Frederick W. Baller
Encyclopedia
Frederick William Baller (November 21, 1852 – August 12, 1922) was a British
Protestant Christian
missionary
to China
, Chinese linguist
, translator, educator and sinologist.
at age 17 Baller was one of the first students of the Missionary Institute established in the East End of London
by Henry Grattan Guinness
.
Baller applied to the China Inland Mission
, and left England
on September 3, 1873 with Charles Henry Judd
, M. Henry Taylor, and Mary Bowyer. They arrived at Shanghai
on November 5, 1873. The following year, he and Mary Bowyer were married at Shanghai on September 17, 1874. Mary was a veteran missionary to China from the beginning of the China Inland Mission, who had ventured out with Hudson Taylor on the Lammermuir (clipper)
in 1866. She had been baptized by Taylor, along with some others, en route at the Sunda Strait
.
Baller studied the Chinese language
in Nanking (Nanjing
), then just recently liberated from the ravages of the Taiping rebels. Baller was then appointed superintendent of missions in Anhui
and Jiangsu
with the China Inland Mission
. He went to Shanxi
in 1876 with George King to distribute famine
relief. Again, due to the continued famine in 1878 he returned to Shanxi with Jane Elizabeth Faulding (Mrs. Hudson Taylor), the single women missionaries Horne and Crickmay. Baller took a China Inland Mission
party through Hunan
, facing antiforeign opposition, to Guiyang
in 1880, visiting the capital of Guizhou
. He was appointed secretary to the first China Inland Mission
China Council in 1885.
, Sichuan
. There he not only helped train missionaries in the Chinese language but also published his lectures in "Letters, from an Old Missionary to His Nephew" (1907).
In 1887 he began his extensive literary work. From 1900 to 1918 he served on the committee to revise the Mandarin Bible
as a member of the Union Mandarin Bible Revision Committee at Beijing
, for the New Testament
in 1907, and the Old Testament
1907–1918. Among his many books, the best known are "An Anglo-Chinese Dictionary", "The Mandarin Primer" (thirteen editions), "An Idiom a Lesson, An Analytical Vocabulary of the New Testament", "Lessons in Wenli", "An English Translation of the Sacred Edict", and "The Life of Hudson Taylor".
After the death of his first wife, Baller married H. B. Fleming on January 23, 1912.
Due to his work with the Chinese language, in 1915 he was made a Life Governor of the British and Foreign Bible Society
; he was also a vice president of the National Bible Society of Scotland
; and a Life Member of the American Bible Society
.
In 1919 Baller went on furlough
after nineteen years of uninterrupted service in China.
Baller died in 1922 and was buried in Shanghai
shortly after completing his book on Taylor.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Protestant Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Chinese linguist
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, translator, educator and sinologist.
Missionary career
Following his conversion to ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
at age 17 Baller was one of the first students of the Missionary Institute established in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
by Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness
Henry Grattan Guinness D. D. was an Irish Protestant Christian preacher, evangelist and author. He was the great evangelist of the Evangelical awakening and preached during the Ulster Revival of 1859 which drew thousands to hear him...
.
Baller applied to the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
, and left England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on September 3, 1873 with Charles Henry Judd
Charles Henry Judd
Charles Henry Judd was a British Protestant missionary to China with the China Inland Mission. He was among the first to bring news of the Gospel to Guizhou, Hunan, and Hebei during the late Qing Dynasty when travel was limited to walking or river boat journeys.-Missionary experiences:Charles...
, M. Henry Taylor, and Mary Bowyer. They arrived at Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
on November 5, 1873. The following year, he and Mary Bowyer were married at Shanghai on September 17, 1874. Mary was a veteran missionary to China from the beginning of the China Inland Mission, who had ventured out with Hudson Taylor on the Lammermuir (clipper)
Lammermuir (clipper)
The second ship to bear the name Lammermuir was an extreme composite clipper ship built in 1864 by W. Pile & Co of West Hartlepool for John "Jock" "White Hat" Willis & Son, London...
in 1866. She had been baptized by Taylor, along with some others, en route at the Sunda Strait
Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea to the Indian Ocean...
.
Baller studied the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
in Nanking (Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
), then just recently liberated from the ravages of the Taiping rebels. Baller was then appointed superintendent of missions in Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
and Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
with the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
. He went to Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
in 1876 with George King to distribute famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
relief. Again, due to the continued famine in 1878 he returned to Shanxi with Jane Elizabeth Faulding (Mrs. Hudson Taylor), the single women missionaries Horne and Crickmay. Baller took a China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
party through Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, facing antiforeign opposition, to Guiyang
Guiyang
Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou province of Southwest China. It is located in the centre of the province, situated on the east of the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, and on the north bank of the Nanming River, a branch of the Wu River. The city has an elevation of about 1,100 meters...
in 1880, visiting the capital of Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
. He was appointed secretary to the first China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
China Council in 1885.
Writing and teaching career
In 1896 he was appointed principal of the new training home for CIM male missionaries at AnqingAnqing
Anqing is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Anhui province, East China. It borders Lu'an to the north, Chaohu to the northeast, Tongling to the east, Chizhou to the southeast, and the provinces of Jiangxi and Hubei to the south and west respectively....
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
. There he not only helped train missionaries in the Chinese language but also published his lectures in "Letters, from an Old Missionary to His Nephew" (1907).
In 1887 he began his extensive literary work. From 1900 to 1918 he served on the committee to revise the Mandarin Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
as a member of the Union Mandarin Bible Revision Committee at Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, for the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
in 1907, and the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
1907–1918. Among his many books, the best known are "An Anglo-Chinese Dictionary", "The Mandarin Primer" (thirteen editions), "An Idiom a Lesson, An Analytical Vocabulary of the New Testament", "Lessons in Wenli", "An English Translation of the Sacred Edict", and "The Life of Hudson Taylor".
After the death of his first wife, Baller married H. B. Fleming on January 23, 1912.
Due to his work with the Chinese language, in 1915 he was made a Life Governor of the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
; he was also a vice president of the National Bible Society of Scotland
Scottish Bible Society
Scottish Bible Society, founded in 1809 as the Edinburgh Bible Society, amalgamated in 1861 with the Glasgow Bible Society to form the National Bible Society of Scotland, is a Scottish Christian charity that exists to make the Bible available throughout the world.The Scottish Bible Society arose...
; and a Life Member of the American Bible Society
American Bible Society
The American Bible Society is an interconfessional, non-denominational, nonprofit organization, founded in 1816 in New York City, which publishes, distributes and translates the Bible and provides study aids and other tools to help people engage with the Bible.It is probably best known for its...
.
In 1919 Baller went on furlough
Furlough
In the United States a furlough is a temporary unpaid leave of some employees due to special needs of a company, which may be due to economic conditions at the specific employer or in the economy as a whole...
after nineteen years of uninterrupted service in China.
Baller died in 1922 and was buried in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
shortly after completing his book on Taylor.
Works authored or translated
- Life of C. H. Spurgeon Translated into Mandarin
- A Retrospect by J. Hudson Taylor (translated into Chinese)
- An analytical Chinese-English dictionary : compiled for the China Inland Mission (1900)
- An analytical vocabulary of the New Testament (1907)
- A Mandarin primer (1911)
- An idiom a lesson; a short course in elementary Chinese (1921)