Robert Morrison (missionary)

Robert Morrison
Portrait of Morrison by John Wildman
Born(1782-01-05)5 January 1782
Died1 August 1834(1834-08-01) (aged 52)
OccupationProtestant missionary with the London Missionary Society
Spouses
Mary Morrison (née Morton)
(m. 1809; died 1821)
Eliza Morrison (née Armstrong)
(m. 1824)
Children8, including John Robert Morrison, George S. Morrison
Parent(s)James Morrison
Hannah Nicholson
ReligionPresbyterian
TitleD.D.
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese馬禮遜
Simplified Chinese马礼逊
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinMǎ Lǐxùn
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese羅拔・摩理臣[1]
Simplified Chinese罗拔・摩理臣
Transcriptions
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingLo4 Bat6 Mo1 Lei5 San4
IPA[lɔ˩ pɐt̚˨ mɔ˥ lej˩˧ sɐn˩]

Robert Morrison, FRS (5 January 1782 – 1 August 1834), was an Anglo-Scottish[2][3] Protestant missionary to Portuguese Macao, Qing-era Guangdong, and Dutch Malacca, who was also a pioneering sinologist, lexicographer, and translator considered the "Father of Anglo-Chinese Literature".[4]

Morrison, a Presbyterian preacher, is most notable for his work in China. After twenty-five years of work he translated the whole Bible into the Chinese language and baptized ten Chinese believers, including Cai Gao, Liang Fa, and Wat Ngong. Morrison pioneered the translation of the Bible into Chinese and planned for the distribution of the Scriptures as broadly as possible, unlike the previous Roman Catholic translation work that had never been published.[5]

Morrison cooperated with such contemporary missionaries as Walter Henry Medhurst and William Milne (the printers), Samuel Dyer (Hudson Taylor's father-in-law), Karl Gützlaff (the Prussian linguist), and Peter Parker (China's first medical missionary). He served for 27 years in China with one furlough home to England. The only missionary efforts in China were restricted to Guangzhou (Canton) and Macau at this time. They concentrated on literature distribution among members of the merchant class, gained a few converts, and laid the foundations for more educational and medical work that would significantly impact the culture and history of the most populous nation on earth. However, when Morrison was asked shortly after his arrival in China if he expected to have any spiritual impact on the Chinese, he answered, "No sir, but I expect God will!"[6]

  1. ^ 香港東區街道故事・摩理臣山與摩理臣父子
  2. ^ Wylie (1867), pp. 3–4
  3. ^ "pioneering Scottish missionary Robert Morrison" (PDF). The Burke Library Archive. Columbia University Libraries. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  4. ^ Thom, Robert (1840). Yishi Yuyan. Esop's Fables Written in Chinese by the Learned Mun Mooy Seen-Shang, and Compiled in their Present Form (With a free and literal translation) by His Pupil Sloth. Canton, China. p. Preface.
  5. ^ Townsend (1890), appendix
  6. ^ R. Li-Hua (2014). Competitiveness of Chinese Firms: West Meets East. Springer. p. 40. ISBN 9781137309303.