Robert Morrison
- For other persons of the same name, see Robert Morrison.
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Robert Morrison (Traditional Chinese: 馬禮遜; Simplified Chinese: 马礼逊; born January 5, 1782 in Bullers Green, near Morpeth, Northumberland; died August 1, 1834 in Canton) was a Scottish missionary, the first Protestant missionary in China. He married Mary Morton on February 20, 1809. They had children James Morrison (5 March, 1811, died on the same day), Rebecca Morrison (July 1812), and John Robert Morrison (17 April, 1814). Mary Morton died in 1821. In November 1824, he married Eliza Armstrong, with whom he had five more children.
Early life
Son of James Morrison, an active member of Scottish Presbyterian Church. In 1796, He followed his uncle James Nicholson into appenticeship and joined the Presbyterian church in 1798. He wanted to become a missionary and in 1801, he started learning Latin, Greek and Hebrew in private but his parents were opposed to the idea. In 1803 he entered George Collison's Hoxton Academy in London and was trained as congregational minister.
Preparing to be a missionary
Template:Protestant missions to China After his mother's death in 1804, he joined the London Missionary Society. The next year, he went to Mr. David Bogue's Academy in Gosport for further training. Meanwhile he was chosen to be a missionary in China. He returned to London and studied medicine with Dr. Blair at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and astronomy with Dr. Hutton at the Greenwich Observatory. He learned the Chinese language from a student called Yong Sam-tak in Canton City. It was thought that they did not get on well together. They also studied an early Chinese translation of Gospels named Evangelia Quatuor Sinice which was probably written by a Jesuit.
Missionary pioneering in China
He became a minister in London on 8 January 1807 and was ready to go to China. The fact that the policy of the East India Company was not to carry missionaries, and that there were no other ships available that were bound for China, forced him to stop first in New York on 20 April, 1807. On 12 May, 1807, he boarded a second, the Trident, bound for Macao.
The Trident arrived in Macao on 4 September, 1807. Immediately George Thomas Staunton discouraged him from the idea of being a missionary in China. On 7 September, 1807 he was expelled from Catholic Macao and went to the Thirteen Factories outside Canton City. He tried to adapt to Chinese customs but failed. He fell ill and returned to Macao on 1 June 1808. Fortunately he had mastered Mandarin and Cantonese during this period.
In 1809, he met Mary Morton and soon married her on 20 February 1809. He returned to Canton alone since foreign women were not allowed to stay in Canton.
He took the post of Chinese Secretary and Translator to the British Factory by the East India Company in 1809 and took up legitimate residency in Canton.
Morrison produced a Chinese translation of the Bible. He also compiled a Chinese dictionary for the use of westerners. The Bible translation took twelve years and the compilation of the dictionary, sixteen years.
Due to imperial edicts against the learning of Chinese by non-Chinese as well as the printing of books on Christianity in Chinese, Morrison and his collaborator William Milne moved to Malacca, Malaya (both now in Malaysia) and established a printing press. They also established a school for Chinese and Malay children in 1818. The school, named Anglo-Chinese College (later called Ying Wa College), was moved to Hong Kong around 1843 after the territory became a British possession. The institution exists today in Hong Kong as a secondary school for boys.
Soon after Raffles Institution, a boys school in Singapore, used his name as a house and the colour of blue. This house has been thriving under the Morrisonian sprit.
Epitaph
Morrison was buried in the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau. The inscription on his marker reads:
Sacred to the memory of Robert Morrison DD.,
The first protestant missionary to China,
Where after a service of twenty-seven years,
cheerfully spent in extending the kingdom of the blessed Redeemer
during which period he compiled and published
a dictionary of the Chinese language,
founded the Anglo Chinese College at Malacca
and for several years laboured alone on a Chinese version of
The Holy Scriptures,
which he was spared to see complete and widely circulated
among those for whom it was destined,
he sweetly slept in Jesus.
