Walter Henry Medhurst (29 April 1796 – 24 January 1857), was an EnglishCongregationalist missionary to China, born in London and educated at St Paul's School. He was one of the early translators of the Bible into Chinese-language editions.[1]
Walter Henry Medhurst
Missionary Walter Medhurst with Choo Tih Lang and a Malay Boy
Medhurst's father was an innkeeper in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire. As a young man, Medhurst studied at Hackney College under George Collison and he worked as a printer and typesetter at the Gloucester Herald and the London Missionary Society (LMS). He became interested in Christian missions and the LMS chose him to become a missionary printer in China. He sailed in 1816 to join their station at Malacca, which was intended to be a great printing centre.[2] En route, he called at Madras where, in a little less than three months, he met Mrs Elizabeth Braune, née Martin (1794–1874), marrying her the day before he sailed to Malacca.[1]
Medhurst served as a missionary in Penang in 1820, and then in Batavia (present-day Jakarta), capital of the Dutch East Indies in 1822.[2] His son Walter Henry was born that year and born in 1828 was his daughter Eliza Mary who went on to marry Hong Kong's chief magistrate Charles Batten Hillier in 1846.[3]: 183 [4] Their youngest daughter was Augusta, born in 1840.[5]
Today's All Saints Jakarta church and the Parapattan Orphanage were started by Medhurst.[6]
In addition to compiling his Chinese-English and English-Chinese dictionaries, Medhurst was a prolific translator, lexicographer, and editor.
Although Medhurst never traveled to Japan, in 1830 he published An English and Japanese, and Japanese and English Vocabulary Compiled from Native Works in 344 pages. Based upon his studies of Hokkien, in 1831 Medhurst completed his A Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language, but printing of all 862 pages of which reached finality only in 1837 after being affected by the end of the British East India Company's trade monopoly in 1834 and for lack of funds.[7]
The translation of the Hebrew language part was done mostly by Gutzlaff from the Netherlands Missionary Society, with the exception of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua, which were done by the group collectively. The initial Gutzlaff translation, completed in 1847 is well known due to its adoption by the revolutionary peasant leader Hong Xiuquan of the Taiping Rebellion as some of the reputed early doctrines of the organization.[8]
Medhurst left Shanghai in 1856, in failing health. He died two days after reaching London, on 24 January 1857[2] and was buried at the Congregationalists' non-denominational Abney Park Cemetery where his white stone obelisk monument can still be seen today.[1] He left a son, Sir Walter Henry Medhurst (1822–1885), who was British consul at Hankow and afterwards at Shanghai.[2]
WorksEdit
Medhurst, W. H. (1832). A Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language: According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms: Containing about 12,000 Characters. Macau: East India Press. OCLC 5314739. OL 14003967M.
Medhurst, W. H. (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. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. OCLC 5314739. OL 13520937M.
Medhurst, W. H. (1848). English and Chinese Dictionary. Shanghae (Shanghai): Mission Press. OCLC 6590623. OL 20458179M.
Medhurst, W. H. (1842). Chinese and English Dictionary, containing all the words in the Chinese Imperial Dictionary, arranged according to the radicals, Volume 1. Parapattan, Batavia (Jakarta): no publisher stated on front page.
Medhurst, W. H. (1843). Chinese and English Dictionary, containing all the words in the Chinese Imperial Dictionary, arranged according to the radicals, Volume 2. Parapattan, Batavia (Jakarta): no publisher stated on front page.
Medhurst, W. H. (1847). A dissertation on the theology of the Chinese, with a view to the elucidation of the most appropriate term for expressing the deity, in the Chinese language. Shanghai: Mission Press.
Medhurst, W. H. (1848). An inquiry into the proper mode of rendering the word God in translating the sacred scriptures into the Chinese language. Shanghai: Mission Press.
Medhurst, W. H. (1848). Reply to the essay of Dr. Boone on the proper rendering of the words Elohim and Theos into the Chinese language. Shanghai: Mission Press.
Medhurst, W. H. (1848). Reply to the few plain questions of a brother missionary. Shanghai: Mission Press.
Medhurst, W. H. (1849). On the true meaning of the word Shin, as exhibited in the quotations adduced under that word in the Chinese Imperial thesaurus called the Pei-wan-yun-foo. Shanghai: Mission Press.
Medhurst, W. H. (1850). An inquiry into the proper mode of translating Ruach and Pneuma in the Chinese version of the Scriptures. Shanghai: Mission Press.
Medhurst, W. H. (1852). Reply to Dr. Boone's vindication of comments on the translation of Ephes. I. Shanghai: Mission Press.
^ abcdefghOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Medhurst, Walter Henry". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 20.
