Who is Zhang Mengwen?

Zhang Mengwen

Zhang Mengwen (1903-1993), a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, was a zoologist and educator. He graduated from the Zoology Department of Southeast University in 1926 and received a doctorate in science from the University of Paris in France in 1936.

He once served as an associate professor at the School of Agriculture of Peking University, a researcher at the Institute of Biology of the Chinese Society of Science, a guest researcher at the museums of France, Belgium, Britain and the Netherlands, a professor at Zhejiang University and Fudan University, and a vice director of the Shanghai Branch of the China Association for Science and Technology. President and Acting General Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Federation.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as professor and director of the Department of Biology at Fudan University, professor at Harbin Normal University, Heilongjiang University, chairman of the Shanghai Branch of the Zoological Society of China, deputy director of the Publicity Committee of the All-China Federation of Social Social Sciences, deputy director of the Shanghai Science Popularization Association, etc. .

He is currently the first honorary chairman of the Chinese Amphibian and Reptile Society. He has been engaged in biology teaching and research for a long time, promoted popular knowledge of animal science, and made contributions to cultivating talents and promoting the development of animal science in my country. He is the author of "Anatomy of Chinese Salamanders" and "Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrate Animals"; editor-in-chief of "Science", "Encyclopedia of Biology Volume Reptiles", "Anthology of China, General Introduction to Reptiles, Crocodiformes and Turtles" "Mu Zhi"; co-editor of "Exploration of Chinese Science and Technology History" and other publications.

Have been engaged in the research of amphibians and reptiles for decades, and compiled various works such as "Zhongfa Zoology·Reptiles". Some research has also been conducted on vertebrate taxonomy and comparative anatomy. He is one of the founders of research on the history of biological sciences in China and has trained a large number of biological talents. He also made contributions to science popularization work.

Chinese name: Zhang Mengwen

Nationality: Chinese

Birthplace: Ningbo, Zhejiang

Date of birth: 1903

Occupation: Zoologist, educator

Graduation institution: Southeast University, University of Paris, France

Representative works: " Chinese Zoology: Reptiles"

Personal resume

Zhang Mengwen (1903-1993) was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang. Graduated from Southeast University in 1926. After graduation, he served as teacher and general manager of Zhejiang Fisheries School. After the Northern Expedition began, he served as secretary under Bai Chongxi. During the "April 12" coup, he went into exile in Japan. Two months later, he returned to China and served as a teacher at Ningbo Provincial No. 4 Middle School, and taught part-time at Yu Chunhui Middle School. In 1928, at the invitation of biologist Professor Bingzhi, he went to Peking University as an associate professor in the College of Agriculture. Half a year later, at the invitation of Professor Bingzhi, he worked as a researcher and secretary of Professor Bingzhi at the Institute of Biology, Chinese Society of Sciences, Nanjing. In 1934, he received a scholarship from the China Educational and Cultural Foundation to study at the University of Paris in France. Obtained a doctorate in 1936 and received a scholarship from the China Education and Culture Foundation. We visited the Max Planck Museum in Germany, the University Museum of Berlin, and the Frankfurt Goethe Museum; the Royal Museum in Belgium, the Swiss Museum, the Hague Museum in the Netherlands, and the British Museum of Natural History in the United Kingdom. In 1937, at the invitation of Zhu Kezhen, he became a professor at Zhejiang University. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he moved to Guizhou with the school. In 1943, he went to Chongqing at the invitation of National Fudan University. In Chongqing, he refused to be interviewed by dignitaries from the Kuomintang and went straight to Beibei to attend classes. In 1946, he returned to Shanghai with Fudan University.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as director of the Department of Biology at Fudan University from 1951 to 1952. After the departmental reorganization in 1952, he served as deputy director of the Department of Biology and director of the Zoology Teaching and Research Office. In 1958, he was transferred to Heilongjiang University to teach and was responsible for the preparation of the school's biology department. In 1963, the biology department of the school was merged into Harbin Normal University, and Zhang Mengwen went to Harbin Normal University to teach with the department. He moved to Shanghai in 1976 before retiring. In 1980, he was employed as an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology of East China Normal University. In 1982, he was appointed as a professor at the Institute of History of Natural Sciences of the school.

