicissitudes of the world. Rui Rong has such perseverance and Yaxing, I am very envious, I really want to be able to move forward together. In the mountains of Sichuan, Yunnan, Qinghai, and Tibet, I have also visited a number of opportunities, Such as Guoluo, Shangri-La, Lugu Lake, Kangding, Aden and Daocheng, but I have never left the residential area too far, I have not camped in the wilderness there, and the "wildness" that Ruirong has seen is too far away, and the communication with local residents is much worse.
In June 1928, Locke and his party camped next to the Butterfly Stone during their first expedition to the mountains. In August of the same year, the expedition filmed this film on its second expedition to the mountains.
On June 7, 2021, the book "Rock Line Plants" (Li Ruirong) photographed butterfly stones from the same perspective.
In order to show respect for the famous naturalists in history, people often return to the places that their predecessors visited in some form. In China, "A Hundred Years of Pursuit: Witnessing Environmental Change in Western China" (Yin Kaipu et al., China Encyclopedia Press, 2010) and "2018 Retracing Wilson's Road: A Diary of a Scientific Expedition" (Yao Chonghuai, Liu Shengxiang, Hubei Science and Technology Publishing House, 2019) are such works, of which Ernest Henry Wilson (1876-1930, Chinese also known as Verizon) is a famous naturalist in China, he wrote "A Naturalist in West China" and " China: The Mother of the Garden. And writing specifically about the "Rock Line", this is probably the first book. The great naturalists left behind more than specimens, field notes, published texts, etc., their names were inscribed on the land, and their breath, taste and insight seemed to be "holographically" melted into a mountain, a water, a stone, a grass and a tree, and the hearts of those who liked them, with their signatures everywhere they went. This leads to the "Locke line" becoming an attractive dynamic "attractor" (attractor). It brings together followers and nature lovers from all walks of life to try to witness and feel the delicacy of nature and the vicissitudes of human affairs with the same feelings.
Careful planning before the trip, arduous field walks and professional records, as well as careful verification and identification afterwards, are carefully displayed in this book, which is the second feature of this book. For example, the book includes a large number of plants photographed along the way, all of which give classification and give scientific names. Judging by my one-point knowledge of plant classification, no inappropriate identification was found. Outdoor sports are not new in China, and have developed rapidly in the past ten years, but a considerable number of outdoor sportsmen only stay at the level of physical exercise. No matter where they go or what mountain they climb, they don't care much about experiencing the mysteries of the mountains from the level of knowledge and history. They basically do not record environmental, ecological, and natural objects, and do not conduct rock structure analysis and species identification. It cannot be said that there is no point in doing so, in a pluralistic society, you can do whatever you want, and you can do it without breaking the law. But people always feel that doing so may be sorry for the unique beauty, species, and waste of their own money.
The route and area of investigation by the author of the book "The Plants of the Rock Line"
New fruit cattle farm on the Rock Line and the famous Liushi slope Flower Room (Li Ruirong) photography
New Fruit Cattle Farm on the Rock Line ( Li Ruirong ) Photography
The third feature of this book, the first thing that people who get the book can find is the exquisite pictures, which reflect Ruirong's superb photography technology and unique aesthetic taste. The typography is also very good. I don't need to say more, the reader can appreciate it after a little look.
The fourth feature is that this book accurately describes the events and things described, and the time, place, and route are very clear. This is crucial for naturalism. Some publishers may feel that these details are not very important, and can even delete them, but in fact they are very valuable, and the longer they go on, the more valuable they become. Today's readers and future readers not only want to know what the author of this book saw and experienced, but may also return, examine, or compare in due course. Just as the author of this book treated Locke's work that year. Locke's anthropological consciousness is very strong, and it is also prominent among naturalists. His account now has the value of environmental history and life history.
From a critical point of view, the content of this book is slightly thin, and the author of the "Rock Line" can re-walk once or twice at different times, and I believe there will be other gains. It can also be written as a sequel to the book.
Finally, I would like to remind some readers that although the wilderness is beautiful, it is not easy to take risks. In December 2012, two mountaineers were killed while climbing in the Lingshan Mountain Scenic Area between Zhuolu County in Hebei Province and the Mentougou Scenic Area in Beijing. In 2017, two donkey friends were killed while crossing the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi Province, and in May 2021, a donkey friend in Shanghai was killed in Qinling. In May 2021, 21 people were killed in the Yellow River Stone Forest Mountain Marathon in Gansu Province, and in November of the same year, four geological surveyors in Yunnan died of temperature loss in Ailao Mountain. Judging from the information released, the relevant environmental conditions are not very bad, but such a big disaster has occurred, which shows that the wild is not so suitable for everyone as imagined. Some sections of the "Rock Line" walked by RuiRong can be much more difficult than the previous ones, and friends who plan to try it must consider it clearly. Equipment is important, but it is always second, and man's ability to deal with nature is the first.
"Rock Line" has a narrow and broad sense, other places and outside of China there are "Rock Line", in the case of full preparation, I hope that the majority of naturalist enthusiasts to write more "Rock Line" books. The world is very big, but there are very few people in Chinese history who have Xu Xiake's ideas, and we are very short of figures like Magellan, Bering, Cook, Humboldt, Wallace, and Scott. The concept can be changed, Chinese to love the hometown, to understand the hometown, but also to love the world, you need to understand the world. There are many Chinese going abroad, but there are still very few who pay attention to nature outside the region. Do we know about the species and ecology of the surrounding countries? What about the Belt and Road Initiative? What about South America? Naturalism can be unfolded both at home and in distant places, and both aspects are needed in China today.