^Munn, Christopher (2012). May Holdsworth; Christopher Munn (eds.). Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN9789888083664.
^"Betty Medhurst". Historical Photographs of China. University of Bristol. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
^"Augusta Medhurst". Historical Photographs of China. University of Bristol. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
^Medhurst, Walter H (1 June 1837). A Dictionary of the Hok-këèn Dialect of the Chinese Language. Advertisement by Samuel Wells Williams
^Reilly, Thomas H. (2004). The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Rebellion and the Blasphemy of Empire. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. pp. 74–79. ISBN0295984309.
^Hanan, Patrick (1 January 2003). "The Bible as Chinese Literature: Medhurst, Wang Tao, and the Delegates' Version". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 63 (1): 197–239. doi:10.2307/25066695. JSTOR 25066695.
^Muss-Arnolt, William (1914). "The Book of Common Prayer among the Nations of the World: China, Korea, Japan". justus.anglican.org. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
Holliday, John (2016). Mission to China: How an Englishman brought the West to the Orient. Gloucestershire: Amberley.
October 20, 2023
walter, henry, medhurst, diplomat, consul, april, 1796, january, 1857, english, congregationalist, missionary, china, born, london, educated, paul, school, early, translators, bible, into, chinese, language, editions, missionary, walter, medhurst, with, choo, . For his son the diplomat see Walter Henry Medhurst consul Walter Henry Medhurst 29 April 1796 24 January 1857 was an English Congregationalist missionary to China born in London and educated at St Paul s School He was one of the early translators of the Bible into Chinese language editions 1 Walter Henry MedhurstMissionary Walter Medhurst with Choo Tih Lang and a Malay BoyBorn 1796 04 29 29 April 1796EnglandDied24 January 1857 1857 01 24 aged 60 London EnglandChinese nameTraditional Chinese麥都思Simplified Chinese麦都思TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinMai DusiWade GilesMai4 Tu1 ssu1 Contents 1 Early life 2 Malacca and Shanghai 3 Delegates Version 4 Significant books 5 Death amp memorial 6 Works 7 ReferencesEarly life EditMedhurst s father was an innkeeper in Ross on Wye Herefordshire As a young man Medhurst studied at Hackney College under George Collison and he worked as a printer and typesetter at the Gloucester Herald and the London Missionary Society LMS He became interested in Christian missions and the LMS chose him to become a missionary printer in China He sailed in 1816 to join their station at Malacca which was intended to be a great printing centre 2 En route he called at Madras where in a little less than three months he met Mrs Elizabeth Braune nee Martin 1794 1874 marrying her the day before he sailed to Malacca 1 Malacca and Shanghai EditHaving arrived in Malacca Medhurst learned Malay and studied Chinese Chinese characters and the Hokkien group of Min Nan Chinese varieties which is widely spoken in Southeast Asia He was ordained there by William Charles Milne on 27 April 1819 1 Medhurst served as a missionary in Penang in 1820 and then in Batavia present day Jakarta capital of the Dutch East Indies in 1822 2 His son Walter Henry was born that year and born in 1828 was his daughter Eliza Mary who went on to marry Hong Kong s chief magistrate Charles Batten Hillier in 1846 3 183 4 Their youngest daughter was Augusta born in 1840 5 Today s All Saints Jakarta church and the Parapattan Orphanage were started by Medhurst 6 In addition to compiling his Chinese English and English Chinese dictionaries Medhurst was a prolific translator lexicographer and editor Although Medhurst never traveled to Japan in 1830 he published An English and Japanese and Japanese and English Vocabulary Compiled from Native Works in 344 pages Based upon his studies of Hokkien in 1831 Medhurst completed his A Dictionary of the Hok keen Dialect of the Chinese Language but printing of all 862 pages of which reached finality only in 1837 after being affected by the end of the British East India Company s trade monopoly in 1834 and for lack of funds 7 In the 1840s Medhurst collaborated with John Stronach Elijah Coleman Bridgman and William Charles Milne translating the 1847 Delegates Version of the Bible in Chinese Medhurst Elihu Doty and John Van Nest Talmage developed the Pe h ōe ji Church Romanization of Southern Min Chinese that was widely used by missionaries When peace was concluded with China in 1842 he moved to Shanghai where he founded the London Missionary Society Press Chinese 墨海書館 together with William Muirhead and Dr William Lockhart They were later joined by Joseph Edkins and William Charles Milne He continued in Shanghai until 1856 laying the foundations of a successful mission 2 In 1843 New York University conferred upon him the honorary degree of D D 2 Delegates Version Edit nbsp Medhurst s book on China inspired many to become missionaries including Hudson Taylor Medhurst s principal labour for several years was in leading the committee of delegates which created the Delegates Version of the Bible 6 In the 1840s a