The Lady and the Panda

by Vicki Croke

  87 Young was managing Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 197.

  87 Aggressively jostling…“of the open sewage” Harkness to Perkins and others, 12 Oct. 1936.

  88 Half the people in China Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 147.

  88 “When I see” Harkness to Perkins, 13 Oct. 1936; and Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 144, corroborates the impression.

  88 Then word came in Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 93.

  88 Rather than sailing to America Floyd Tangier Smith, letter to the editor, North China Daily News, 7 Dec. 1936. In this letter, Smith says Russell left one day after Harkness, even though he has her departure date as 23 Sept., when it was actually the 27th; still, Harkness confirms in her letters that Russell left the day after.

  88 “He is trying” … “wring his redheaded neck” Harkness to Perkins and others, 12 and 17 Oct. 1936.

  89 The more she thought about it Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936.

  89 What she didn't know China Journal, Apr. 1937.

  89 Reib had arranged Harkness as told to Adamson, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 1, “Led by Tibetan, Mrs. Harkness Finds Prize in Frigid Wilds,” New York American, 14 Feb. 1937; and Tuchman, Stilwell, p. 77. Tuchman verifies “the habitual Chinese failure to keep roads in repair.”

  89 Completely protected Ross Terrill, “Sichuan: Where China Changes Course,” National Geographic, Sept. 1985, says 40 feet wide, p. 287.

  89 At the very frontier Chengdu history from Nagel's Encyclopedia Guide: China (Geneva: Nagel, 1979), p. 1262; Jeannette L. Faurot, Ancient Chengdu (San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center Publications, 1992), pp. 4, 118. Once nearly destroyed by Mongol hordes under the rule of Kublai Khan, Chengdu received the great Marco Polo, who walked streets that even in the thirteenth century were covered in paving stones.

  89 It was a sprawling walled Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 44.

  90 Behind the grand front gate Details about Cavaliere from Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936; and Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 136.

  90 At seven o'clock Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936.

  91 Pilots, explorers North China Herald, 29 July 1936.

  91 In this wilderness outpost Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936.

  91 Harkness discovered Harkness to Perkins and others, 17 Oct. 1936.

  91 the CNAC kept him W. Langhorne Bond, Wings for an Embattled China, ed. James E. Ellis (Bethlehem, Penn.: Lehigh University Press, 2001).

  91 Kay had settled Harkness to Perkins and others, 17 Oct. 1936. Her chambers included an opulent bathroom, though this being Chengdu, the taps on the tub were purely ornamental, with hot water having to be carted in by the servants.

  91 He provided Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936.

  92 The mountain chain Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.” Also this is what botanist Wilson says, as well as China Journal, Apr. 1937, which simply calls them a “mass of high mountains, by no means all of which have been explored,” p. 189.

  92 The mountains of Tibet Hopkirk, Trespassers, p. 5.

  92 The Chinese had marveled Terrill, “Sichuan,” p. 302.

  92 Even where the mountains Hopkirk, Trespassers, pp. 6, 232.

  92 A no-man's-land Simon Winchester, The River at the Center of the World (New York: Henry Holt, 1996), p. 363.

  92 beyond the reach of law Faurot, Ancient Chengdu. In his double-volume set, A Naturalist in Western China, botanist E. H. Wilson reported that the entire region was “practically uncharted and unsurveyed.” It was impossible to delineate “with any approach to accuracy, the political boundary between Szechuan and Thibet,” he said. “Indeed, no actual frontier has ever been agreed upon.” The only fair description, Wilson concluded, was to call it the “Chino-Thibetan Borderland.”

  92 Panda hunter Dean Sage Sage, Jr., “In Quest,” pp. 312–17.

  93 Even Western climbers Orville Schell, Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2000), pp. 238–39, 190, 235–36.

  93 While in this state Joseph F. Rock, “Sungmas, the Living Oracles of the Tibetan Church,” National Geographic, Oct. 1935, pp. 475–85; and Melvyn C. Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989), pp. 140–41, fn. 8.

  94 “a beautiful forgotten world” Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.”

  94 Wang Whai Hsin Full name from the back of a photograph from the Ruth Harkness family archives. Shows Wang at the end of the second expedition and reads: “Wang Whai Hsin my one servant.”

  94 He agreed with Schaller, Last Panda, pp. 130, 132; Harkness, Lady and the Panda, pp. 55, 56; and Roosevelt and Roosevelt, Trailing the Giant Panda, endmap.

