American Soil Scientists' Contributions to Chinese Pedology in the 20th Century

American and Chinese soil scientists have a long and storied history of cooperation. in this article we introduce a few key American pedologists whose influence shaped pedology in China. These pedologists can be divided into two time periods. The first wave arrived in the 1930s and were prominent until 1949 and included John L. Buck, Charles F. Shaw, Robert L. Pendleton, and James A. Thorp. The second group, namely Richard W. Arnold, Hari Eswaran, Larry P. Wilding, and Stanley W. Buol, began collaborating with Chinese soil scientists after the Reform and Opening Policy of 1978. The development of pedology and soil classification in the United States and China is also discussed and an introduction to Chinese soil taxonomy as it relates to the U.S. classification system is given.