Zhang Mengwen has taught at Fudan University for 16 years, teaching and educating people, and serving as a role model for others. He loves his motherland, is honest, open-minded, and works hard. He serves as the leader of the Department of Biology and is dedicated to his work. In order to build the Biology Department of Fudan University into a department with complete courses and strong teaching staff, he hired famous scholars and experts to teach in the department or teach part-time in the department, and offered many courses that had never been offered in China. In order to purchase library equipment, build and expand new laboratories and specimen rooms, he traveled around to raise funds. It is because of his efforts that the Department of Biology of Fudan University ranks among the top in the country.

When Zhang Mengwen first came to teach at Fudan University in 1942, he launched a face-to-face struggle with the Kuomintang authorities to find Professor Fei Gong. His sense of justice was highly praised by teachers and students of Fudan University. Soon, he joined the founding organization "Chinese Scientists Association" and was elected as the head of the association's Chongqing Beibei District. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he joined the Shanghai University Professors Association and actively participated in the patriotic democratic movement. In 1948, the Chinese Association of Scientists developed into a national organization. He served as the vice chairman of the Shanghai branch and edited the association's publication "Shanghai Association for Science and Technology". In 1949, he served as acting director-general of the association. The Shanghai Branch of the Chinese Association of Scientists and the China Science Society jointly organized a symposium on "Democracy and Science" to launch a patriotic and democratic struggle. He was one of the persons in charge. A preparatory meeting for the National Association for Science and Technology Congress was held in Peiping, and he was a member of the preparatory meeting. And attended the first National Association for Science and Technology Congress. After the meeting, the National Federation of Natural Science Societies ("National Science Federation") and the National Science Popularization Association ("National Science Popularization") were established. He was elected as the deputy director of the Publicity Committee of the "National Federation of Science and Technology" and a member of the "National Science Popularization" . The first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was held in Peiping, and he was a specially invited representative. Zhang Mengwen is a well-known patriotic democrat in the scientific and technological circles. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served successively as a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Federation of Science and Technology and chairman of the Publicity Committee, deputy director of the Shanghai Science Popularization Association, a representative of the Shanghai People's Congress from all walks of life, and the first and fourth member of the Shanghai Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference. Second term member.

Zhang Mengwen has been engaged in education and scientific research for more than 60 years. He is rigorous in scholarship and knowledgeable, specializing in biology, zoology, and the history of biological sciences. He is particularly knowledgeable in the study of amphibians, reptiles, vertebrates and birds, and is one of the founders of the history of biological sciences in my country. He attaches great importance to investigation and research and the development and utilization of my country's biological resources. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, he participated in the "Northeast Investigation Team" organized by the National Federation of Science and Technology, and wrote investigation reports such as "Our Northeast" and "Dalian", discussing in detail the biological species in the Northeast and the value of their development and utilization. While teaching in Heilongjiang, I traveled all over Heilongjiang, starting from Wudalianchi in the central part, to Mudanjiang in the south, to Dongning close to the former Soviet Union in the east, to the Dian River entering the Arctic in the north, and to Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia in the west. I learned a lot about the amphibians in this vast area. , fish, conducted a detailed investigation, wrote a detailed investigation report, and reported it at an academic conference held in Guangzhou.

Zhang Mengwen served as the executive director of the Zoological Society of China, the honorary chairman of the Amphibian and Reptile Society of the Zoological Society of China, and the deputy director of the Preparatory Committee of the Shanghai Museum of Nature.

Biography

Zhang Mengwen (pen name Lin Wen) was born on July 5, 1903 in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. His father, Zhang Baoling, was originally a Chinese language teacher and later devoted himself to the Revolution of 1911. Under the influence of his father's words and deeds, Zhang Mengwen became good at writing and writing. When he was in middle school, he joined the Snowflake Club in his school and used pen and ink to criticize the dark forces at that time. In 1922, he was admitted to the Department of Biology of National Southeast University. He studied diligently and completed the five-year course in only four years. He completed his studies in the Department of Zoology and the Department of Psychology in 1926, and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Southeast University. Due to the warlords fighting at the time and the current situation being turbulent, he had to take over his father's teaching position after graduation, teaching Chinese and civics at Zhejiang Fisheries School, and also served as the school's general administrator. During the Northern Expedition, he served as secretary under Bai Chongxi, the former enemy commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army of the Northern Expedition. After the April 12 Incident in 1927, he went into exile in Japan. Two months later, he followed his father's orders and returned to China. He served as a class teacher and taught Chinese and high school biology at Ningbo Provincial No. 4 Middle School, and taught natural history and English at Baima Lake Chunhui Middle School in Shangyu. class.