He was born at Morpeth in Northumberland
January 5th 1782
Was sent to China by the London Missionary Society in 1807
Was for twenty five years Chinese translator in the employ of
The East India Company
and died in Canton August 1st 1834.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth
Yea saith the Spirit
that they may rest from their labours,
and their works do follow them
Published Works By Robert Morrison
Chinese Philology and Pedagogy
- A grammar of the Chinese language. By the Rev. Robert Morrison. Serampore (Bengal, India) : printed at the Mission-press, 1815. vi, [ii], 280 p. ; 27cm { CWML H472 }
- A dictionary of the Chinese language. By R. Morrison. Macao, China : printed at the Honorable East India Company's press, by P.P. Thoms; London : Black, Parbury and Allen, 1815-1823. 6 v ; 30 cm. In three parts : Part 1: Chinese and English arranged according to the radicals ; Part 2: Chinese and English arranged alphabetically ; Part 3: English and Chinese. { CWML M84 }
- Dialogues and detached sentences in the Chinese language : with a free and verbal translation in English : collected from various sources : designed as an initiatory work for the use of students of Chinese. Macao : printed at the Honorable East India Company's Press, by P.P. Thoms, 1816. viii, 262 p. ; 22 cm. { CWML Q118 }
- Chinese miscellany : consisting of original extracts from Chinese authors, in the native character; with translations and philological remarks. By Robert Morrison. London : printed ... for the London Missionary Society, 1825. 52 p. : 12 folding ill ; 32 cm. { CWML H472 ; CWML M6 ; CWML N311 }
- Vocabulary of the Canton dialect [Guangdongsheng tuhua zihui 廣東省土話字彙]. By R. Morrison. Macao, China : printed at the Honorable East India Company's Press, by G.J. Steyn, 1828. 3 in 1 v ; 24 cm. In 3 parts : Part 1: English and Chinese ; Part 2: Chinese and English ; Part 3: Chinese words and phrases. { CWML N150 }
- Vocabulary of the Canton dialect. By Robert Morrison; with new introduction by Kingsley Bolton. Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2001. 660 p. { ISBN : 1 86210 018 7 }
Translations from the Chinese
- Horae Sinicae : translations from the popular literature of the Chinese. By Rev Robert Morrison. London : printed for Black and Parry (et al.), 1812. vi, [ii], 71 p. { CWML Q104 } [Also in Urh-chih-tsze-teen-se-yin-pe-keaou ...]
- Translations from the original Chinese, with Notes. Canton, China : printed by order of the Select Committee, at the Hon East India Company's press, by P.P. Thoms, 1815. [2], 42 p. { CWML N280 }
- Singular proclamation : issued by the Foo-yuen or Sub-Viceroy, of Canton, translated from the Chinese. By Rev Dr Morrison. London : printed by Cox and Baylis, printers to the Royal Asiatic Society, 1824. 7 p. [From The Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland vol.1.] { CWML N311 }
- "The Lord's prayer in Chinese characters". [From Evangelical magazine ?] { CWML O187 }
Description and History of China
- A memoir of the principal occurrences during an Embassy from the British Government to the court of China in the year 1816. By Rev Dr Robert Morrison. London : [s.n.], 1819. 68 p. ; 22 cm. [Reprinted from The Pamphleteer vol. 15 (1819) pp.139-206.] { CWML O13 ; CWML O17 }
- A view of China, for philological purposes : containing a sketch of Chinese chronology, geography, government, religion & customs, designed for the use of persons who study the Chinese language. By Rev R. Morrison. London : Published and sold by Black, Parbury and Allen, booksellers to the Hon. East India Company; Macao: printed at East India Company's press by P.P. Thoms, 1817. vi, 141 p. ; 29 cm. { CWML H471 }
- Notices concerning China and the port of Canton : also a narrative of the affair of the English frigate Topaze 1821-22 : with remarks on homicides, and an account of the fire of Canton. Malacca : printed at the Mission Press, 1823. xiv, 97 p. : plan { CWML N294 ; CWML Q116 }
- China : a dialogue, for the use of schools : being ten conversations between a father and his two children concerning the history and present state of that country. By an Anglo-Chinese. London : James Nisbet, 1824. [iv], 120 p. { CWML Q96 }
Sermons and Religious Discourses
- Familiar lectures on the epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians : delivered to a few individuals in a private room at Macao, China, and now printed for private distribution. Malacca : printed at the Anglo-Chinese Press, 1818. v, 280 p. ; 18 cm. { CWML Q97 }
- Regard to the affairs of others : a discourse, delivered at Hoxton Academy chapel, February 6, 1825. By R. Morrison, D.D. London : printed and published for the author by Samuel Burton, 1825. 38 p. { CWML N294 }
- The knowledge of Christ supremely excellent : the means and the duty of diffusing it among all nations : being a discourse delivered before the London Missionary Society in Surry chapel, May 11 1825. By Robert Morrison. London : printed for Francis Westley, 1825. 34 p. { CWML G428 ; CWML J64 }
- [Semon preached at Surrey Chapel, May 11, 1825]. By Rev Dr Morrison. In Sermon reports : annual sermons for the London Missionary Society. From: The Pulpit no.109 (1825 May 19) and 110 (1825 May 26). { CWML G441 }
