Beyond Shanghai

Abstract

Before the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin the Chinese operations of the London Missionary Society’s Protestant missionaries were legally limited to five treaty ports. Yet Shanghai reports attest that the missionaries based there had already considerably expanded their influence over Jiangsu and Zhejiang by the mid 1850s. According to their own reports, they broke the rules established by the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, and routinely traveled beyond the confines of Shanghai to spread the gospel and distribute bibles. They also opened outstations and staffed them with locals. The diaries of Wang Tao (1828–1897), who was an assistant during these years, provide many additional details on these undertakings, in particular with regard to the Chinese assistants. This paper consolidates the information available on the LMS missionaries’ itinerations beyond Shanghai before the Treaty of Tianjin and analyses how Wang Tao described his own involvement.

Chinese Abstract

1858年的〈天津條約〉簽署前，倫敦傳道會的傳教士只被允許在五個條約港口內傳教。然而，當時一些來自上海的報告表明，到19世紀50年代中期，他們的影響力已經大大超出上海的范圍，擴展到了江蘇和浙江。根據他們自己的報告，傳教士們打破了條約的限制，經常走出上海，到周邊地區傳播福音和分發聖經。他們還在這些地區開設了一些分支機構，並在這些機構中配備了當地人。王韜（1828–1897）從1849到1862年在倫敦傳道會擔任助手。他的日記證實了傳教士的報告，並提供了許多有關他們工作的額外細節，特别是關於中國助手的部分。本文整合了現存的有關〈天津條約〉簽訂前倫敦傳道會傳教士在上海以外地區活動的信息并分析了王韜如何描述他自己的參與性質。

Keywords:

• missionary itinerating
• London Missionary Society
• Shanghai
• Wang Tao
• Late Imperial diaries

Notes

1 For a summary of Walter Henry Medhurst and the other missionaries’ life and work in Shanghai, see HCC 2, pp. 153–165. On the history of the Missionary Press in China, see Paquette 1987. For a helpful summary of the beginning of Protestant mission in China, see also the introduction to Smith 2012, pp. 1–11. The Inkstone Press was one of two presses of the London Missionary Society, together with the press in Hong Kong run by James Legge. For a summary of the developments that led to the selection of Shanghai and Hong Kong as the locations for the presses, see Su Ching 1996, pp. 284–286.

2 On the Bible translation, see Hanan 2003a, pp. 197–239 and 261–284; Zetzsche 1999. A summary is contained in HCC 2, pp. 361–367.

3 For a summary of the translation and publication history of Euclid’s Elements, see Zou Zhenhuan 2000, pp. 1–6.

4 On their translation work, see Chapter 3: “Shanghai and the Opening of Japan (Part 1),” translated by Joshua A. Fogel, in Liu Jianhui 2012. A valuable source by the missionaries themselves is Wylie 1867, in which Alexander Wylie offered short biographies for the missionaries and listed the works they had written. The scientific translations are studied in detail in Xiong Yuezhi 2013 and Elman 2006. The process of translating the historical works is studied in Zou Zhenhuan 2007.

5 Choa 1990. See also the chapter “Yiliao shiye” 医疗事业 in Gu Changsheng 1991, pp. 275–284.

6 HCC 2, p. 168.

7 My study is restricted to the missionaries’ published writings. I analyzed the yearbooks and journals but did not consult the archives that are mainly held by the SOAS in London. The careful study of these would undoubtedly produce more details on the travel activities.

8 Zhonghua shuju published the diaries in two editions. The 1990 edition does not contain the years prior to 1858, while the 2015 edition is complete. For this article, I have used the 2015 edition throughout, but kept the Western dates that the 1990 edition provided for the entries.

9 Cohen 1974, pp. 8–9. Fuli had been home to many literati, e.g., Su Dongpo. Wang Tao’s family had been influential during Ming times but had lost its former influence by the time of Wang Tao’s birth. See Zhang Hailin 1993, pp. 1–2.

10 Cohen 1974, p. 9.

11 Cohen 1974, p. 10; Zhang Hailin 1993, p. 2.

12 Hanan 2003a, p. 224 and Huang Xuan 2014, p. 17. See also Yu Shiu-yun 2006, pp. 18–19. Excerpts of this letter were also published in the Missionary Chronicle. See “China: Shanghai,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 19 (1855), March, p. 163.

13 Wang Tao first met with Medhurst at the press in 1848 while visiting his father in Shanghai. One year later, in 1849, he then went to work for him. See Zhang Hailin 1993, pp. 25–26. He wrote about these experiences in his pictorial autobiography Manyou suilu 漫游隨錄, see Manyou suilu tuji, pp. 23–25. For an English translation, see Tsui Wai 2010, pp. 473–474.

