Tag: Arthur de Carle Sowerby

This article is the third in a series about “The Pioneers“, the 19th and early 20th century naturalists who uncovered many of China’s natural history secrets for Western science.

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If the 19th century in China belonged to pioneering foreign explorers like Swinhoe and David, the early 20th century demanded a new kind of naturalist: one who could synthesise, institutionalise, and bridge cultures. That figure was Arthur de Carle Sowerby (1885–1954), known in Chinese as Su Keren (苏柯仁). Born in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, his upbringing and family history shaped his destiny.

A Dynasty of Naturalists

Arthur was the great-great-grandson of James Sowerby (1757–1822) , one of the most celebrated natural history illustrators in British history and founder of the Geological Society.  James Sowerby was renowned for his hand-coloured engravings; he produced the first books on Australian plants and animals and famously reworked Isaac Newton’s colour theory, proposing that all colours could be rendered from red, yellow, and blue. It was this same James Sowerby—Arthur’s great-great-grandfather—who in 1804 became the first person to scientifically describe a beaked whale, based on a skull that stranded in Scotland’s Moray Firth; the species still bears the family name as Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens sowerbyi) . Despite his fame, James was something of an “indoor naturalist.” So inundated was he with requests to identify specimens sent by post that he once complained, ‘I have been such a recluse that I scarcely know what is doing out of doors!’ The irony would not have been lost on his great-great-grandson, who spent his life doing quite the opposite.

Arthur’s father, Reverand Arthur Sowerby (1857–?) , was a British Baptist missionary who served in China for over four decades. Based in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, the elder Sowerby was likely instrumental in fostering his son’s connection to the Chinese landscape, though unlike his famous forebears, his primary calling was the church rather than the laboratory.

From 1881, the Sowerby family was based at the Baptist Missionary Society station in Shanxi. This upbringing made China Arthur de Carle Sowerby’s first home and its language his own. Fortuitously, the Sowerby family was on furlough in England during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, when many of their friends and colleagues at their Shanxi mission were massacred. This catastrophic event, which happened when he was just 15 years old, coloured his relationship with the land of his birth, instilling a sense of witnessing a world in violent transition.

Returning to China after this upheaval, Sowerby was a unique product of the country he would spend a lifetime documenting. He was not just a visitor but a cultural insider who leveraged his profound roots to become one of the most influential naturalist-explorers, writers, and institution-builders of his era, guiding the scientific study of China into the modern age.

Expeditions and Discoveries: From Jerboas to the Gobi

Sowerby’s credibility was built in the field. His early expeditions established him as a skilled collector and explorer, directly following in the specimen-gathering tradition of the previous century.

Early Fieldwork and Namesakes: His professional career launched with the Duke of Bedford’s 1906 collecting mission to Shaanxi for the British Museum. It was on this expedition that he discovered a new subspecies of jerboa, which was subsequently named Dipus sagitta sowerbyi in his honour—an early mark of scientific recognition. His contributions were also commemorated in other species, such as a Chinese lizard first described as Lygosaurus sowerbyi by Leonhard Stejneger of the Smithsonian in 1924 (a species now considered a synonym of Chinese Ateuchosaurus Ateuchosaurus chinensis). He soon ascended to the role of lead naturalist for the ambitious Robert Sterling Clark Expedition (1908-1909), which traversed west from the Yellow River through Shaanxi into Gansu. Sowerby’s work was critical in making the first accurate maps of this little-known region. He co-authored the expedition’s account, Through Shên-kan (1912), cementing his reputation as both a scientist and a chronicler of exploration.

The Duke of Bedford’s Exploration of Eastern Asia (1909-1913): Building on this success, Sowerby assumed a leading role in the Duke of Bedford’s monumental five-year zoological survey across North China, Manchuria, Korea, and Tibet. This expedition amassed over 15,000 mammal and bird specimens for the British Museum, providing an unprecedented systematic record. Sowerby’s own account, A Sportsman’s Miscellany (1924), captured its adventures for a wider audience.

The Central Asiatic Expeditions (1920s): By this decade, Sowerby was the sought-after expert. He served as the “essential naturalist and liaison” for Roy Chapman Andrews’ famed American Museum of Natural History expeditions into the Gobi Desert. His unparalleled local knowledge was key to the expedition’s success, ensuring that the hunt for dinosaur fossils was complemented by a comprehensive documentation of the living fauna.

