Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Robert Morrison, Bible Translator of China, 1782-1834: by C. P. Hallihan
Robert Morrison, Bible Translator of China, 1782-1834: by C. P. Hallihan
Bible Translator of
China, 1782-1834 By C. P. Hallihan
During his years in China, Morrison would China has the world’s oldest continu-
be able to claim few initial converts but ous civilization, a recorded history of
laid the foundations for subsequent about four thousand years. The era of
Bible, educational and medical work the Shang dynasty approximated to the
that would have a significant and endur- Biblical time from Abraham to David,
ing impact on the culture and history of and the Chou dynasties from David to
the nation. His impact is honoured today the Maccabees. After that came the Han
not only by Christians but by govern- eras, up to the start of the 3rd century
ments as well. On the bicentenary of his AD, when the administrative/bureau-
arrival in China, a conference was held in cratic model of government was per-
Washington, DC, in which Morrison was fected—a model which would be cop-
hailed as ‘a bridge between cultures’. A ied by every successive dynasty.
report on the conference said:
The sheer size of China and its popula-
In particular today, at a time when tion demands a functioning bureaucracy,
China is assuming ever greater impor- the more so when you realise that many
tance in international relations, the of these successive dynasties began as
beginnings of modern diplomatic forces of occupation or rebellion. The
and commercial contacts between Han Dynasty ran from about 200 BC to
China and the western world become AD 200, and its descendants are still the
visible in Morrison’s work for the East most numerous ethnic group in China.
India Company and as ambassadorial Empress Wu,4 the only woman to be
interpreter... His long-term influence ‘Emperor’, lived during the Tang dynasty,
is, however, most intensely felt in his 618–907, when China ruled Siberia,
translations.3 Korea and Vietnam, as well as controlling
the ‘Silk Road’ through Afghanistan. The
Before looking in a little more detail at Song Dynasties were from 960 to 1279,
Robert Morrison and his work, a very an era of advance in technology, cul-
broad-brush background sketch of ture, economics and agriculture; there
China would be of use. were new strains of rice as well as the
printing press. Then came the Mongols,
1279–1368, with the Yuan Dynasty and
• CHINA BACKGROUND Khublai Khan. Next was the Ming (‘bril-
liant’) Dynasty, 1368–1644, lampooned
History as fatter, lazier, crazier and nastier than
This may seem a little tedious—but it most. In this era the Chinese Admiral
helps a great deal to appreciate that the Zheng-He sailed with three hundred
China of Protestant missionary labour ships to New Zealand and within reach
was aware of itself as a cultured civili- of Africa.5 This was never followed up, its
zation, long-rooted, proud, huge and significance unrealised.
self-sufficient, needing noth-
ing that came from outside. To The Chinese world-view was
them we were (are?) the unciv- becoming ingrown, and ‘politi-
ilised, unstable, ignorant and cal ideology’ led to false inter-
insignificant barbarians! pretation of events. The Ming
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Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
joined up all the bits and pieces of the that the individual man must seek this
Great Wall to be what we see today,6 harmony via reconciliation: each man to
moved the capital to Beijing, built the himself, and thus to each other. ‘Heaven’
Forbidden City, and gave Macau to is a kind of pervasive moral force, not a
the Portuguese. From 1644 to 1911 place or destiny. You can thus see how
the Manchus took over China as the the simplest preaching of the Gospel of
Qing Dynasty. As ‘incomers’ they were the Lord Jesus Christ is utter irrationality
extremely conservative and inflexible in to the Confucian.
