Seeing Nature, Envisioning the Modern: Natural History Education in China, 1904–1922

Abstract: This article traces the development of natural history ( bowu ) education from its introduction into modern Chinese schools in 1904, following the establishment of the Guimao School System, up to the 1920s. Focusing on understudied materials such as textbooks and pedagogical objects (charts, specimens, models, and illustrations) for natural history classes, this article investigates the pivotal role that science education played in shaping a new understanding of nature and in cultivating new entanglements of nature, society, and nationhood in both classrooms and public spaces. It also positions natural history education within the context of global history of science and science education, offering a new lens through which to examine the indigenization and popularization of science and the formation of its visual and material culture in twentieth-century China.