The Sowerby-de la Tour Expeditions (1923-1935): Ultimately, he led his own series of expeditions funded by British businessman Harold de la Tour, focusing on the remote Qinling Mountains. These were meticulously documented in his own China Journal, blending science with travelogue for an engaged readership.

A Man of Action: The 1911 Shaanxi Relief Expedition

Sowerby’s deep ties to China were tested not only by scientific hardship but by direct peril. During the chaos of the Xinhai Revolution in late 1911, with the Qing dynasty collapsing and bandit armies rampaging, he was tasked with leading the Shaanxi (Shensi) Relief Expedition. Its mission was not to collect specimens, but to rescue and lead to safety as many foreign missionaries as possible from the interior. Setting out in December 1911, the team trekked into a state of political anarchy, reaching Xi’an where the countryside was in the grip of warlords and brigands. After what he later described as “a number of hair-raising experiences,” he successfully guided the party back to the relative safety of Beijing in early 1912. This episode underscored his courage, leadership, and profound sense of responsibility towards the community of which he was part, further solidifying his reputation as a man who could navigate China’s most turbulent realities.

A Writer for All Audiences: From Handbooks to Notebooks

Parallel to his expeditions, Sowerby was determined to make natural history accessible. His 1914 handbook, Fur and Feather in North China, was a practical guide for amateurs and sportsmen. More personal was A Naturalist’s Notebook in China (1925), a personal collection of essays that blended keen observation with reflection on the changing relationship between people and wildlife. These works were crucial in cultivating a broad, informed interest in China’s natural environment.

An Institutional Pillar: Societies and Museums

Sowerby’s authority was formally recognised through his active leadership in the region’s most prestigious learned societies. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London. In China, he served as President of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (1935-1940) and President of the China Society of Science and Arts in Shanghai (1928). Furthermore, he held the position of Honorary Director of the Shanghai Museum (the former S.C.I. Museum). These roles were not merely honorary; they placed him at the very centre of the intellectual and scientific establishment in East Asia, granting him the platform to influence research agendas, foster collaborations, and champion the work of others.

A Builder of Bridges: The China Journal and the Rise of Chinese Science

Sowerby’s most enduring contribution was his sustained effort to build scientific infrastructure and dialogue. The China Journal of Science and Arts (later the China Journal), which he founded and edited from 1923 to 1941, was his masterpiece. It was a serious quarterly that became the premier English-language platform for scientific discourse in East Asia.

Its pages became a credible and neutral place where the work of veteran Western missionaries like George D. Wilder and Hugh W. Hubbard sat alongside the first English-language papers of a new generation of Chinese scientists, such as the pioneering ornithologist Tso-hsin Cheng. Sowerby actively mentored these young scholars, providing a platform and editorial guidance that helped launch their careers. He understood that the future of natural history in China lay in the hands of its own educated citizens, and he dedicated himself to facilitating that transition.

A Voice for Conservation and a Witness to Change

Living through revolution, republic, and war, Sowerby was a keen observer of profound change. He used his platform to sound early alarms about conservation, noting the rapid deforestation, soil erosion, and decline of game species. His 1936 address, “The Naturalist in Manchuria,” stands as a poignant ecological baseline for a region on the brink of catastrophic transformation.

As war engulfed China in 1937, Sowerby’s world collapsed. The China Journal ceased in 1941, and he was interned by the Japanese in Shanghai. Repatriated in 1945, he never returned to live in China. He spent his final years in the United States, writing and reflecting on the vanished China of his youth.

The Legacy of a Cultural Amphibian

Arthur de Carle Sowerby died in Washington D.C. in 1954. While his name is attached to a jerboa and a lizard, his true legacy is more diffuse and vital: he was the great connector. He connected the 19th-century age of exploration with the 20th-century age of professional science. He connected foreign and Chinese scientific communities at a critical historical juncture. And through his vivid writing—from expedition reports like Through Shên-kan to popular handbooks and reflective essays—he connected the Western public to the natural wonders and scientific debates of a rapidly modernising China. He was a man of two worlds and of profound personal history, who used his unique position for translation and synthesis, ensuring that the knowledge of China’s wilds was preserved, shared, and passed into capable new hands.