maintaining ‘Chinese’ norms. Just when
the Western world was attempting con- Lao Tzu, author (probably) of the Tao Te
tact and trade, the Qing had no concept Ching (The Way and the Virtue), thought
of independent equal nations; there that the Ritual-Music Culture itself was
was China and then there was the rest. the problem, and therefore that Con-
A community of nations was beyond fucius’ attempt to reclaim it was com-
their conception, and to sympathise at pounding the error. He saw the answer
all with Western ideas was to threaten to social instability in the Tao, the Way,
national security and even cease to be and in the principle of wu-wei, accept-
Chinese. This was the cultural China into ance and passivity, ‘purposeful inactiv-
which Robert Morrison and his associ- ity’, with the less external imposition
ate William Milne came. the better. The yin-yang symbol is the
hallmark of Taoism: active passivity and
Philosophy and Religion dualism. The opening words of the Tao
Insofar as such things can be dated, we Te Ching still appeal to the ‘religious’
can trace Taoism and Confucianism to mind: ‘The Way that can be told is not
c. 500 BC. The ‘fathers’ of these philoso- the eternal Way’ and ‘The name that can
phies were contemporaries, both seek- be named is not the eternal name’.8 To
ing a way of returning Chinese society come, preaching with authority that
to an older concept of harmonic life but Name that is above every name, the
opposed in their vision of the way. WAY, the truth and the life (John 14.6),
was to challenge the very fabric of the
Confucius is a Latinised form of K’ung Fu- Taoist view of the world. When Bud-
tzu, or Grand master Kung. In the mod- dhism came to China in the 6th century
ern West, Confucius would be called AD it was in the form of Ch’an Buddhism,
a humanist, believing in an inherent much given to meditation on the ‘vast
goodness of the individual to provide emptiness’ within. Taoism interacted
the basis for virtue and seemly conduct. with this, becoming a forerunner of
Solutions are to be sought and found in Zen Buddhism, much favoured subse-
individual humanity itself, not in any- quently in Japan.9
thing supernatural or religious. To do
this, Confucius sought a modified Ritual- When we look at early ‘Christian’ impact
Music Culture.7 In this culture, we have the usual difficulty of
previous philosophers had laid authenticity of sources. Both
the responsibility of promoting Thomas and Bartholomew (of
social harmony on the rulers. New Testament fame) were
Confucius, however, believed there, we are told. With more
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Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Record
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Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
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Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Record
It was about five years ago that I was instructing poor children, as well as
much awakened to a sense of sin... bearing witness of his faith in Christ to
and I was brought to a serious con- unsaved friends and family. Finally, in
cern about my soul. I felt the dread January 1803 he entered George Col-
of eternal condemnation. The fear lison’s Hoxton Academy in London to
of death compassed me about and I train as a Congregationalist minister.
was led nightly to cry to God that he Despite his studies, Morrison continued
would pardon my sin, that he would to visit the poor and sick, and found
grant me an interest in the Saviour, opportunities to preach in villages and
and that he would renew me in the churches around London.
spirit of my mind. Sin became a bur-
den. It was then that I experienced a Morrison had been born in the declin-
change of life, and, I trust, a change of ing years of the Great Awakening, but in
heart, too. I broke off from my former those years many of the men who had
careless company, and gave myself been so greatly used in that revival still
to reading, meditation and prayer. It worked to encourage missionary work,
pleased God to reveal his Son in me, and numerous foreign mission agen-
and at that time I experienced much cies were formed (including the London
of the ‘kindness of youth and the love Missionary Society in 1795), giving rise
of espousals’ [see Jeremiah 2.2]. And to publications such as The Evangelical
though the first flash of affection wore Magazine and The Missionary Magazine.
off, I trust my love to and knowledge Older figures such as Charles Simeon
of the Saviour have increased.12 and John Newton laboured hard to
present the call to missionary work and
In young Morrison’s renewed faith he Morrison again felt the call to service in
seldom failed to find time for reading distant lands. His parents continued to
and meditation. He would frequently oppose this calling—Morrison’s mother
bring his Bible and Christian books— most strongly—and in obedience he
such as he could obtain—to work promised that he would not leave
and read whenever possible,13 all too England while she lived. He was there-
familiar with the tug of the world on a fore present to care for her in her last ill-
young man’s life. Soon he felt the pull to ness, and just before her death in 1804
Christian work and wanted to become a joyfully received her blessing on the
missionary, but it was a desire opposed work to which God had called him.
by his parents. While submitting to his
parents’ will, when opportunity came Missionary Preparation • 1804–07
in 1801 for further education he began Following his mother’s death, Morrison
studies in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, the- had joined the London Missionary Soci-
ology and shorthand from the Rev. W. ety, with his mind leaning alternately to
Laidler, a Presbyterian minister in New- Africa or China. He offered himself for
castle. He attended meetings missionary service and after
on the Lord’s Day, and followed one interview was accepted at
the Lord’s teaching by visiting once and sent to David Bogue’s
the sick with the ‘Friendless Academy in Gosport near Ports-
Poor and Sick Society’ and mouth for further training.