In 1928, Zhang Mengwen was invited by Professor Bingzhi to serve as an associate professor at the College of Agriculture of Peking University, teaching zoology and comparative anatomy. Half a year later, at the invitation of Professor Bingzhi, he worked as a researcher at the Institute of Biology of the Chinese Society of Sciences in Nanjing. He also served as Professor Bingzhi's secretary and in charge of general affairs, which lasted for 6 years. In 1934, he was invited to attend the founding meeting of the Chinese Zoological Society. At the end of the same year, he received a scholarship from the China Education and Culture Foundation to study in France. I conducted research under the guidance of L. Roule, director of the Frog and Snake Institute of the National Museum of Natural Nature of France, and completed the doctoral thesis "Monograph on Chinese Salamanders" in one and a half years. The thesis was approved by Professor P. Wintebert, a master of contemporary French biology. After receiving high praise, he obtained a doctorate from the University of Paris, which enabled him to receive another scholarship from the China Education and Culture Foundation. He used this scholarship to visit museums in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

In 1937, Zhang Mengwen accepted the invitation of Professor Zhu Kezhen, the president of Zhejiang University, and returned to China. When he set foot on the motherland, it was the July 7th Incident and the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, and the school was forced to move inland. During the move, he used nature as a classroom to teach zoology and field practice courses, collected specimens along the way, and wrote He has published many papers and lecture notes such as "Snakes of Yishan" and "Birds of Meitan".

In 1943, Zhang Mengwen came to Chongqing at the invitation of Fudan University. As soon as he arrived in Chongqing and before entering the school, he was summoned by Chen Lifu, the then Minister of Education, who asked him to be hired as a professor and sent to the United States to study. Weng Wenhao, chairman of the Resources Committee at that time, also wanted to send him to the United States, and Zhu Jiahua, the director of the Organization Department, wanted him to go to Fudan. Go and rectify the Three Youth League and mobilize him to join the Kuomintang immediately. Zhang Mengwen rejected these recruitments one by one. After he arrived at Fudan University, he started a face-to-face struggle with the Kuomintang authorities to find Professor Fei Gong, the missing dean of Zhejiang University.

In July 1945, the founding meeting of the Chinese Scientists Association was held in Chongqing. Zhang Mengwen was elected as the head of Beibei District. After returning to Shanghai, he served as the vice chairman of the Shanghai Branch (1948-1950) and editor-in-chief of the publication "Shanghai Association for Science and Technology". The following year, he served as acting director-general and editor-in-chief of the Federation (1949-1950), and also served as the editor-in-chief of the Chinese Association of Science and Technology. Executive director of the society (1950-1958) and editor-in-chief of Science magazine (1948-1952). Together with leftist professors Chen Wangdao, Hong Shen, and Pan Zhenya of Fudan University, he went to the Shanghai Municipal Government to reason with Mayor Wu Guozhen and demand democracy. They also initiated the establishment of the "Shanghai National University Professors Association" together with professors from Jiaotong University and other schools.

After Shanghai was liberated, the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology held a celebration meeting in the auditorium of the Shanghai Office of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Yueyang Road. Zhang Mengwen presided over the meeting, and Mayor Chen Yi gave a speech in person, encouraging scientific and technological personnel to serve the people. Zhang Mengwen met Mayor Chen Yi after being introduced by Xia Yan. After that, he served as a member of the first and second Shanghai CPPCC and leader of the science and technology group.