group of four people Walter Henry Medhurst John Stronach Elijah Coleman Bridgman and William Charles Milne cooperated to translate the Bible into Chinese The translation of the Hebrew language part was done mostly by Gutzlaff from the Netherlands Missionary Society with the exception of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua which were done by the group collectively The initial Gutzlaff translation completed in 1847 is well known due to its adoption by the revolutionary peasant leader Hong Xiuquan of the Taiping Rebellion as some of the reputed early doctrines of the organization 8 The translation of the New Testament was finished in 1850 and of the Old Testament in 1853 written in a version of Classical Chinese With John Stronach and the assistance of Wang Tao Medhurst later translated the New Testament into the Mandarin dialect of Nanking 2 9 Significant books EditMedhurst would also produce a Chinese translation of the Book of Common Prayer published in Hong Kong in 1855 10 His Chinese English and English Chinese dictionaries each in 2 vols were in use into the twentieth century 2 Death amp memorial Edit nbsp Inscription to Dr Medhurst at Abney ParkMedhurst left Shanghai in 1856 in failing health He died two days after reaching London on 24 January 1857 2 and was buried at the Congregationalists non denominational Abney Park Cemetery where his white stone obelisk monument can still be seen today 1 He left a son Sir Walter Henry Medhurst 1822 1885 who was British consul at Hankow and afterwards at Shanghai 2 Works EditMedhurst W H 1832 A Dictionary of the Hok keen Dialect of the Chinese Language According to the Reading and Colloquial Idioms Containing about 12 000 Characters Macau East India Press OCLC 5314739 OL 14003967M Medhurst W H 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 Boston Crocker amp Brewster OCLC 5314739 OL 13520937M Medhurst W H 1848 English and Chinese Dictionary Shanghae Shanghai Mission Press OCLC 6590623 OL 20458179M Medhurst W H 1842 Chinese and English Dictionary containing all the words in the Chinese Imperial Dictionary arranged according to the radicals Volume 1 Parapattan Batavia Jakarta no publisher stated on front page Medhurst W H 1843 Chinese and English Dictionary containing all the words in the Chinese Imperial Dictionary arranged according to the radicals Volume 2 Parapattan Batavia Jakarta no publisher stated on front page Medhurst W H 1847 A dissertation on the theology of the Chinese with a view to the elucidation of the most appropriate term for expressing the deity in the Chinese language Shanghai Mission Press Medhurst W H 1848 An inquiry into the proper mode of rendering the word God in translating the sacred scriptures into the Chinese language Shanghai Mission Press Medhurst W H 1848 Reply to the essay of Dr Boone on the proper rendering of the words Elohim and Theos into the Chinese language Shanghai Mission Press Medhurst W H 1848 Reply to the few plain questions of a brother missionary Shanghai Mission Press Medhurst W H 1849 On the true meaning of the word Shin as exhibited in the quotations adduced under that word in the Chinese Imperial thesaurus called the Pei wan yun foo Shanghai Mission Press Medhurst W H 1850 An inquiry into the proper mode of translating Ruach and Pneuma in the Chinese version of the Scriptures Shanghai Mission Press Medhurst W H 1852 Reply to Dr Boone s vindication of comments on the translation of Ephes I Shanghai Mission Press References Edit a b c d Medhurst Walter Henry 1796 1857 Dictionary of National Biography London Smith Elder amp Co 1885 1900 a b c d e f g h nbsp One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Medhurst Walter Henry Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 18 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 20 Munn Christopher 2012 May Holdsworth Christopher Munn eds Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography Hong Kong University Press ISBN 9789888083664 Betty Medhurst Historical Photographs of China University of Bristol Retrieved 21 October 2019 Augusta Medhurst Historical Photographs of China University of Bristol Retrieved 21 October 2019 a b Bonk Jonathan J Walter Henry Medhurst 1796 1857 Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity Retrieved 11 June 2018 Medhurst Walter H 1 June 1837 A Dictionary of the Hok keen Dialect of the Chinese Language Advertisement by Samuel Wells Williams Reilly Thomas H 2004 The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Rebellion and the Blasphemy of Empire Seattle WA University of Washington Press pp 74 79 ISBN 0295984309 Hanan Patrick 1 January 2003 The Bible as Chinese Literature Medhurst Wang Tao and the Delegates Version Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 63 1 197 239 doi 10 2307 25066695 JSTOR 25066695 Muss Arnolt William 1914 The Book of Common Prayer among the Nations of the World China Korea Japan justus anglican org Retrieved 25 April 2017 Holliday John 2016 Mission to China How an Englishman brought the West to the Orient Gloucestershire Amberley Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Walter Henry Medhurst amp oldid 1152999285, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