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Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
In the late 18th century, William Wil- Canton City, with whom he shared lodg-
lis Moseley of Northamptonshire was ings. As well as learning the language
strongly burdened for the spiritual needs from Sam-tak, Morrison also learned
of China and in 1801 published a tract something of Chinese culture: when
urging ‘the establishment of a society he absentmindedly burned a piece of
for translating the Holy Scriptures into paper with Chinese characters on it,
the languages of the populous oriental Sam-tak stormed out—the burning of
nations’.14 Visiting the British Museum he the Chinese characters had sparked a
found a manuscript of most of the Chi- superstitious rage. The young foreigner
nese New Testament translated by early returned several days later and from
Roman Catholic missionaries and imme- then on Morrison wrote his characters
diately printed a further tract entitled A on a piece of tin that could be wiped
Memoir on the Importance and Practica- clean. They continued to work together,
bility of Translating and Printing the Holy using as the basis of their studies an
Scriptures in the Chinese Language,15 early Jesuit Chinese translation of the
copies of which were sent to all Angli- Gospels, Evangelia Quatuor Sinice, and
can bishops and to mission agencies in a handwritten Latin-Chinese dictionary.
hopes of bringing this great land to the Morrison made considerable progress
forefront of their endeavours. in both learning an extremely difficult
language and in crossing the cultural
The majority of replies that Moseley had divide: in due course, Yong Sam-tak
received were negative, but one copy even joined him in family worship.
of the tract found fertile ground. At the
Academy, Dr. Bogue read the tract and The goal of the directors of the mission
replied to Moseley that if he were a was that Morrison should master ordi-
younger man he would have ‘devoted nary Chinese speech and thus be able
the rest of my days to the propaga- to compile a dictionary for the benefit
tion of the gospel in China’. Instead, he of future missionaries, as well as making
searched for suitable young men to a start on a translation of the Scriptures.
send and found Robert Morrison. Mor- But this couldn’t be done with Mor-
rison was thus turned from the idea of rison learning Chinese from one man
Africa and settled on China as his mis- in England. To do this it was necessary
sion field, writing to a friend, ‘I wish I to get onto Chinese soil—which would
could persuade you to accompany me. not be easy to do without upsetting the
Take into account the 350 million souls Chinese authorities. Foreigners were not
in China who have not the means of allowed to converse with the local peo-
knowing Jesus Christ as Saviour...’ .16 ple except for purposes of trade, and the
missionaries would not be going to China
Morrison studied medicine at St. Bar- for commerce. Even if they had been,
tholomew’s Hospital and astronomy at every foreigner was strictly interrogated
the Greenwich Observatory, on arrival as to his business
while diligently pursuing the and if he had no reasonable
study of the Chinese language, answer—or if his answer was
which he was learning from a not what the Chinese officials
student, Yong Sam-tak from would accept—he was nor-
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Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
a Chinese frock and thick Chinese shoes. resented by the Chinese authorities at
Soon he came to realise that this was Guangzhou and reprisals were threat-
a mistake. The unaccustomed Chinese ened against the English community,
food made him ill, and the dress—at a who fled to Macau with Morrison and
time when he found it best to be incon- his precious luggage of manuscripts
spicuous—only made him stand out and books in tow. The political difficulty
more amongst the native people. Rather finally passed, but it left the Chinese
than avoiding attention, he was attract- even more intensely suspicious of for-
ing it. In due course, Morrison resumed eigners thereafter.
Western deportment.
A Family, a Job and a Colleague
Morrison often found it best to hide • 1809–13
himself from the Chinese authorities, Morrison had managed to master both
and spent many hours cloistered alone Mandarin and Cantonese during his stay
in his room working on his dictionary in Guangzhou, but was now uncomfort-
(which in time would run to six volumes) ably housed at Macau, paying an exorbi-
and Bible translation, depending upon tant price for a miserable top-floor room.