In 1949, Zhang Mengwen attended the preparatory meeting of the National Science Congress and the First National Congress held in Beijing, which decided to establish the National Federation of Natural Science Societies (referred to as the National Federation of Science and Technology) and promote the popularization of science nationwide. Association (referred to as Science Popularization), two national science groups. Zhang Mengwen was elected as the deputy director of the Publicity Committee of the National Federation of Science and Technology and a member of the National Science Popularization Association (1950-1958). After returning to Shanghai, he served as the standing committee member and publicity officer of the Shanghai Federation of Science and Technology. Chairman of the committee and deputy director of Shanghai Science Popularization. In addition, he also served as the executive director of the Chinese Zoological Society and its Shanghai branch (later changed to the Shanghai Zoological Society), the editor-in-chief of the Chinese Science Society (1948-1952), and the editor-in-chief of "Science", "Science Illustrated", "China Science Society Series" and other publications; deputy director of the East China Ape to Human Exhibition, deputy director of the Preparatory Committee of the Shanghai Museum of Natural History, etc. Since 1951, he has served as director of the Biology Department of Fudan University. Until 1958, he was dismissed from all positions because he was wrongly classified as a rightist.

After 1958, Zhang Mengwen was forced to be transferred to Heilongjiang Province to undertake the work of preparing the Department of Biology of Heilongjiang University. In 1963, the Biology Department of the school was merged into the Biology Department of Harbin Normal School, where he taught courses in vertebrate zoology, vertebrate taxonomy, vertebrate comparative anatomy, ichthyology, and field practice. A relatively comprehensive fauna survey of vertebrate animal resources in Heilongjiang Province was also conducted. He was removed as a rightist in 1962 (his reputation was restored in 1979). During the "Cultural Revolution" that began in 1966, he was criticized again. That year, his wife died of illness. In 1970, his youngest son drowned in the Songhua River, causing serious physical and mental harm to him. He retired in 1976 and moved to Shanghai. Before retiring, she married Chen Qingru, a doctor at Shanghai Jiangwan Hospital.

In 1980, Zhang Mengwen was employed as an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology of East China Normal University. Two years later, he was appointed as a professor at the Institute of Natural Science History of the school. He continued to compile the volume of "Chinese Zoology: Reptiles" and also Two graduate students in history of biology were recruited. In addition, he was also appointed as a member of the editorial board of the Biology Volume of the "Encyclopedia of China" and edited the history of reptiles.

In 1982, the Amphibian and Reptile Society of the Chinese Zoological Society held its inaugural meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan. At the meeting, Zhang Mengwen, who was not present, was unanimously elected as the honorary chairman.

In 1985, Zhang Mengwen unfortunately suffered from kidney cancer. After the operation, he quickly recovered under the careful treatment and care of East China Hospital and his wife. During the remaining days of his life, he immersed himself in writing and organizing his affairs. "Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrate Animals" and "Vertebrate Zoology" were written based on the rich knowledge and experience accumulated over many years of teaching practice.

In 1991, East China Normal University organized a 90th birthday celebration for Zhang Mengwen. Qian Yanwen, a researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhao Ermi, a researcher at the Chengdu Institute of Biology, and Zhao Kentang, a professor at Suzhou Railway Normal University A commemorative collection was compiled for him. Many scientific and educational scholars from Heilongjiang, Harbin, Jilin, Sichuan, Hainan, Hebei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces sent letters and phone calls to congratulate him. His old disciples from Fudan University gathered together, and it was like "peaches and plums all over the world, laughter among the flowers." This is an affirmation of his lifelong achievements and compensates for the trauma he endured during the rough years.

