{{Short description|Russian academic (1833–1901)}} [[File:Breitschneider 1871.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The title-page of Breitschneider's 1871 book]] [[File:MedivalResearches.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''Mediaeval Researches''<br>by E. Bretschneider, M.D.<br>Physician of Russian Legation in Peking<br>Correspondent member of Académie des inscriptions et belles-Lettres (AIBL)<br>London, 1888]] '''Emil Bretschneider''' ({{OldStyleDate|4 July|1833|22 June}} in Bankaushof (now [[Benkavas muiža]], [[Saldus Municipality (2021–present)|Saldus novads]], [[Latvia]]<ref>''BBLD - Baltisches biografisches Lexikon digital'', [https://bbld.de/0000000110264673 Brettschneider, Alexander Hermann Emil]</ref>) – {{OldStyleDate|12 May|1901|29 April}} in [[Saint Petersburg]]) was a [[sinologist]] of [[Baltic German]] ethnicity and a correspondent member of the [[Académie française]]. He operated in the [[Russian Empire]]. He graduated from the medical school of the [[Imperial University of Dorpat]] in [[Dorpat]] [[Estonia]], and was first posted as a physician by the Russian legation to [[Tehran]] (1862–65).<ref name=kew>{{ cite journal |author=Various |title=[''In Memoriam'' for] Dr. Emil Bretschneider |journal=Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information |pages=201–2 |year=1901 |publisher=Darling & Son, Ltd., for His Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11627600#page/206/mode/2up |accessdate=18 June 2013}}</ref> From 1866 to 1883 he was posted as physician to the 15th and 16th Russian legations to [[Beijing|Pekin]].<ref name="Feklova">{{cite journal |last1=Feklova |first1=Tatiana |title=Russian Scientific Investigations in China in the Nineteenth Century |journal=Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology |date=1 December 2021 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=4–30 |doi=10.3724/SP.J.1461.2021.02004|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Andreyevna">{{cite journal |last1=Андреевна |first1=Силакова София |title=Врач Э. В. Бретшнейдер и его личные архивы: китайский период |journal=Ученые записки Казанского университета. Серия Гуманитарные науки |date=2018 |volume=160 |issue=6 |pages=1478–1486 |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/vrach-e-v-bretshneyder-i-ego-lichnye-arhivy-kitayskiy-period |issn=2541-7738}}</ref>
== Overview == In 1866 the publication of ''Cathay and the Way Thither'' by orientalist [[Henry Yule]] stirred up Bretschneider's interest in sinology. However, he felt that the extensive material contained in Chinese books was under-utilized by western sinologists because many of them did not read Chinese, and when they quoted Chinese material, they relied on secondhand sources. Emil Bretschneider while in Pekin befriended the Archimandrite [[Palladius Kafarov]] of the Russian Orthodox Church Mission to Pekin, a famous sinologist in his own right; Bretschneider also took advantage of the excellent library of the Russian Orthodox mission with an extensive collection of Chinese books on history, geography and botany, he began his own first hand research into ancient Chinese literature, particularly in botany and geography.
In 1870 he published his first article in sinology: "Fu Sang-- Who discovered America ?", followed by the publication in London of "On the Knowledge Possessed by the Chinese of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies Mentioned in Chinese Books".<ref>E. Bretschneider, M.D. ''On Knowledge Possessed by the Ancient Chinese of the Arabs and Arabian Colonies and Other Western Countries Mentioned in Chinese Books'', p. 17, London: [[Nicholas Trübner|Trübner]] & Co., 1871</ref>
In 1875, he published the article "Notes on Chinese medieval travellers to the West" in Shanghai.<ref>E. Bretschneider, M.D: ''Notes on Chinese medieval travellers to the West'' (Shanghai: 1875)</ref> In 1881 he published "Early European researches into the flora of China (American Presbyterian Mission Press, Shanghai), a topic often ignored by contemporary sinologists due to their lack of training in botany. In this field Bretschneider was a pioneer.
In 1888 he published ''Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources'', Trübner Oriental Series, London: Trübner & Co.; this book included his English translation of three important Chinese works about the history and geography of central Asia, namely ''Travel to the West'' by [[Yelü Chucai]], Genghis Khan's chief adviser; ''Travels to the West'' by the Taoist monk [[Qiu Chuji|Kiu Chang Chun]] and ''The Peregrinations of Ye-Lu Hi-Liang'' (the grandson of Yelu Chucai), translated from the Annals of the Yuan dynasty.
He was a correspondent member of the [[Académie française]].<ref>(fr) Revue archéologique (Archaeological review), Vol. 84, 1886-1887, p. 230 : [https://books.google.com/books?id=fYOIeyRzUtQC&pg=PA230 read on line]</ref>
==Work in botany== Bretschneider is also well known as a [[botany|botanist]], having his own [[herbaria|herbarium]] in the mountains close to Pekin. Starting in 1880, Bretschneider sent dried plant specimens to the [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]].<ref name=kew/>
Among the books he published in the field of botany are: "On the Study and Value of Chinese Botanical Works" (1870); "Early European Researches into the Flora of China" (1881); "Botanicon Sinicum" (1882-1895); and his vast "History of European Botanical Studies in China" (1898).<ref name=kew/>
The plant genus ''[[Bretschneidera]]'' was named in Bretschneider's honor by [[William Hemsley (botanist)|William Hemsley]].<ref name=kew/>
Many plant species bear the epithet ''bretschneideri'', such as ''[[Pyrus bretschneideri]]'' Rehder.
==Works== * {{cite book | last = Bretschneider | first = E. | author-link = Emil Bretschneider | date = 1875 | title = Notes on Chinese Mediaeval Travellers to the West | location = Shanghai | publisher = American Presbyterian Mission Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QwXwHwwtnYYC }} * {{cite journal | last = Bretschneider | first = E. | author-link = Emil Bretschneider | author-mask = 2 | year=1876 | title=Chinese Intercourse with the Countries of Central and Western Asia in the Fifteenth Century | journal=[[China Review]] | volume=4 | issue=6 | url=https://archive.org/details/chinareviewornot4618unse/page/385/ }} * {{cite journal | last = Bretschneider | first = E. | author-link = Emil Bretschneider | author-mask = 2 | date = 1880 | title = Early European researches into the flora of China | journal = Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society | url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/149826}} * {{cite book | last = Bretschneider | first = E. | author-link = Emil Bretschneider | author-mask = 2 | date = 1898 | title = History of European Botanical Discoveries in China | location = London | publisher = Sampson Low, Marston and Company Ltd. | url = https://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/9072}}
==See also== * [[List of Baltic Germans#Scientists|List of Baltic German scientists]]
{{botanist|Bretschn.}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite Efron|Бретшнейдер, Эмилий Васильевич}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bretschneider, Emil}} [[Category:1833 births]] [[Category:1901 deaths]] [[Category:People from Saldus Municipality]] [[Category:People from Tukums county]] [[Category:Baltic-German people from the Russian Empire]] [[Category:19th-century botanists from the Russian Empire]] [[Category:Sinologists from the Russian Empire]] [[Category:University of Tartu alumni]]