Chinese servants and assistants to help He had not been there long before the
with daily needs and, surreptitiously, the roof fell in, and in repairing it his land-
Chinese language. He was not allowed lord raised his rent by a third, effectively
to preach, and could only speak of his forcing him out into the streets. Mor-
faith behind closed and locked doors. rison had been unwell when he arrived
He spoke to his servants and assistants in Macau, and his health continued to
of the true faith, but rather than heed suffer greatly. Nevertheless he laboured
his testimony many of them cheated at his Chinese dictionary and his transla-
him, demanding extortionate sums tion work, in his private prayers pouring
for all service and provision. Expenses, out his soul to God in broken Chinese,
even without the unscrupulous acts of the better to master the native tongue.
his associates, were high. Morrison tried In his zeal, he paid three Chinese boys to
living in a single room in order to lower have tea in his room and converse with
his expenses, but found the lack of fresh him as a way to help both them and his
air and exercise wore upon his body. He own language skills, but shortly had to
was surrounded by an idolatrous city abandon the idea. About it Morrison
full of hostile people. The utter loneli- wrote: ‘A-Sam, a lad, showed some levity
ness oppressed him, and his prospects and disposition to laugh... The novelty of
for relief were non-existent. seeing a Fan-kwei—“foreign devil”—sit-
ting down to address them in their own
Life in China was always overshadowed language, perhaps in broken Chinese, on
by Britain’s political troubles. Then prob- new and strange topics to them, appears
lems in Guangzhou came to a head: Brit- at first very odd, and boys are disposed
ain was at war with France, and to levity...’.18
a British naval squadron had
blockaded Macau to prevent In his distress of spirit he
the French from striking at thought of leaving China for
English trade. This was fiercely Penang, Malaya, where there
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Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Record
would be fewer barriers to missionary loneliness, much affected Mary, and her
activity. But in the kindly grace of our health suffered. English and American
sovereign God, he met the Morton fam- residents treated them kindly, but cared
ily, newly arrived in Macau. This meeting little for their Gospel work—their main
persuaded him to stay, and in the provi- reason for being there. Their first child,
dence of God he married the Morton’s James, was born on 5 March 1811, and
daughter, Mary, on 20 February 1809. died on the same day.19 The Chinese
opposed the burial and Mary was too
In grudging respect for his perseverance ill to attend, so Morrison buried his first
and growing ability, on the very day of child on a lonely mountainside.
their marriage Morrison was offered the
post of Chinese secretary and translator Nevertheless, the next year saw the birth
to the British Factory by the East India of another child—a daughter—and a
Company, at a salary of £500 per annum. Chinese grammar book which was sent
Although highly irregular for a mission- to Bengal for printing. The book brought
ary to be in paid employment of this many anxious thoughts: he heard no
sort, Morrison was concerned about the more of it for another three long years.
heavy financial burden he was placing Morrison wasn’t inactive during those
on the London Missionary Society and years, working on tracts and a cate-
accepted the position. The post supplied chism, as well as on the book of Acts (the
what he most needed: security, and legit- printing of which he paid himself, at an
imacy in the eyes of the authorities. In exorbitant cost). He also translated the
addition, rather than hindering the work Gospel of Luke and had it printed, only
of the mission, it furthered it because to have the Roman Catholic bishop at
the daily work of Company translation Macau order it to be burned as heresy.
strongly developed his familiarity with
the language. In addition, he could now Despite the problems, the mission sent
go about more freely and interact more out more missionaries—William and
openly and fluently with the Chinese Rachel Milne—to join Morrison. They
people. It was also beneficial in that arrived in Macau on 4 July 1813, only
his mastery of the Chinese tongue was to be expelled a few days later by the
noted by the Company as valuable for Roman Catholic authorities working
their own affairs, placing him on a very with the government.
stable footing with his employer.
Worse was yet to come for the mission-
Morrison had, however, been forced aries. By this time copies of Morrison’s
to leave Mary in Macau and return work had come into the hands of the
to Guangzhou alone, since foreign Chinese authorities, who saw the mate-
women were not allowed to reside rial as an attempt to undermine Chinese
there. The seaways between Macau and religion and custom. Thus, they issued a
Guangzhou were full of pirates, formal edict making the pub-
and both Morrison and Mary lication and printing of Chris-
spent many anxious days as tian books in Chinese a capital
he travelled between the cit- offence. Morrison forwarded
ies. These perils, as well as the a translation of this proclama-
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Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
tion to England, but rather than aban- and not excite the suspicion that Euro-
doning his work, he carried it forward, peans would.