  94 The only road Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936.

  94 That was where Floyd Tangier Smith Sheldon, Wilderness Home, p. 32.

  95 Throughout this time, Cavaliere threw Harkness to Perkins, n.d., Oct. 1936.

  95 This one included Harkness to Perkins, 21 Oct. 1936, and second letter marked “later same evening.”

  95 The China Press had reported “Lolo Chiefs Interested in Gen. Chiang: Jack Young Says Tribe Heads Believe Generalissimo Old, Wise,” China Press, 18 Aug. 1936.

  95 Wearily, Cavaliere Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 1.

  96 a ragtag caravan Ibid.

  96 blue cotton expedition suit Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 113.

  96 densest rural populations Lonely Planet: China (Australia: Lonely Planet, 1994), p. 796.

  96 Harkness, like many foreigners Hahn, China to Me, p. 118. Hahn remembered with horror the sight of her chair coolies in Sichuan. “They breathed in loud, stertorous gasps before we were halfway up to the first zigzag in the road,” she wrote. “I saw how their shoulders had been warped into great lumps from the carrying poles, and their legs looked foreshortened and squashed with all their muscles, from being pressed downward.”

  97 These unhappy souls Spence, Search for Modern China, p. 382.

  97 What it took to survive Dong, Shanghai, p. 162.

  97 swaggering strong man Harkness, Lady and the Panda, pp. 130–31.

  98 If she were in their situation Harkness to Perkins, n.d., Oct. 1936.

  98 “Last night's Inn” Harkness to Perkins, 21 Oct. 1936.

  100 bandit gangs as large as armies Dong, Shanghai, p. 116.

  101 Up a ladder Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” confirms two days to Guanxian.

  101 It was Campbell Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 2.

  CHAPTER FIVE: RIVALRY AND ROMANCE

  105 As Harkness traveled Smith, letter/document, 12 Oct. 1937, Floyd Tangier Smith Papers, Library of Congress. It is unclear whether Russell was near Harkness in the field and reporting information back in letters, or if Russell merely brought Smith up to date when he returned to Shanghai.

  105 Beyond field-intelligence Russell to Reynolds, 1 Apr. 1965. Russell states of Harkness and the capture of her panda: “What actually occurred 15 miles from Chaopo I do not know as I was in another area.” And China Journal, Apr. 1937, places him at the Tibetan border, in “Wassu country” in Sikong.

  105 if he had been up to it Elizabeth Smith to Ruth Woodhull Tangier Smith, 23 Dec. 1936, Smith Papers. She says all this took place two months before the letter.

  105 Unaware of any espionage Harkness as told to Adamson, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 1, “Led by Tibetan, Mrs. Harkness Finds Prize in Frigid Wilds,” New York American, 14 Feb. 1937.

  106 Overjoyed that Details of soldier incident from Ibid.

  106 Cavaliere really would Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936.

  106 They shared cigarettes Ruth Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” Gourmet, Mar. 1944, p. 57.

  107 Somehow a handful Harkness: Baby Giant Panda, pp. 35–36.

  107 She once used chopsticks Harkness to Perkins, 17 Oct. 1936.

  108 His impulse proved Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 13
7.

  108 It sat at the foot Author's observation, 29 Oct. 2002.

  108 The enchanted hamlet Ibid.; and Sheldon, Wilderness Home, p. 24.

  108 Their odd, semiautonomous Dr. Ming-ke Wang, Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica, e-mail correspondence between Professor Sarah Queen (Connecticut College) and Dr. Ming-ke Wang, 17 Dec. 2002; Schaller, Last Panda, p. 132; Catton, Pandas, p. 16.

  108 The royal men Sheldon, Wilderness Home, p. 22.

  108 Wenchuan, it turned out Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 1.

  109 But the military men Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.”

  110 “when you yourself are right” Lin Yutang, Moment in Peking (New York: John Day, 1939), p. 7.

  110 Saluting her back Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.”

  111 He was the headman Details from Harkness as told to Adamson, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 2, “Mrs. Harkness' Thrilling Story of Her Hunt in Asian Wilds,” New York American, 21 Feb. 1937.

  112 “a perpetual twilight” Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.”