Selected Key Publications by Arthur de Carle Sowerby

Publication	Year	Type & Significance
Through Shên-kan (with R.S. Clark)	1912	Expedition Account. Record of the Clark Expedition and first maps of the region.
Fur and Feather in North China	1914	Popular Handbook. A practical guide to mammals and birds.
The Naturalist in Manchuria (3 vols.)	1922-1923	Scientific Monograph. A comprehensive zoological study.
A Sportsman’s Miscellany	1924	Expedition Narrative. Account of the Duke of Bedford’s explorations.
A Naturalist’s Notebook in China	1925	Popular Essays. Reflective, accessible writings on nature.
The China Journal (Editor)	1923-1941	Scientific Periodical. His core legacy, building a transnational community of science.

 

References:

1. Cox, E.H.M. Plant-Hunting in China: A History of Botanical Exploration in China and the Tibetan Marches. (1945). A key text providing context on Sowerby’s role among 20th-century explorers and his family’s missionary background.
2. Clark, Robert Sterling, and Arthur de C. Sowerby. Through Shên-kan: The Account of the Clark Expedition in North China, 1908-9. (1912). The primary published account of the expedition Sowerby co-led, providing details on his early cartographic and field work.
3. Sowerby, Arthur de C. The Naturalist in Manchuria. 3 vols. (1922-23). His major scientific monograph, demonstrating the scope of his zoological research.
4. Sowerby, Arthur de C. Fur and Feather in North China. (1914). Cited to establish his role as a writer of popular handbooks for amateur naturalists.
5. Sowerby, Arthur de C. A Naturalist’s Notebook in China. (1925). Cited for his accessible observations on conservation.
6. The China Journal of Science and Arts (later The China Journal). Volumes I-XXXIV (1923-1941). The periodical Sowerby founded and edited. Examination of its contents, editorial notes, and list of contributors provides direct evidence of his network and his bridging of Western and Chinese scientific communities.
7. Archival Records of the Royal Geographical Society (London) and the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Shanghai/Tianjin). These institutional archives (consulted via their published proceedings and membership lists) confirm Sowerby’s fellowships, presidency roles, and his lectures, such as “The Naturalist in Manchuria” (1936).
8. Historical Accounts of the Boxer Rebellion (1900) and the Xinhai Revolution (1911-12). General histories and missionary records were cross-referenced to contextualize the tragedy affecting Sowerby’s childhood mission station and to verify the details and perilous nature of the Shaanxi Relief Expedition he led in 1911-12. 
9. Biographical entries on James Sowerby. Standard references on the history of British natural history (e.g., from the Geological Society of London) confirm the lineage from his great-great-grandfather, the noted botanist and illustrator.
10. Accounts of the Duke of Bedford’s Exploration of Eastern Asia (1909-1913) and the Central Asiatic Expeditions of Roy Chapman Andrews (1920s). Expedition reports published in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London and Andrews’ own writings (Ends of the Earth, Under a Lucky Star) detail Sowerby’s critical role as a collector and liaison.

1. International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) databases & Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Used to verify the taxonomy, original description, and status of species named for Sowerby:

1. • Dipus sagitta sowerbyi (Jerboa)
   • Lygosaurus sowerbyi (now a synonym of Ateuchosaurus chinensis)
   • Mesoplodon bidens sowerbyi (Sowerby’s beaked whale subspecies)

1. The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals (Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins, Michael Grayson). Confirmed the naming of the beaked whale and other mammalian references.
2. Original species description publications: For example, Stejneger, L. “Herpetological novelties from China.” Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History. (1924). For the description of Lygosaurus sowerbyi.

1. Fan, Fa-ti. British Naturalists in Qing China: Science, Empire, and Cultural Encounter. (2004). This academic work provides the essential framework for understanding Sowerby as a “cultural amphibian” and bridge figure, operating in the post-exploratory, institutionalising phase of Western science in China.
2. Biographies and studies of his contemporaries: Research on Tso-hsin Cheng, George D. Wilder, and Hugh W. Hubbard helped map Sowerby’s professional network and his mentoring role for the first generation of Chinese professional scientists.