stating that ‘We will scrupulously obey
Governments as far as their decrees Milne travelled around surveying the
do not oppose what is required by the country, distributing tracts and Testa-
Almighty; I will be careful not to invite ments as opportunity arose. He visited
the notice of Government.’20 the island of Banca and then went to
Batavia, the principal town in Java,
The Milnes settled in Guangzhou, and where the Governor welcomed him
began the arduous task of learning Chi- and sent him at government expense
nese, which William claimed required through the interior settlements of
‘bodies of iron, lungs of brass, heads Java. From there Milne made his way to
of oak, hands of spring steel, eyes of Malacca, receiving equal kindness from
eagles, hearts of apostles, memories of the authorities, returning to Guangzhou
angels, and lives of Methuselah’.21 in the autumn of 1814. In reviewing
the situation, the missionaries felt that
Shortly thereafter the Morrisons fol- Malacca—situated between India and
lowed them to Guangzhou, and both China with means of transport to almost
families waited for the government’s any part of China and the adjoining
next move. archipelago—had the best advantage
for the furtherance of the work. Thus,
First Bible and First Believer Milne settled at Malacca.
• 1814–17
Despite the problems that surrounded In that same year, on 14 May—seven
Morrison and his colleagues, by the years after his arrival—Morrison bap-
end of 1813 the whole of the New Tes- tised the first Protestant convert, Tsae A-
tament translation was completed and Ko. Morrison acknowledged the imper-
printed. The translator readily conceded fection of the man’s knowledge, but
its defects, but claimed that it was a he relied on the familiar words, ‘If thou
translation of the New Testament into believest with all thine heart’ (Acts 8.37).
the genuine colloquial speech of the Morrison recorded: ‘At a spring of water
Chinese, and would be understandable issuing from the foot of a lofty hill by the
to the common man. sea-side, away from human observa-
tion, I baptized him in the name of the
The missionaries now sought to ensure Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... May he be
the widest distribution of the printed the first fruits of a great harvest.’ 22 The
copies of the Scriptures. Several parts of native Chinese Church was begun.
the Malay Peninsula were under British
protection, and this seemed a promising More good news came that year. One
field for a mission station with a printing was the birth of a son; the other the
press within reach of the Chi- long-awaited arrival of the
nese coast. Chinese missionar- grammar book—attractively
ies could be trained, who could printed, good quality and
then return to their homeland highly approved by all. Morri-
with the Gospel and literature son’s massive Chinese diction-
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Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Record
ary was still being produced, but even tions to the Emperor at Beijing. Morri-
at this early date the East India Com- son’s own awareness of China was much
pany undertook the cost of its printing enlarged by this, the journey taking him
and spent £10,000 on the work, having through many cities and country dis-
brought from England their own printer tricts, introducing him to new aspects
and printing press. of Chinese life and character. The expe-
rience was invaluable, serving not only
The British and Foreign Bible Society to revive his health, but also to stimulate
also helped the fledgling China mis- his missionary zeal—through all that
sion by providing two grants of £500 vast tract of country and innumerable
each towards the cost of printing the population, there was not one solitary
New Testament, and a director of the Protestant missionary station. Also in
East India Company bequeathed to 1817 he was made a Doctor of Divinity
Morrison $1,000 for the propagation of by Glasgow University and published A
the Christian religion, which Morrison view of China, for philological purposes:
devoted to printing a pocket edition of containing a sketch of Chinese chronol-
the New Testament. An earlier edition ogy, geography, government, religion &
had been awkwardly large—indeed, customs, designed for the use of persons
in due course the whole Bible in 1823 who study the Chinese language.
would extend to twenty-one volumes.
As this New Testament was a book that A dispensary, a college, and a great
was likely to be seized and destroyed by loss • 1817–22
hostile authorities, size could be a prob- Robert Morrison was not only a pioneer
lem; but a pocket Testament could be in spreading the Christian Gospel in
carried about without difficulty, slipped China. As he had been in his younger
into pockets or hidden in the folds of days, he was profoundly stirred by the
robes. Thus a small edition was printed misery, the poverty, and the unneces-
and many Chinese departed from sary suffering of the poor, and particu-
Guangzhou into the interior with copies larly noticed that the Chinese poor often
of this invaluable little book. spent all their livelihoods on drugs and
herbs that were absolutely useless. He
Mary Morrison was diagnosed as incur- therefore established a dispensary which
ably ill and ordered to England. She was headed by an intelligent and skilful
sailed with their two children, leav- Chinese practitioner, where native dis-
ing Morrison to toil in solitude for the eases could be treated more humanely
next six years. During this period Mor- and effectively than was usual in China,
rison was officially dismissed from the and introduced the use of vaccinations.
employment of the East India Company This practitioner had learned the main
because of his Christian publishing principles of European treatment, even
work—a dismissal which was not imple- receiving great help from Morrison’s
mented by the local officers. friend Dr. Livingstone, and did
Instead, in 1817 he was sent by much to alleviate the suffer-
the Company to accompany ings of the poorer Chinese.
