| Order number: |
CWM/LMS/Central China/Incoming correspondence/Box…etc.
1843-1854 Box 1*
1855-1861 Box 2*
1862-1871 Box 3*
1872-1880 Box 4
1881-1887 Box 5
1888-1889 Box 6
1890-1892 Box 7
1893-1894 Box 8
1895-1896 Box 9
1897-1898 Box 10
1899 Box 11
1900 Box 12A
1901 Box 12B
1902 Box 13
1903 Box 14
1904 Box 15
1905 Box 16
1906 Box 17
1907 Box 18
1908 Box 19
1909 Box 20
1910 Box 21
1911 Box 22
1912 Box 23
1913 Box 24
1914 Box 25
1915 Box 26
1916 Box 27
1917 Box 28
1918 Box 29
1919 Box 30
1920 Box 31
1921 Box 32
1922 i Box 33A
1922 ii Box 33B
1923 i Box 34
1923 ii Box 35
1924 Box 36
1925 i Box 37
1925 ii Box 38
1926 i Box 39
1926 ii Box 40
1927 i Box 41A
1927 ii Box 41B
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| Summary: |
Incoming correspondence from LMS missionaries in the Central China mission field.
Detailed cataloguing has been completed at file level for the period 1843-1866. Catalogue entries provide the names of correspondents, dates, places and a summary of the subject matter. Letters for the later period have yet to be catalogued.
Correspondence to 1866 is largely from Shanghai, with letters from the Hankow [Hankou] mission beginning in 1861. Principal correspondents from this early period include Dr William Lockhart (Shanghai), letters from 1843; Walter Medhurst (Shanghai) 1843-1856; William Milne (Shanghai) 1846-1854; William Muirhead (Shanghai), from 1847; Joseph Edkins (Shanghai) from 1848; John Stronach (in Shanghai for Bible translation) 1849-1854, and Griffith John (Shanghai, and Hankow from 1861), from 1856.
The new Chinese translation of the Bible (the 'Delegates Version') was one of the early successes of the mission, and the work that was carried out on the translation is discussed in letters from 1846. There is also a separate folder labelled 'Delgates Committee, 1849-1852' [located in Box 2], which contains minutes and correspondence of the Committee which met in Shanghai for the revision. The three chief translators were Walter Medhurst, John Stronach and William Milne, who were known as 'Delegates' because the task was delegated to them by the British and Foreign Bible Society who put a good deal of finance into the operation. The three translators had already done the essential New Testament work by 1835, but there was a subsequent dispute about the correct Chinese words to use for 'God' and 'Spirit'. The Bible was published with the title 'Jiu yao quan shu' in 1854 [SOAS Library ref: EF.c.957.c.2 / 87977]. The Delegates Version put the Bible into a high literary form of Chinese called Wen-li. Walter Medhurst, with help from John Stronach on the New Testament, also translated the Bible into Nanking Mandarin, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1856. In addition to letters from Central China, there are references to the dispute in letters from South China and one from North China.
The Taiping rebellion (1851–1864) is also discussed in these early letters.
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| Extent: |
44 boxes
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| Arrangement: |
Until 1927, the LMS kept all correspondence received from the mission field in strict chronological order. From approximately the last quarter of the 19th century, each letter has a cover sheet, which gives it a unique number, date sent, date received by the Home Office, the appropriate governing region (Eastern, Southern etc) and a precis of contents. The arrangement of incoming correspondence changed in 1928, when the administrative decision was made to file incoming and outgoing correspondence together in alphabetical files from individuals. |
Until 1927, the LMS kept all correspondence received from the mission field in strict chronological order. From approximately the last quarter of the 19th century, each letter has a cover sheet, which gives it a unique number, date sent, date received by the Home Office, the appropriate governing region (Eastern, Southern etc) and a precis of contents. The arrangement of incoming correspondence changed in 1928, when the administrative decision was made to file incoming and outgoing correspondence together in alphabetical files from individuals. ... View more |
| Access status: |
Open
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| Language: |
English
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| Finding aids: |
A detailed list for Central China Incoming Correspondence, 1843-1866 (G5), available for consultation in the Special Collections Reading Room, SOAS Library. A digitised copy of this list is available on SOAS Digital Collections - URL link in this catalogue record.
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| Format: |
Archive
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