Technical Achievements

When Zhang Mengwen was a researcher at the Institute of Biology, Chinese Society of Sciences, he learned that foreign biological science was booming at that time, while China's biological science was still in its infancy. . In particular, there are fewer people engaged in research on amphibians and reptiles among vertebrates, so we are determined to fill this gap. At the beginning, he conducted surveys near the area where the Institute of Biology is located, and wrote the paper "Amphibians in Nanjing" half a year later. Because this was his first attempt at writing a paper, he was a little timid. After obtaining the consent of Professor Fang Bingwen, he wrote the paper "Amphibians in Nanjing". Professor Fang's name was published together with his signature. At that time, he learned that a Japanese scientific survey team had come to China to investigate the biological resources in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. In order to obtain survey data first, Professor Bingzhi organized a Chinese survey team to investigate the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. This was an excellent collection for Zhang Mengwen Taking advantage of the opportunity, they rushed ahead of the Japanese investigation team to Sichuan, Jiangxi, Guizhou and other places to collect many animal specimens. They compiled and published an investigation report in a very short period of time, which made the Chinese people proud of science. Nine of Zhang Mengwen's papers and survey reports were written in English and published in domestic and foreign magazines, such as "A Brief Review of Amphibians in Sichuan", "A Picture of Reptiles in Sichuan", "Zhejiang Salamanders", "A Brief Introduction to Reptiles in Zhejiang" "Review", "Summary of Jiangxi Amphibians", etc.; two new species of salamanders were also discovered: Zhenhai warty newts and Guizhou warty newts. In addition, specimens originally collected by the Institute of Biology were sorted. He wrote the "List of Common Vertebrate Animals in the Yangtze River Basin", which is the earliest record of vertebrate animals in the Yangtze River Basin. Due to the above-mentioned research achievements, Zhang Mengwen was invited to participate in the founding conference of the Chinese Zoological Society in Lushan, Jiangxi. He was one of the youngest scientists at the conference.

Zhang Mengwen had the most experience in the study of salamanders. In addition to the above-mentioned studies, he published four research papers in foreign journals in one year in 1935. His doctoral thesis "Monograph on Chinese Salamanders" is rich in content. It details the types of Chinese salamanders, classifies and compares them from the differences in morphological anatomy, and also draws many exquisite and detailed anatomical drawings, which are recognized by contemporary French biology. The master P. Winterbert praised the paper and gave the paper the comment "Tre'shonorable". The audience applauded him, and Zhang Mengwen won the scholarship again. This well-received paper was reprinted into a separate volume by the American Amphibian and Reptile Society 30 years later in 1968. A quotation was added to the front of the paper and distributed to each member as a model. While visiting the Gothic Museum, he studied the anatomy of salamanders as a guest researcher and published a research paper "The Ribs of Ryukyu Salamanders", which was published in the first volume of the museum's journal. Zhang Mengwen has done a lot of work in the survey of reptiles. In addition to conducting general surveys in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Guangxi and other places, he also conducted a special survey on snakes in Yishan, Jiangxi, and wrote "Yishan Snakes". This is the only survey report on the Yishan area and was praised by Professor Zhu Kezhen, President of Zhejiang University.

At the Fudan University celebrations in 1955 and 1956, Zhang Mengwen presented two academic reports of dozens of pages, "Amphibians in China" and "Reptiles in China". These companion works are all based on the examination of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign literature, through comprehensive analysis and research, and using the inherent morphology of Chinese animal species as the basis for classification, to formulate an animal classification system suitable for our country. This is a reflection of our country's amphibians. A comprehensive summary of the research on amphibians and reptiles, laying the foundation for further research on amphibians and reptiles.

In 1973, Zhang Mengwen took on the task of compiling the volume of "Chinese Fauna: Reptiles". In order to write a good zoology, he did a lot of preparatory work and published "Characteristics, Classification and Crocodile Forms of Reptiles" "Order", "A Brief History of the Study of Reptiles", "Characteristics of Reptiles and Their Suborders" and other articles. The first two works have attracted the attention of international scholars, and both the United States and the United Kingdom have written to request them. He also published an article "Explanation of the Alligator" in the journal "Nuowu" regarding the differences between the Chinese alligator and the Gulf crocodile, citing Professor Zhu Kezhen's theory of 5,000-year meteorological changes to explain the causal relationship between the emergence and extinction of the Gulf crocodile in Lingnan, China. The first draft of the "Reptiles of Chinese Zoology" volume was completed in 1985, and was revised and submitted to the Editorial Committee of the Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1988.