  112 New droppings Schaller, Last Panda, p. 4.

  113 Her predecessor Sheldon, Wilderness Home, pp. 4, 5, 16, 19, 41, 76, 106, 129.

  113 The diggers lived Pandas of the Sleeping Dragon, PBS Nature documentary, 1 Mar. 1996.

  115 said to be five hundred Sheldon, Wilderness Home, p. 62.

  115 Exhausted, Harkness and Young Schell, Virtual Tibet, p. 4.

  116 The depictions were so graphic Torrance, Journal of the West China Border Research Society, 1932.

  116 The botanist E. H. Wilson Wilson, A Naturalist in Western China, p. 168.

  116 The deities seemed proud Schell, Virtual Tibet, p. 21.

  116 Harkness, who loved the “frankness” Harkness to Perkins, 24 Sept. 1937.

  116 Something must have stirred Although Harkness never actually revealed the romance publicly, she left poetic and sometimes rather obvious hints of it in the book she was to write later. Young went one step further; as an old man, he confirmed the relationship with reporter Michael Kiefer, and over time even told him where and when the liaison started. See Kiefer, Chasing the Panda.

  117 But the issue had fascinated Harkness to Perkins, 16 June 1936.

  117 Emily Hahn and the poet Sergeant, Shanghai, p. 293.

  117 There were rooms for ancestor Harkness to Perkins and others, 17 Oct. 1936.

  117 Still, both whites and Chinese Dong, Shanghai, p. 28.

  119 Sage had written extensively Sage, Jr., “In Quest,” p. 312.

  119 “lonely, wild” Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 171.

  119 in her silk sleeping bag Ibid., p. 193.

  120 “Hurry up” Ibid., p. 180.

  120 Young strode down Ibid., p. 181.

  121 Not only were they climbing Schaller, Last Panda, pp. 85–86, 26. As the stoic field biologist George Schaller would declare many years later, “The essence of panda tracking was discomfort.”

  121 “Picture, if you can” Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 1.

  121 Evidence too William Theodore de Bary, Wing-Tsit Chan, and Burton Watson, eds., Sources of Chinese Tradition, vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), from “Pao-p'u Tzu,” p. 259.

  122 In this foggy region Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 1.

  122 All along the route Ibid.

  122 Full of natural history data Anne Birrell, trans., The Classic of Mountains and Seas (London: Penguin Books, 1999), pp. 25, 124.

  123 Here in the mountains Schaller, Last Panda, pp. 61–62.

  123 In general, though Morris and Morris, Men and Pandas, pp. 28–30.

  123 Now, in the cold of November Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker, The Smithsonian Book of Giant Pandas (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 2002), p. 66.

  123 For a male in the vicinity Ibid., pp. 79–80.

  123 Precisely who she was “Chemical Communication in Giant Pandas,” “Panda 2000, Conservation Priorities for the New Millennium,” workshop at the San Diego Zoo, Oct. 2000, http://www.sandiegozoo.org/conservation/fieldproject_panda2000.html.

  123 On this night, not far from Camp Two Lumpkin and Seidensticker, Smithsonian Book of Giant Pandas, p. 76. A tree of this age is usually required for a hollow big enough.

  123 her two-month-old baby Estimate of age from panda experts at Zoo Atlanta, from viewing photographs of Su-Lin.

  123 Next to his mother Lumpkin and Seidensticker, Smithsonian Book of Giant Pandas, p. 89. Panda babies weigh about 3.5 ounces.

  CHAPTER SIX: A GIFT FROM THE SPIRITS

  125 When Harkness first awoke Harkness as told to Adamson, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 1, “Led by Tibetan, Mrs. Harkness Finds Prize in Frigid Wilds,” New York American, 14 Feb. 1937.

  125 She ate a spartan breakfast Ibid.

  126 The visibility was poor North China Daily News, 28 Nov. 1936.

  126 In the dense fog Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda,” 20 Dec. 1936.

  126 Stumbling on Harkness as told to Adamson, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 2, “Mrs. Harkness' Thrilling Story of Her Hunt in Asian Wilds,” New York American, 21 Feb. 1937.

  126 When he quickly surrendered Ibid., parts 2 and 3.

  127 At the bottom of Young's Tibetan trunk Harkness as told to Adamson, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3, “How Mrs. Harkness Kept the Baby Panda Alive,” New York American, 28 Feb. 1937.