Lord Amherst’s embassy as
interpreter in their presenta- Morrison and Milne translated
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Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
the Old Testament together and the set up, and students enrolled. While no
press was kept steadily at work. Tracts student was compelled to declare him-
of various kinds were issued and Mor- self a Christian or to attend Christian
rison wrote a little book called A Tour worship, it was hoped that the strong
round the World, hoping to acquaint Christian influence would lead many of
his Chinese readers with the customs the students who had come for a liter-
and ideas of European nations and the ary education to become teachers of
benefits of Christianity. He also wrote Christianity.
home, explaining that the Chinese lan-
guage was spoken by some one-third of A settlement, under British protection,
the world’s population and urging the was now well established in the midst of
friends of China to take up this tongue— those islands which were inhabited by
surely some could be found who would a large Malay and Chinese population,
be willing to follow the call of God to and reinforcements from the London
make known the Christian faith to the Missionary Society were sent out from
many lands where Chinese is spoken, or England. These new missionaries spent
to help those who did. a period at the college in Malacca and
were then sent on to various centres:
One way that the missionaries them- Penang, Java, Singapore, Amboyna—
selves could further this cause was by wherever they could find a footing and
the establishment of schools in which establish relations with the people. In
others could study the languages. Fol- this way many new stations of the Ultra
lowing Milne’s survey of suitable loca- Ganges Mission sprang to life. A maga-
tions, the original Anglo-Chinese College zine, The Gleaner, was published to keep
was located in the British Straits Settle- the various stations in touch with one
ments of Malacca, Malaysia. It was also another and to share information of
Morrison’s hope that the Malacca col- progress and problems in the different
lege would prepare the way for the quiet areas. The printing presses poured forth
and peaceful dissemination of Christian pamphlets, tracts, catechisms and trans-
thought in China. Morrison and Milne lations of Gospels in Malay and Chinese;
also established a school for Chinese and and, in order to overcome the obstacle
Malay children in 1818.23 This was the of illiteracy, schools were founded for
extreme eastern outpost of Protestant the teaching of the children. However,
missions in Asia, and Morrison assumed reports from Ultra Ganges, which did not
the name ‘Ultra Ganges’ mission. greatly vary from year to year, showed
that the work was hard and seemingly
Others took on board the work. The unproductive. The people listened but
London Missionary Society gave the often did not respond, and converts
ground, and the Governor of Malacca were few.
and many residents subscribed. Morri-
son himself gave £1,000 out of Mary Morrison returned to
his small property to establish China, only to die in 1821.
the college with Milne as presi- In 1822 William Milne died,
dent. The building was erected Rachel Milne having died three
and opened, printing presses years earlier. Morrison was
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Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Record
left to reflect that he alone of the first (1797–1868) who learned Chinese and
four Protestant missionaries to China went to Batavia and then to Ningpo, the
remained, and he wrote a retrospective first Christian and the first single Euro-
of those first fifteen years of missionary pean woman to do so.
endeavour. China was as impervious as
ever to European and Christian influence In November 1824 Morrison married
but the amount of solid Christian liter- Eliza Armstrong, with whom he had five
ary work accomplished was immense. more children. The new Mrs. Morrison
The lonely Morrison visited Singapore in and the children of his first marriage
January 1823 and met Sir Thomas Stam- returned with him to China in 1826. At
ford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor, who Singapore there were fresh trials: little
was very keen to establish a college in progress had been made with Raffles’
Singapore along the lines of the college College (the institute subsequently col-
at Malacca, and even thought to merge lapsed, to Morrison’s distress), and the
the Malacca and Singapore colleges into new Governor had shown very little
a single ‘Singapore Institution’. interest in encouraging the work dur-
ing Morrison’s absence. Robert and
A Return to England and Final days his family went on to Macau and then
in China • 1823–34 to Guangzhou, where Morrison again
Morrison journeyed on, from Malacca found that mission property had been
and Singapore and then to England in neglected in his absence.
