Profile

Founder of Eucommia silviculture research in China; author of Eucommia and Eucommia of China.

Story

Zhou Zhengxian (1928-2003), from Gushi, Henan, was a forest cultivation scientist, professor and Head of the Department of Forestry at Guizhou Agricultural College. After graduating from the Forestry Department of Sichuan University in 1953, he was assigned to Guizhou. In the 1950s he began silvicultural research at the Zunyi Eucommia forest farm; in 1958 he published in Scientia Silvae Sinicae China's earliest research paper on Eucommia biology and silvicultural problems; and in 1959 he published The Establishment and Utilization of Eucommia Plantations - making him the pioneer of Eucommia cultivation science in China.

He continued writing thereafter, publishing Eucommia in 1980 and Eucommia of China in 1993, and co-authored with Guo Guangdian a systematic account of the types, distribution and introduction of Eucommia in China. These works long served as fundamental references for Eucommia production and research, and are recognized by the field as foundational contributions to Eucommia development alongside Eucommia rubber research and bark-peeling regeneration technology. He was also a renowned Masson pine expert; leading the national 7th Five-Year key project, he drove the establishment of technical systems in eight major southern Masson pine producing regions and received national-level recognition.

Milestones

• After graduating from the Forestry Department of Sichuan University in 1953, was assigned to teach at the Agricultural College of Guizhou University, where he founded the Department of Forestry of Guizhou Agricultural College
• From the 1950s, conducted silvicultural surveys and experiments at the Zunyi Eucommia forest farm
• Led the drafting of the Professional Standard of the People's Republic of China - Fast-growing and High-yield Masson Pine Plantations (completed 1987)

Key Contributions

• In 1958, published in Scientia Silvae Sinicae 'Biological characteristics of Eucommia in Zunyi, Guizhou, and silvicultural problems of the Zunyi Eucommia forest farm', pioneering the science of Eucommia silviculture in China
• In 1959, published The Establishment and Utilization of Eucommia Plantations, followed by Eucommia (1980) and Eucommia of China (1993)
• Co-published with Guo Guangdian 'Types, distribution and introduction of Eucommia in China' (Scientia Silvae Sinicae, 1980), the first systematic classification of Eucommia types and distribution
• As leader of the Masson pine cultivation technology topic under the national 7th Five-Year key science and technology program, directed collaborative research by 106 scientists at 14 institutions across 10 southern provinces
• His research on high-yield Eucommia cultivation techniques is recognized as the foundation for the efficient development and utilization of Eucommia