  127 Sitting outside the tent Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 32.

  128 Harkness would report later Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  129 “or sprawled” Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 224.

  129 Even his whimpering Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 2.

  129 gaze on his placid Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 197.

  129 “the most precious thing” Ibid., p. 211.

  129 Because there was no external scrotum Su-Lin was discovered to be a male during dissection, reported in Time, 1 May 1939; and in Field Museum News, p. 7, n.d. but must be May 1938.

  129 “a week or two old” Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 2; and Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 31.

  129 actually about eight or nine weeks Consensus of panda experts at Zoo Atlanta, examining photos of Su-Lin, Mar. 2003. Pictures brought to zoo by Jolly Young. Experts included zoo's veterinarian and the director of the Chengdu panda-breeding facility.

  130 fashioned a comfortable cradle Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 31.

  130 Hudson Bay blanket Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  130 They did everything to keep North China Daily News, 28 Nov. 1936.

  130 It had all gone to their heads Harkness, Lady and the Panda, p. 191.

  130 “The thing I most wanted” Ibid.

  130 Life was so good here Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 31.

  130 the Immortals of Daoist belief Edward L. Shaughnessy, ed., China: Empire and Civilization (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 91, 95.

  130 “Heaven is my bed” Chang Heng, “The Bones of Chuang Tzu,” Anthology of Chinese Literature: From Early Times to the Fourteenth Century, ed. Cyril Birch (New York: Grove Press, 1965), p. 178.

  131 Rain and sleet Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  131 The panda was cuddled Ibid.

  132 Firecrackers exploded Ruth Harkness, “In a Tibetan Lamasery,” Gourmet, Mar. 1944, p. 58.

  132 They sometimes lived in temples Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 36.

  133 Wisely, Su-Lin Ibid., pp. 36–39.

  134 After her days in the mountains Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  134 She kept Baby close North China Daily News, 28 Nov. 1936.

  134 A vigilant mother Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  134 For the journey
to Guanxian Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, pp. 39–40.

  135 Instead, Harkness pressed Abend, “Rare 4-Pound ‘Giant’ Panda.”

  135 At first light Ibid.; also, the picture of Harkness with Hosie in North China Daily News, 29 Nov. 1936.

  136 Lady Hosie was the daughter “Lady Dorothea Hosie, Lecturer on Chinese, Found Typhoon of Wit,” China Press, 28 July 1936; and “Lady Hosie,” North China Herald, 29 July 1936.

  136 The chance encounter North China Daily News, 29 Nov. 1936.

  136 The very British Dorothea Hosie, Brave New China (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1938), pp. 138–39.

  137 When he came to a stop Harkness, “How I Caught the Rare Giant Panda,” part 3.

  137 He was spending the night Ibid.

  138 Ruth Harkness felt it was Lin Yutang, Moment in Peking (New York: John Day, 1939), p. 9.

  138 The next morning, November 17 The China Press, which met her at the airport, says she got into Shanghai on 17 Nov. (3 Dec. edition). New York Times, 18 Nov. 1936, says she arrived in Chengdu on 17 Nov., and we know she spent one night there.

  138 Douglas fourteen-passenger airplane From “Improvement of CNAC Airways,” “Tales of Old Shanghai” website. CNAC added another fourteenpassenger Douglas to its fleet in 1935 to ensure one-day travel between Shanghai and Chengdu. Leaving at 7 A.M., one could reach Chengdu by 3:30 P.M.

  138 November marked W. Langhorne Bond, Wings for an Embattled China, ed. James E. Ellis (Bethlehem, Penn.: Lehigh University Press, 2001), p. 87.

  CHAPTER SEVEN: THE BATTLE ROYAL

  139 The sound of droning engines China National Aviation Corporation website, http://www.CNAC.org.

  139 Captain Mac, who had draped Harkness, Baby Giant Panda, p. 47 (Kyatang says a porter carried the basket).

  140 “The animal is believed” New York Times, 18 Nov. 1936.

  140 The flashed message “Baby Giant,” Time, 7 Dec. 1936.

  140 She would do this “Battle Over, Panda and Captor Sail,” China Press, 3 Dec. 1936.

  140 She wanted to make sure Shanghai Evening Post and Mercury, 2 Dec. 1936, talks about her heading out over the Yellow Sea, but maps from National Geographic (big map from 1933) and small, detailed map on p. 491, of Oct. 1937, indicate East China Sea.