James Murdoch (Scottish Orientalist)

James Murdoch
Born(1856-09-27)27 September 1856
Stonehaven, Scotland
Died30 October 1921(1921-10-30) (aged 65)
Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality Scottish (British)
EducationUniversity of Aberdeen
Occupation(s)Orientalist, journalist, educator, historian

James Murdoch (27 September 1856 – 30 October 1921) was a Scottish Orientalist scholar and journalist, who worked as a teacher in the Empire of Japan and Australia.[1][2] From 1903 to 1917, he wrote his "monumental"[3] three-volume A History of Japan, the first comprehensive history of Japan in the English language (the third volume being published posthumously in 1926).[1] In 1917 he began teaching Japanese at the University of Sydney and in 1918 he was appointed the foundation professor of the School of Oriental Studies there.

  1. ^ a b D. C. S. Sissons, Murdoch, James (1856–1921), Australian Dictionary of Biography, anu.edu.au. Retrieved15 November 2022.
  2. ^ James Murdoch: Forgotten Scot who rose from poverty to become a leading Orientalist, The National. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  3. ^ Sukehiro Hirakawa, Japan's Love-Hate Relationship with the West, Chapter 3:4: "Natsume Sōseki and His Teacher James Murdoch: Their Opposite Views on the Modernization of Japan", Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, 2005, pp. 249–279. Retrieved 15 November 2022.