Sung Shu Chien: The founder of modern Chinese botany

Abstract Sung Shu Chien (钱崇澍, 1883–1965) (Fig. 1) was a famous botanist and educator in China, one of the founders of Chinese plant taxonomy, plant physiology, geobotany, and floristics. He devoted his whole life to scientific research and education, and was a founder of modern Chinese botany. Sung Shu Chien pioneered several research fields in modern Chinese botany. In 1916, he published the first literature in Latin on the naming and classification of plants. In the following year, he published the earliest thesis on the application of modern scientific methods of plant physiology in China. He wrote the first paper in the area of plant ecology and geobotany in China. He was a pioneer in the systematic study of the families Orchidaceae, Urticaceae, Fabaceae, and Ranunculaceae in China. From 1959 to 1965, he was the chief editor of “Flora of China” and was responsible for the section on Urticaceae (Yu, 1983). Sung Shu Chien initiated the research of plant taxonomy, plant physiology and plant ecology in China, and laid a solid foundation for the extensive research of vegetation, plant zoning and plant specialties in China (Chien et al., 1956). By skillfully combining research and education, he cultivated Chinese scientific and technological talents in botany.