Animal taxonomy is the basis for studying animal science. Zhang Mengwen noticed the importance of taxonomy very early in the process of studying amphibians and reptiles. In 1942, he wrote a paper "A Review of the History of Biological Taxonomy in China" for the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of Biology of the Chinese Science Society. In order to study the history of taxonomy, he started from the earliest oracle bone inscriptions and read the Book of Songs, Erya, Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, and other ancient books from the Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties. It explains in detail the history of the development of biological taxonomy from the beginning of human understanding of species, giving names, and then classifying them into certain categories according to their characteristics. It also points out that the prototype of Chinese biological taxonomy is represented by Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica", which is the earliest foreign country. The famous animal taxonomist Linnaeus was 150 years later than Li Shizhen, but he caught up from behind. This suggests that my country's taxonomy research must catch up and catch up. The classification systems proposed in his two academic papers "Chinese Amphibians" and "Chinese Reptiles" are achievements under the guidance of this idea. In the process of studying animal taxonomy, he also noticed the relationship between species and taxonomy, emphasized the significance of species to taxonomy, and published articles such as "New Theory of Species" and "Species Concept". In the article "Proposed Unification of Suffixes for Vertebrates" published in 1957, he proposed the idea of ??using the word "formes" as the suffix for vertebrates, which was accepted by many scholars and widely adopted across the country, clarifying the Confusion in sub-objective endings. The lecture notes on vertebrate taxonomy he wrote at Heilongjiang University in 1961 is a fairly complete textbook with 230 pages. It discusses the meaning, concepts and development history of taxonomy in detail, and it is also included in the characteristics of each program. A brief history of classification of each class and highlighting the importance of species in classification. This handout was praised by ichthyologist Wu Xianwen, who believed that such a textbook was a true taxonomy handout. At that time, most of the similar books in China were just classification retrieval tables and could not be called taxonomy. Unfortunately, Zhang Mengwen was in adversity at the time and was unable to print it into a book.

In 1955, the Biology Department of Fudan University offered the "History of Biology" course for the first time, and Zhang Mengwen was responsible for teaching the history of Chinese biology. At the school anniversary that year, he presented a report on "A Summary of the History of Chinese Biology", which was divided into eight chapters, covering the beginning of Chinese biology, the transition between agriculture and animal husbandry, the prosperity of agriculture and the establishment of the feudal system, and the autocracy of the Qin and Han Dynasties. Biology under domination, Chinese biology after Sino-foreign communication and imperialist invasion, as well as the current situation and prospects of the history of Chinese biology. It is the first monograph on the history of biology in my country, and it is also an unprecedented and relatively comprehensive material. It laid the foundation for the study of the history of Chinese biology. It is not easy to write this academic research paper. In addition to having knowledge of biological sciences, you must also have a good foundation in ancient writing. You must be familiar with oracle bone inscriptions to trace back to ancient culture and find traces of the origin of animal knowledge. As early as 1942, Zhang Mengwen's "A Brief History of Chinese Biological Taxonomy" had already covered the content of the history of Chinese biology. In the introduction to the first volume of "History of Chinese Science and Technology" written by Dr. Joseph Needham, an international expert on the history of science and technology, he once wrote that he gained knowledge of the history of Chinese biology from Zhang's article. This shows that Zhang Mengwen is an internationally recognized expert in the study of Chinese biology. A scholar of history, Zhang Mengwen published a booklet in 1947 called "Case Study on the History of Chinese Science", which included three papers: ① Collection and promotion of academic historical relics; ② Commentary on the history of Chinese taxonomy (reprinted) ; ③ Biological historical perspective on species issues. This pamphlet was included in the 90th volume of the first volume of the "Republic of China Series" in 1990.

Due to Zhang Mengwen’s research on the history of Chinese biology, he and Joseph Needham had long had academic contacts.

