会议名称：2013 杉木文化国际研讨会
　　　　　2013 International Wood Culture Symposium on Taxodiaceae
会议时间：2013年10月26-27日
会议地点：中国湖南省长沙市·中南林业科技大学
报 告 人：Mechtild Mertz
　　　　　法国巴黎东亚文明研究中心副研究员

Abstract: Sikkim, an Indian state in the Eastern Himalayas, is surrounded by Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal and the State of Bengal. When visiting Sikkim for the first time, it was very striking to see trees of Japanese sugi, Cryptomeria japonica, standing as outstanding landmarks all over the area.
Further investigations revealed that this tree was introduced to Sikkim and adjacent Darjeeling, in the 19th century as a suitable timber tree species for making tea boxes. My presentation will explain the fascinating history and circumstances of the introduction of the Japanese cedar to northern India.

个人简介：
Mechtild Mertz，法国巴黎东亚文明研究中心副研究员，曾在德国海德堡大学和法国索邦大学深造日本研究和东亚艺术史，之后在巴黎第六大学研究木材解剖学。在法国巴黎国家自然历史博物馆从事民族植物学博士研究工作期间，她还前往日本参加了由日本京都大学生存圈研究所主导的日本手工艺匠人采访工作。除母语德语外，她还流利掌握英语、法语、日语和荷兰语。

After having trained as a cabinetmaker and furniture restorer in Germany, Ms. Mechtild Mertz decided to pursue Japanese Studies and East Asian Art History at the University of Heidelberg and the Sorbonne (Paris IV). She also studied wood anatomy at the Pierre and Marie Curie University (Paris VII). While working towards a PhD in ethnobotany from the National Museum of Natural History, Paris, she came toJapan to interview wood craftsmen under the auspices of Kyoto University's Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH; formerly the Wood Research Institute). She is presently an associate researcher at the East Asia Civilisations Research Centre (CRCAO-CNRS), Paris, France. Involved in research missions in cooperation with Kyoto University’s RISH and the Tibet Heritage Fund, she extended her research activities to the Eastern Himalayas, notably to Sikkim, India. As a German native she is fluent in English, French, Japanese and Dutch.

责任编辑：iwcs24P/H