Carl Peter Thunberg: Difference between revisions

{{for|the Swedish historian and archaeologist|Carl L. Thunberg}}

{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Carl Peter Thunberg

| alt =

| caption =

| occupation = Naturalist

}}

 

== Early life ==

Having heard of Thunberg's inquisitive mind, his skills in botany and medicine and Linnaeus' high esteem of his Swedish pupil, Johannes Burman and [[Laurens Theodorus Gronovius]], a councillor of Leiden, convinced Thunberg to travel to either the West or the East Indies to collect plant and animal specimens for the [[Hortus Botanicus Leiden|botanic garden at Leiden]], which was lacking exotic exhibits. Thunberg was eager to travel to the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and apply his knowledge.<ref>Thunberg, C. P. (1791). ''Resa uti Europa, Africa, Asia, förrättad åren 1770–1779. Tredje Band''. Published by J. Edman, Uppsala, Sweden, p. 22</ref>

 

 

== South Africa ==

Shortly after the ''Schoonzicht's'' arrival on Deshima, Thunberg was appointed head surgeon of the trading post. To still be able to collect specimens of Japanese plants and animals as well as to gather information on the population, Thunberg began to construct networks with the interpreters by sending them small notes containing medical knowledge and receiving botanical knowledge or rare Japanese coins in return. Quickly, the news spread that a well-educated Dutch physician was in town who seemed to be able to help the local doctors cure [[syphilis]], known in Japan as the "Dutch disease". As a result, the appropriate authorities granted him more visits to the city and finally even allowed him one-day trips into the vicinity of Nagasaki, where Thunberg had the chance to collect specimens by himself.<ref>Thunberg, C. P. (1796). ''Travels in Europe, Africa and Asia, performed between the Years 1770 and 1779''. Published by W. Richardson, London, UK, p. 37</ref>

 

 

Thunberg also profited from his teachings himself. As a former medical student he was mainly interested in medical knowledge, and the Japanese showed him the practice of [[acupuncture]]. The exchange of ideas between Thunberg and the local physicians led to the development of a new acupuncture point called ''[[shakutaku]]''. The discovery of ''shakutaku'' was a result of Thunberg's anatomic knowledge and the Japanese traditional medicine of neuronic [[moxibustion]]. Thunberg brought back knowledge on Japan's religion and societal structure, boosting interest into Japan, an early cultural form of [[Japonism]].<ref>Skuncke 2013, p. 125</ref><ref>Fujita, R. (1944). Researches on Pressation-Points and Papule-Points and Related Subjects. ''Ninth Report: From the Angle of Oriental Medicine, Part 2''. Kanazawa, Japan, p. 59</ref>

# Besides being encouraged by Linnaeus and Gronovius to travel to Japan, the fact that, for half a century, no new information on the country had reached Europe attracted Thunberg to travel there. In 1690, [[Engelbert Kaempfer]], a German traveller, had sailed to Japan and spent two years on the island of Deshima. Kaempfer's 1729 travelogue became a famous work on the shogunate; yet, when Thunberg came to Japan, Kaempfer's writings were already more than fifty years old.<ref>Rietbergen, P. (2004.) Becoming Famous in the Eighteenth Century: Carl Peter Thunberg Between Sweden, the Netherlands and Japan. ''De Achttiende Eeuw, 36 (1)'', pp. 50–61, p. 65</ref><ref name=jung90-92>Jung 2002, pp. 90–92</ref> The time was right for new knowledge.

# The Age of Enlightenment furthered a scientific hunger for new information. In the light of the increasing emphasis on using the rational human mind, many students were keen to leave the boundaries of Europe and apply their knowledge and gather new insights about less well-known regions.<ref name=jung90-92 />

 

==Namesake plants==

==References==

* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Thunberg, Karl Peter|volume=26}}

*Skuncke, Marie-Christine (2014). ''Carl Peter Thunberg: Botanist and Physician.''Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies, Uppsala, Sweden

* Thunberg, C. P. (1986). ''Travels at the Cape of Good Hope, 1772–1775 : based on the English edition London, 1793–1795''. (Ed. V. S. Forbes) London

 

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thunberg, Carl Peter}}

[[Category:18th-century male writers]]

[[Category:18th-century Swedish physicians]]

[[Category:1743 births]]

[[Category:1828 deaths]]

[[Category:Botanists active in Africa]]

[[Category:Botanists active in Japan]]

[[Category:Burials at Uppsala old cemetery]]

[[Category:Dutch East India Company people]]

[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]

[[Category:Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences]]

[[Category:People from Jönköping]]

[[Category:Pteridologists]]

[[Category:Swedish entomologists]]

[[Category:Swedish expatriates in Japan]]

[[Category:Swedish phycologists]]

[[Category:Swedish taxonomists]]

[[Category:Taxon authorities of Hypericum species]]

[[Category:Swedish expatriates in the Dutch Republic]]