Walter Henry Medhurst
Encyclopedia
Walter Henry Medhurst was an English
Congregationalist
missionary to China
, born in London
and educated at St Paul's School, was one of the early translators of the Bible into Chinese language editions.
, Scotland
. As a young man Medhurst learned the business of a printer and typesetter at Hackney College. Becoming interested in Christian missions he sailed in 1816 to join the London Missionary Society
's station at Malacca
, which was intended to be a great printing centre. En route, he called at Madras where, in a little less than three months, he met Mrs Elizabeth Braun, née Martin (1794–1874), marrying her the day before he sailed to Malacca.
Once he arrived, Malacca quickly became proficient in Malay
, in a knowledge of the written characters of Chinese
, and in the colloquial use of more than one of its dialects.
Medhurst was ordained at Malacca in 1819, and engaged in missionary labours, first at Penang
, then at Batavia
- and finally, when peace was concluded with China in 1842, at Shanghai
where he founded the London Missionary Society Press (墨海書館) together with William Muirhead
, Joseph Edkins
, and William Charles Milne. There he continued till 1856, laying the foundations of a successful mission.
. In 1840, a group of four people (Walter Henry Medhurst, Charles Gutzlaff, Elijah Coleman Bridgman
, and John Robert Morrison
) cooperated to translate the Bible into Chinese
.
The translation of the Hebrew part was done mostly by Gutzlaff from the Netherlands Missionary Society
, with the exception that the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua were done by the group collectively.
This translation, completed in 1847 is very famous due to its adoption by the revolutionary peasant leader Hong Xiuquan
of the Taipingtianguo movement (Taiping Rebellion
) as some of the reputed early doctrines of the organization.
This Bible translation was a version in Classical Chinese
, marvellously correct and faithful to the original. With John Stronach
, and the assistance of Wang Tao, Medhurst later translated the New Testament
into the Mandarin dialect of Nanking.
His Chinese-English and English-Chinese dictionaries (each in 2 vols.) are still valuable, and to him the British public owed its understanding of the teaching of Hung-Sew-Tseuen
, the leader of the Tai-ping rising
(1851-64).
Medhurst was a prolific writer, translator, and editor. The list below is incomplete. In recognition of these learned books, in 1843 the University of New York
conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D
.
He died two days after reaching London, on 24 January 1857 and was buried at the Congregationalists' non-denominational Abney Park Cemetery
where his white stone obelisk monument can still be seen today.
His son, Sir Walter Henry Medhurst
(1822-1885), was British consul at Hankow and afterwards at Shanghai. His obituary was published in the Illustrated London News of 9 January 1886.
Published books
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...
Congregationalist
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
missionary 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...
, born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and educated at St Paul's School, was one of the early translators of the Bible into Chinese language editions.
Early life
Medhurst's father was an innkeeper in RossRoss
Ross is a region of Scotland and a former mormaerdom, earldom, sheriffdom and county. The name Ross allegedly derives from a Gaelic word meaning a headland - perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. The Norse word for Orkney - Hrossay meaning horse island - is another possible origin. The area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. As a young man Medhurst learned the business of a printer and typesetter at Hackney College. Becoming interested in Christian missions he sailed in 1816 to join the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
's station at Malacca
Malacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
, which was intended to be a great printing centre. En route, he called at Madras where, in a little less than three months, he met Mrs Elizabeth Braun, née Martin (1794–1874), marrying her the day before he sailed to Malacca.
Once he arrived, Malacca quickly became proficient in Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, in a knowledge of the written characters of Chinese
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...
, and in the colloquial use of more than one of its dialects.
Medhurst was ordained at Malacca in 1819, and engaged in missionary labours, first at Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, then at Batavia
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
- and finally, when peace was concluded with China in 1842, 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...
where he founded the London Missionary Society Press (墨海書館) together with William Muirhead
William Muirhead
William Muirhead was a Protestant Christian missionary who served with the London Missionary Society during the late Qing Dynasty in China.-Works authored or edited:* Hymns of Praise. 38 leaves. Shanghai, 1858. By Rev. William Muirhead...