- A parting memorial : consisting of miscellaneous discourses, written and preached in China; at Singapore; on board ship at sea, in the Indian Ocean; at the Cape of Good Hope; and in England; with remarks on missions, &c. &c. By Robert Morrison. London : printed for W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1826. xi, 411 p. ; 23 cm. { CWML N310 ; CWML Q94 }
- Lectures on the sayings of Jesus. By Robert Morrison. Malacca : printed at the Mission Press, 1832. 2 in 1 v ; [ii], 5, [i], 421p { CWML Q129 ; CWML Q131 }
- Admonitions, addressed to a mixed congregation from various nations and belonging to different churches : being a sermon preached on board the American ship Morrison, at Whampoa in China, December 2 1833. By Robert Morrison. [Macao, China] : printed for the author at the Albion Press, 1833. [ii], 17 p. { CWML N284 ; CWML O198 }
Missionary Activity
- A retrospect of the first ten years of the Protestant mission to China : (now, in connection with the Malay, denominated the Ultra-Ganges missions) : accompanied with miscellaneous remarks on the literature, history, and mythology of China &c. By William Milne [1785-1822]. Malacca : printed at the Anglo-Chinese Press, 1820. viii, 376 p. ; 21 cm. { CWML Q115 } [Although credited to Milne, this work was largely written by Morrison]
- Memoirs of the Rev. William Milne, late missionary to China, and principal of the Anglo-Chinese College, compiled from documents written by the deceased, to which are added occasional remarks. By Robert Morrison. Malacca : printed at the Mission Press, 1824. [iv], viii, 231 p. ; 21 cm. { CWML Q99 ; CWML Q129 ; CWML Q137 }
- The evangelist : and miscellanea Sinica. [Macao, China] : sold by Marwick & Co ...and by R. Edwards, Canton; printed at Albion Press, 1833. 4 issues published during May and June 1833. { CWML O185 }
- "Observations respecting the primitive churches". By the late Robert Morrison. In Ralph Wardlaw [1779-1853], Civil establishments of Christianity tried by their only authoritative test, the Word of God : a sermon. Surat (India) : printed at the Mission press, 1835. iv, 48 p. { CWML N309 }
English Pedagogy
- A grammar of the English language : for the use of the Anglo-Chinese College [Yingguo wenyu fanli zhuan 英國文語凡例傳]. By R. Morrison. Macao, China : East India Company's Press, 1823. 97 p. { CWML L153 }
Translations of the Bible into Chinese
- Sheng Lujia shi chuan fuyinshu 聖路加氏傳福音書 [The Gospel of St. Luke]. [Canton or Macao: s.n., 1811 (or 1812?)]. 80 ff. ; 28 cm. { Andover-Harvard Theological Library : R.B.R. folio BS315.C57 L8 1812 }
- Chu Maixiguo zhuan 出麥西國傳 [Exodus]. [n.p. : s.n.],1844. [Translated by Morrison in 1819.] 34 f. ; 22.5 cm. { SOAS : RM c.502.p.5 (5) }
- Shentian shengshu 神天聖書 [The Holy Bible]. Malacca : issued by the Anglo-Chinese College [英華書院], 1823. In 23 volumes.
Christian Tracts in Chinese
- Shendao lun shujiu shi zongshuo zhenben 神道論贖救世總說真本 [A summary of the doctrine of divine redemption]. [n.p. : s.n., ca.1811].
- Wenda qianzhu Yesu jiaofa 問答淺註耶穌教法 [An annotated catechism on the teachings of Jesus]. [n.p. : s.n., ca.1812].
- [Short abstract relative to the Scriptures]. [n.p. : s.n., ca.1814].
- Gushi Rushyaguo lidai lüezhuan 古時如氏亞國歷代畧傳 [An outline of Old Testament history]. [n.p. : s.n., 1815].
- Yangxin shenshi 養心神詩 [Edifying hymns]. [n.p. : s.n., 1818].
- Nianzhong meiri zaowan qidao xushi 年中每日早晚祈禱敘式 [The Book of Common Prayer]. [Malacca : s.n., 1818].
- Shentiandao zajizhuan 神天道碎集傳 [Miscellaneous essays on the way of heaven]. [Malacca : s.n., 1818].
- Gusheng feng shentian qishi dao jiaxun 古聖奉神天啟示道家訓 [Domestic instructor]. [Malacca : s.n., 1832].
- Zawen bian 雜文編 [Serial miscellany]. [Macao : s.n., 1833].
- Qidao wenzan shenshi 祈禱文讚神詩 [Prayers and hymns]. [Macao : s.n., 1833].
Other Works in Chinese
- Xiyou diqiu wenjian lüezhuan 西遊地球聞見畧傳 [A brief account of things that I have seen and heard during a voyage westwards around the world]. By "Chenyou jushi" 塵遊居士 [Dusty Traveller]. [n.p. : s.n., 1819]. 27 p. : map ; 28 cm. [A record of a journey supposedly undertaken by a Chinese traveller from China to Europe via India, the author's three-year sojourn in Paris, and his return to China via America.] { SOAS : RM c.157.h.1 }
Critiques of Works by Robert Morrison
- Urh-chih-tsze-teen-se-yin-pe-keaou : being a parallel drawn betwen the two intended dictionaries, by the Rev Robert Morrison and Antonio Montucci ... Together with Morrison's Horae Sinicae, a new edition with the text of the popular Chinese primer ... San-tsi-king. By Antonio Montucci [1762-1829]. London : printed for the author and sold by T. Cadell and W. Davies ... and T. Boosey ..., 1817. [vi], 174p : frontis. { CWML M15 }
See also
- List of London Missionary Society missionaries in China
- Morrison Academy
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Morrison, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 馬禮遜 |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | first Protestant missionary in China |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 5, 1782 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bullers Green, near Morpeth, Northumberland |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1, 1834 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Canton, China |
de:Robert Morrison hak:Mâ-lî-sûn no:Robert Morrison pt:Robert Morrison zh:马礼逊
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