1824, where he was made a Fellow of
the Royal Society. He brought a large Changes in the East India Company now
library of Chinese books to England brought the Morrisons into connec-
for donation, but neither of the two tion with new officials, some of whom
main English universities was willing had no respect for, or comprehension
to accept them. His books remained in of, the calling of the missionaries. They
storage at the London Missionary Soci- were inclined to assume a high hand
ety for the next ten years, before finally until Morrison’s threat to resign pro-
being accepted by University College voked interest from higher authorities
London. Morrison anonymously pub- and secured more respectful treatment.
lished China: a dialogue, for the use of Relations between the English trad-
schools: being ten conversations between ers and the Chinese officials were daily
a father and his two children concerning becoming more strained, and Morrison
the history and present state of that coun- strongly disapproved of the attitudes
try, wrote the Memoirs of the Rev. William revealed in the correspondence which
Milne and began The Language Institu- he had to translate. Political turmoil
tion in Bartlett’s Buildings, Holborn, Lon- would soon break down what restraint
don, to train missionaries. He presented there was between China and England.
his Chinese Bible to King George IV, There were grave faults on both sides;
and taught Chinese to classes the officiousness and tyranny
of gentlemen and ladies, stir- of the mandarins were hard to
ring up interest and sympathy bear, but on the British inter-
on behalf of China. In these est rested the more grievous
classes was Mary Ann Aldersey accountability of forcing a
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Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
trade in opium on the Chinese people. but only held the position a few days.
Mission and Christianity were long the
recipients of prejudice because of this In June 1834, with Eliza and their chil-
woeful hostility. dren in England, Morrison prepared
what was to be his last sermon. He was
Morrison had left in the Chinese work a ill and lonely, but chose as his text ‘In
native teacher, Liang Fa, one of Milne’s my Father’s house are many mansions’
converts, to carry on the work among (John 14.2). Regardless of the trials on
the people. This man endured much for earth, the joy of the eternal Home would
his faith, and was entirely consistent and ‘consist in the society formed there; the
earnest during the long period of Mor- family of God, from all ages and out of
rison’s absence. Other native Christians all nations’.25
were baptised, and the little church
grew. It was also well known that many On 1 August 1834—the same year that
believed in secret, but did not dare risk William Carey died in India26—the pio-
persecution and ostracism by making a neer Protestant missionary to China died
public confession. In 1832 Mrs Morrison in his son’s arms at his home, Number 6
returned to England, and in that year in the Danish Hong. He was fifty-two.
Morrison reported that The next day his remains were removed
to Macau, and on 5 August buried in the
There is now in Canton a state of soci- Protestant Cemetery there, beside those
ety, in respect of Chinese, totally differ- of his first wife and child. He left a family
ent from what I found in 1807. Chinese of six surviving children, two by his first
scholars, missionary students, English wife and four by his second. His only
presses and Chinese Scriptures, with daughter married Benjamin Hobson, a
public worship of God, have all grown medical missionary, in 1847.
up since that period. I have served my
generation, and the Lord knows when Epitaph
I must fall asleep. 24 S. Wells Williams, the Protestant mission-
ary who would go on to become one of
In 1833 the Roman Catholics again the West’s greatest Chinese scholars,
moved against Morrison and the mission upon Morrison’s death said:
work, bringing about the suppression of
his presses and publications, and with it The dawn of China’s regeneration
his best and most profitable means of was breaking as his eyes closed on
spreading the Gospel of Christ. The Chi- the scene of his labours... His name,
nese helpers set themselves loyally and like that of Carey, Marshman, Judson,
quietly to circulate such publications as and Martyn, belongs to the heroic
were already printed. At the same time age of missions... His work was the
the East India Company lost its monop- work of a wise master-builder, and
oly in China, and with it Morri- future generations in the
son lost his employment—and Church of God in China will
his financial stability. Later he ever find reason to bless Him
was appointed government for the labour and example of
translator under Lord Napier, Robert Morrison.27
25
Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Record
The inscription on Robert Morrison’s lege. From his English furlough came
grave reads (see above): The knowledge of Christ supremely excel-
lent: the means and the duty of diffusing
Published Work it among all nations: being a discourse
There are over thirty works published delivered before the London Missionary
by Morrison other than the Scriptures, Society in Surrey Chapel May 11, 1825. In
amazing in the light of the troubled Chinese he issued A summary of the doc-
nature of his years in China. These works trine of divine redemption, An annotated
ranged from ‘The Lord’s prayer in Chi- catechism on the teachings of Jesus, and
nese characters’ as published in the several more, including a translation of
Evangelical Magazine, to his massive Dic- The Book of Common Prayer.