, Joseph Edkins
Joseph Edkins
Joseph Edkins was a British Protestant missionary who spent 57 years in China, 30 of them in Beijing. As a Sinologue, he specialized in Chinese religions. He was also a linguist, a translator, and a philologist. Writing prolifically, he penned many books about the Chinese language and the Chinese...
, and William Charles Milne. There he continued till 1856, laying the foundations of a successful mission.
Significant books
Medhurst's principal labour for several years, as one of a committee of delegates, was in the revision of existing Chinese versions of the BibleBible
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...
. In 1840, a group of four people (Walter Henry Medhurst, Charles Gutzlaff, Elijah Coleman Bridgman
Elijah Coleman Bridgman
Elijah Coleman Bridgman was the first American Protestant Christian missionary appointed to China. He served with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions...
, and John Robert Morrison
John Robert Morrison
John Robert Morrison was the second son from Robert Morrison's first marriage with Mary Morton. He was a translator, diplomat and missionary in China and the Far East, most closely associated with Canton City and Hong Kong...
) cooperated to translate the Bible into Chinese
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...
.
The translation of the Hebrew part was done mostly by Gutzlaff from the Netherlands Missionary Society
Netherlands Missionary Society
Netherlands Missionary Society was a Dutch Protestant missionary society that was involved in sending workers to countries such as China during the Qing Dynasty. The most famous of which was Karl Gützlaff....
, with the exception that the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua were done by the group collectively.
This translation, completed in 1847 is very famous due to its adoption by the revolutionary peasant leader Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan , born Hong Renkun, style name Huoxiu , was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.-Early...
of the Taipingtianguo movement (Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
) as some of the reputed early doctrines of the organization.
This Bible translation was a version in Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese
Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...
, marvellously correct and faithful to the original. With John Stronach
John Stronach
John Stronach was a Protestant Christian missionary who served with the London Missionary Society during the late Qing Dynasty China.-Notes:...
, and the assistance of Wang Tao, Medhurst later translated 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....
into the Mandarin dialect of Nanking.
His Chinese-English and English-Chinese dictionaries (each in 2 vols.) are still valuable, and to him the British public owed its understanding of the teaching of Hung-Sew-Tseuen
Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan , born Hong Renkun, style name Huoxiu , was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.-Early...
, the leader of the Tai-ping rising
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
(1851-64).
Medhurst was a prolific writer, translator, and editor. The list below is incomplete. In recognition of these learned books, in 1843 the University of New York
University of New York
University of New York may refer to:*University of New York in Prague, Czech Republic*University of New York Tirana, Albania* University of New York, fictional university on the American television series Felicity , modelled on New York University-See also:*There is no institution of higher...
conferred upon him the honorary degree of D.D
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
.
Death & memorial
Medhurst left Shanghai in 1856, in failing health.He died two days after reaching London, on 24 January 1857 and was buried at the Congregationalists' non-denominational Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
where his white stone obelisk monument can still be seen today.
His son, Sir Walter Henry Medhurst
Walter Henry Medhurst (consul)
Sir Walter Henry Medhurst, born in Batavia in 1822, died in Torquay in 1885, British diplomat in China.Being the son of the prominent British missionary Walter Henry Medhurst, the younger Medhurst was educated at Blundell's School and in Macau. There he acquired a good command of Chinese, Dutch and...
(1822-1885), was British consul at Hankow and afterwards at Shanghai. His obituary was published in the Illustrated London News of 9 January 1886.
Published books
- Medhurst, Walter. A Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language: According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms: Containing about 12,000 Characters (ISBN 1-86210-067-5)
- Medhurst, Walter Henry (1872). The Foreigner in far Cathay London: Edward Stanford. -University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, China Through Western Eyes
- Medhurst, Walter Henry (1838). China: its state and prospects, with special reference to the spread of the gospel; containing allusions to the antiquity, extent, population, civilization, literature, and religion of the Chinese London: J. Snow. -University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, China Through Western Eyes