Stephen G. Haw

Stephen G. Haw (born 1951) is a botanical taxonomist and historian, specializing in subjects relating to China. He is the author of several published books and a large number of periodical articles. His most important work relates to the taxonomy of Tree Peonies and to the history of the Mongol period in East Asia. He has made a major contribution to studies of Marco Polo's account of East Asia: according to Peter Jackson, an authority on the history of the Mongol conquests, his book about Marco Polo "must surely now have settled the controversy surrounding the historicity of Polo's visit to China."

He studied Chinese at the University of Oxford (Wadham College), and took an M.A. at the University of London. He also studied at the University of Shandong in China. His first book, ''The Lilies of China'', was published in 1986. He subsequently authored ''China: A Cultural History'' (1991), ''A Traveller’s History of China'' (first edition 1995; several subsequent editions), ''Broadleaved Evergreens'' (2001), ''Marco Polo's China'' (2006), and ''Beijing – A Concise History'' (2007). Of these, ''A Traveller’s History of China'' has been published in translations into Finnish, Swedish and Portuguese. One reviewer wrote of this book that it "is not the perfect solution to the problem of a single source for the prospective China tourist, but it is by far the best attempt at such a book I have yet seen."

His articles have appeared in many different periodicals, including the Royal Horticultural Society's publications '' The Garden'' and ''The Plantsman'', ''East Asian History'', the ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', and the ''Journal of Asian History''.These are listed in “Publications: Selected periodical articles” below.

Publications

Books

*''The Lilies of China'', Batsford, 1986
*''China: a cultural history'', Batsford, 1990
*''A Traveller's History of China'', Windrush Press, 1995; 2nd edition, 1998; 3rd edition, Orion Books, 2002; 4th edition, 2004; published in the USA by Interlink Books, now in 5th edition; translated into Finnish as ''Matkaopas historiaan: Kiina''; Puijo, 1996; 2nd edition, Unipress, 2005; translated into Swedish as ''Historisk guide till Kina''; Historiska Media, 1999; translated into Portuguese as ''História da China''; Tinta-da-China, 2008
''A Traveller's History of China'' at Interlink Books
*''Broad-leaved Evergreens: trees, shrubs and climbers'', GMC Publications, 2000
*''Marco Polo’s China: a Venetian in the realm of Khubilai Khan'', Routledge, 2006; paperback edition, 2009
''Marco Polo's China'' at Routledge
*''Beijing – a concise history'', Routledge, 2007; paperback edition, 2008
''Beijing - a concise history'' at Routledge

Contributions to other books

*''By Pen and by Spade'', edited by D. Wheeler, Alan Sutton, 1990
*''The Generous Garden'', edited by D. Wheeler, Alan Sutton, 1991
*''Plant Life'', edited by D. M. Moore, Oxford University Press, 1991

Selected periodical articles

*Mudan: the king of flowers. ''The Garden'' 110: 154 – 59, (1985).
*Pasque flowers. ''The Garden'' 111, 165 – 68 (1986).
*A problem of peonies. ''The Garden'' 111: 326 – 68 (1986).
*The origins of the garden chrysanthemum. ''The Garden'' 111, 525 – 28 (1986).
*Chinese flowering plums and cherries. ''The Garden'' 112, 224 – 78 (1987).
*Asian Bellflowers. ''The Garden'' 112, 567 – 69 (1987).
*Bamboo comes west. ''The Garden'' 113, 557 – 61 (1988).
*A thousand petals. ''Country Life'' May 17, 1990: 188 –89 (1990).
*A review of the infraspecific taxa of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews. ''Edinburgh Journal of Botany'' 47 (3): 273 – 81 (1990) o-authored with L. A. Lauener
*Tree Peonies: A Problem Resolved. ''The Plantsman'' 13: 94 – 97 (1991).
*Paeonia ostii in Britain. ''The New Plantsman'' 7: 160 – 63 (2000).
*Tree Peonies, a Review of their History and Taxonomy. ''The New Plantsman'' 8: 156 - 71 (2001).
*Paeonia delavayi, a variable species. ''The New Plantsman'' 8: 251 – 53 (2001).
*Tree peonies - a review of recent literature. ''The Plantsman'' New Series 5: 88 – 92; 258 – 60 (2006).
*The Mongol Empire – the first gunpowder empire? ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 23.3: 441 – 469 (2013).
*Cathayan Arrows and Meteors: The Origins of Chinese Rocketry. ''Journal of Chinese Military History'' 2: 28 – 42 (2013).
*The Deaths of Two Khaghans: a comparison of events in 1242 and 1260. ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'' 76.3: 361 – 71 (2013).
*Bayan of the Bārin’s Persian Wife, And Other Perplexities. ''Journal of Asian History'', 48.2: 263 – 79 (2014).
*The Mongol Conquest of Tibet. ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 24.1: 37 – 49 (2014).
*The Persian Language in Yuan-dynasty China: A Reappraisal. ''East Asian History'' 39: 5 – 32 (2014).
*The ''History of a Loyal Heart'' (''Xin shi''): a late-Ming forgery. ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 25.2: 317 - 325 (2015).
*The ''Semu ren'' in the Yuan Empire. ''Ming Qing Yanjiu'' 18: 39 - 63 (2014).
*The Maritime Routes between China and the Indian Ocean during the second to ninth centuries CE. ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 27.1: 53 - 81 (2017).
*Cinnamon, Cassia and Ancient Trade. ''Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology'' 4.1: 5 - 18 (2017).
*Tung Oil and ''Tong'' Trees. ''Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft'' 167.1: 215 - 236 (2017).
*Islam in Champa and the Making of Factitious History. ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 28.4: 717 - 747 (2018).
*The Mystery of Jasmine and the Arab Counting-House in Canton. ''Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft'' 168.2: 415 - 436 (2018).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haw, Stephen G.
1951 births
English botanists
Historians of China
English historians
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Living people