tionary of the Chinese language. For the
serious student he wrote A view of China In 1835 the Funeral discourse, which had
for philological purposes: containing a been delivered before the London Mis-
sketch of Chinese chronology, geography, sionary Society at the Poultry Chapel,
government, religion & customs, designed was issued, and steadily for over one
for the use of persons who study hundred and fifty years there
the Chinese language, along- have been biographies and
side of which was A grammar studies of Robert Morrison.
of the English Language: for the Marshall Broomhall’s 1924 Rob-
use of the Anglo-Chinese Col- ert Morrison, a master builder
26
Issue Number: 585 – October to December 2008
Brethren, let us give thanks for these 9. A useful guide to these religions can be
continuing apostolic acts, for the Scrip- found in The Illustrated Guide to World Religions
tures, and above all for the Gospel of edited by Dean C. Halverson (Grand Rapids,
MI, USA: Bethany House Publishers [my copy
Light and Life in the Lord Jesus Christ,
2003]). It is designed as an aid to evangelism
the only deliverance from the darkness
and witness to those of other religions.
of sin, ignorance and unbelief.
10. Nestorianism teaches that Jesus had
distinct human and divine natures, as opposed
to normal Biblical doctrine which teaches that
the human and divine natures are united in
27
Trinitarian Bible Society – Quarterly Record
the person of Christ. Manichaeism taught that 19. In time there would be more children born
there is no omnipotent force for good, but to Robert and Mary: Rebecca Morrison (July
that there are two forces, Good (Light) and Evil 1812), and John Robert Morrison (April 1814).
(Darkness), neither of which is stronger than
20. ‘Robert Morrison: Pioneer missionary to
the other and which are in constant conflict,
China’, Congregational Federation
often within the souls of men. Thus, knowledge
www.congregational.org.uk/content.
is the key to salvation.
aspx?id=3947
11. There are suggestions that Morrison was a
21. ‘William Milne (missionary)’, Wikipedia,
childhood friend of George Stephenson, who
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Milne_
invented the steam locomotive.
(missionary).
12. Tony Lambert, ed., ‘The Power of Prayer’,
22. ‘Robert Morrison (missionary)’ Wikipedia,
GCM – July/Aug 2007 www.omf.org/omf/us/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Morrison_
resources__1/newsletters/global_chinese_
(missionary).
ministries/gcm_newsletter_2007/gcm_july_
aug_2007. 23. The school, named Anglo-Chinese College,
later called Ying Wa College, was moved to
13. In the pattern of Carey, and surely by per-
Hong Kong around 1843 after the territory
suasion of the same Tutor.
became a British possession. It exists today (?)
14. W. W. Moseley, The Origin of the First Protes- in Hong Kong as a secondary school for boys.
tant Mission to China, and History of the Events
24. Eliza A. Morrison, Memoirs of the life and
Which Induced the Attempt, and Succeeded in
labours of Robert Morrison, 2 vols. (London:
the Establishment of a Translation of the Holy
Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans,
Scriptures into the Chinese Language (London,
1839), 1.410.
England: Simpkin and Marshall, 1842), p. 9.
25. ‘Robert Morrison (missionary)’, Wikipedia.
15. Ibid., p. 95.
26. Carey was featured in Quarterly Record no.
16. Lambert, ‘Power’.
554. Henry Martyn (Quarterly Record nos. 562
17. ‘Thirteen Factories’, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia. and 563), born in 1781, whose first inclination
org/wiki/Thirteen_Factories. In 1835 one to service had been towards China, had died at
of these factories became the home of and Tokat, Turkey, in 1812. Adoniram Judson, born
housed the medical practice of missionary in 1788 (Quarterly Record nos. 570 and 571)
Peter Parker. laboured on for Burma (Myanmar) and died at
sea in 1850.
18. Andrew Gosling, ‘Religion and rebellion in
China: the London Missionary Society collec- 27. Eddy, pp. 35–36.
tion’, National Library of Australia Staff Paper,
28. ‘Robert Morrison (missionary)’, Wikipedia.
www.nla.gov.au/asian/pub/aglms1.html.
28