In October 1979, Dr. Joseph Needham visited China and made a special trip to Shanghai to ask someone to go to Jiangwan Wujiaochang to look for Zhang Mengwen, who had retired. The two scholars met at Jinjiang Hotel, had a cordial conversation and took photos. On the occasion of Dr. Joseph Needham's 80th birthday, Zhang Mengwen and Professor Hu Daojing *** jointly initiated the compilation of a collection of essays "Exploration of the History of Science and Technology in China" to celebrate. Zhang Mengwen wrote the foreword for the collection of essays, and compiled Professor Zou Shuwen's posthumous manuscript "Animal Taxonomy in Ancient China". He also wrote a special article on "The Examination of Four Spirits" for the collection of essays, which combined the "dragon and phoenix" in ancient myths and legends. The four spiritual objects ", Lin, and turtle" are studied from the development trajectory of ancient hieroglyphs, and modern scientific explanations are given. In order to promote international cultural exchanges, Zhang Mengwen considered that the "History of Chinese Science and Technology" written by Joseph Needham has 7 volumes and 31 volumes, and has translations in Germany, France, Japan, Italy, Spain and other countries. So far, China has only translated 3 volumes and 3 volumes, so it took the initiative to translate the entire table of contents of 31 volumes and 49 chapters of the book and published it in the book "Dr. Joseph Needham and His History of Chinese Science and Technology" edited by him. In addition, he also wrote "The Dr. Joseph Needham I Know" and "My Research on the History of Chinese Biology" to introduce his research on the history of Chinese biology. Zhang Mengwen made valuable contributions to the study of the history of biology in my country.

Zhang Mengwen attaches great importance to science popularization work. After liberation, when he served as the National Science Popularization Committee and the deputy director of Shanghai Science Popularization, he edited the magazine "Science" and served as the editor-in-chief of "Science Illustrated". He also edited the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology and Several publications under the leadership of the Shanghai Federation of Science and Technology actively promote the idea that science should serve the people. When the "East China Ape to Human Exhibition" was held, he served as the deputy director of the preparatory meeting and was responsible for planning all the contents of the exhibition, making the exhibition a good place for popular science. He also compiled a 70-page booklet "Where Do People Come From" for middle school teachers and students to answer questions raised by teachers and students. Later, he wrote "The Evolution of Animals" to further demonstrate the origin of human beings. In fact, Zhang Mengwen began to promote science knowledge as early as the 1930s. He published popular science articles such as "The Great Prince", "Peach Blossom Flowing Water Mandarin Fish Fat", "Cuckoo", and "Orioles" in publications such as "Science Pictorial". In his article "Words About Books", he discussed the functions of books and their historical development, guiding people to obtain knowledge from books. His article "A Green Pond Is Full of Frogs", written in prose form, is lively, interesting and scientific, and has aroused the appreciation of colleagues in the Science Popularization Association. In 1984, he published seven serial "Speaking of Dragons" articles in the "Natural History" magazine. He provided arguments for various legends about "dragons" at home and abroad. He started with the textual research from ancient oracle bone inscriptions, and then used modern scientific viewpoints to analyze and suggest. People's "dragon" is just a virtual animal, an imaginary animal related to reptiles.

Resume

Born on July 5, 1903 in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.

Student and graduated from Southeast University from 1922 to 1926.

From 1927 to 1928, he served as a teacher of Zhejiang Provincial No. 4 Middle School.

In 1929, he was appointed associate professor of the Agricultural College of Peking University.

From 1929 to 1934, he served as a researcher at the Institute of Biology, Chinese Society of Sciences.

From 1935 to 1936, he served as a guest researcher at the Institute of Fishes and Frogs and Snakes of the French National Museum of Nature.

In 1937, he served as a guest researcher at the Frankfurt Museum in Germany and the British Museum of Natural History in London, England.

From 1937 to 1942, he served as professor in the Department of Biology of Zhejiang University.

From 1942 to 1958, he served as professor and director of the Department of Biology at Fudan University.

From 1958 to 1963, he served as professor in the Department of Biology of Heilongjiang University.

He served as professor of the Biology Department of Harbin Normal University from 1963 to 1976.

Retired in August 1976.

September 1980 ~ Part-time professor at East China Normal University.

Died of illness in 1995.

Personal works

Published works include: "Two kinds of salamanders in Zhejiang", "A brief introduction to reptiles in Zhejiang", "A brief introduction to amphibians in Sichuan", "Reptiles in Sichuan" "A Brief Introduction to Animals", "Chronicles of Guizhou and Guizhou Echinoderma Salamanders", "List of Common Vertebrate Animals in the Yangtze River Basin", "The name of the genus Sinodermata in Vietnam should be revised", "Illustrated Notes on the Cuddling of Four Chinese Newts", "Chinese Giant Salamander", "Monograph on East Asian Salamanders", "A Brief History of Chinese Biology", "Chinese Amphibians", "Chinese Reptiles", etc.