14 “China: Shanghai,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 19 (1855), March, p. 163.

15 Wang Tao riji, pp. 1–5. This does not imply that every day had a record; Wang Tao sometimes still skipped several days in a row.

16 Eakin 2008, p. 84.

17 清晨，同俞碧山至英署，與雨耕談良久。午後偕雨耕散步洋涇。彼處陳設骨董頗多，迄無一佳者。途遇曹潞齋、邵蘭如，同至館中飲酒. See Wang Tao riji, p. 107.

18 Wylie 1897, pp. 103–104 and Cohen 1974, p. 22.

19 Medhurst attributed significant portions of the translation to him: “Being of industrious habits, he [Wang Tao] took upon himself most of the labor connected with the preparation of the work, which was generally adopted after some corrections by his compeers. In this way he went through the doctrinal parts of the New Testament, and all the old.” See “China: Shanghai,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 19 (1855), March, p. 163.

20 Zhang Hailin 1993, p. 32.

21 In his “Letter to a friend” (yu youren 與友人), for example, that was written prior to going to Shanghai, Wang Tao himself heavily critizises scholars who work for Westerners. See Taoyuan chidu, pp. 3–4. For examples of other negative contemporary opinions on people working for Westerners, see also Vittinghoff 2004, pp. 79–81.

22 Wang Tao riji, p. 82. See section 4 for a detailed discussion of the entry.

23 For the very convincing identification of Ying Yugeng as the “Ying Lung-T’ien” mentioned by Wade, also on the basis of Wang Tao’s diaries, see Song Jie 2012, pp. 67–78.

24 巳刻麥公往龍華，予得賦閒，同星垣、芷卿舍弟詣城中游覽，往城西顧舍啜茗. See Wang Tao riji, p. 142.

25 Griffith John’s biographer R. Wardlaw Thompson remarks: “By the Treaty of Nanking the right was given to foreigners to reside in five ports and to carry on their various callings in them; but they were not allowed to reside anywhere else in the country, and their excursions beyond the bounds of the five cities were limited to a single day. The missionaries very early began to go beyond the prescribed limits in their work of itineration.” See Thompson 1906, pp. 70–71.

26 This should not be mistaken for small size. Shanghai was densely populated even before the Treaty of Nanjing, with a census from 1810 reporting a population of half a million. Because of its location, however, the city was mainly important for trade. See Su Ching 1996, pp. 286–287.

27 “China. Shanghae,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 17–18 (1853–1854), September 1854, p. 199.

28 滬人多不好事，藝鞠者絕少，即讀書子弟，亦皆俗氛滿面. See Wang Tao riji, pp. 44–45.

29 Muirhead 1870, pp. 133–134.

30 Muirhead 1870, pp. 133–134.

31 Lazich 1997, p. 481.

32 For a study of Shanghai residents’ sentiments towards foreigners before the twentieth century, see Ye Xiaoqing 1992, pp. 33–52. On the Qingpu incident, Su Ching writes: “On 3 March 1848, Medhurst, Lockhart and Muirhead went to Ch’ingp’u, a city nearly thirty miles west of Shanghai, on a preaching excursion. Whilst distributing tracts in the streets, they met a large crowd of unemployed boatmen temporarily staying there. Lockhart used his walking stick to keep the tumultuous crowd from striving forward for tracts and a boatman received a blow on his face. This accident immediately caused a fury and the missionaries were harassed, beaten up and injured and several articles were lost.” See Su Ching 1996, p. 305.

33 Wang Tao riji, p. 227.

34 Muirhead 1870, pp. 150–151.

35 Muirhead 1870, pp. 133–134.

36 Muirhead 1870, pp. 142–143.

37 “Missionary Itinerancies in the North of China,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, Series 3, 1 (1859), September, pp. 658–659.

38 Muirhead 1870, pp. 150–151.

39 Thompson 1906, pp. 76–77.

40 Thompson 1906, p. 72. In a report published in 1853, the missionaries wrote about Songjiang: “No place could be more suited for an out-station, if it were not itself made the centre of extensive operations. On inquiry, I found that there would be no difficulty in renting a house, or taking rooms in a temple: the owners were extremely willing, even at the risk of some annoyance from the mandarins.” See “China. Shanghae,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 18 (1854), p. 199.

41 午後，同晝三往湖壖賃屋，有施姓福隱庄臨湖一樓，寬敞明潔， … 索價僅十千之數。因聞西人欲賃，皆有懼色，說遂中止. See Wang Tao riji, p. 198.

42 清晨，同楊君往觀賃屋，都不能成. See Wang Tao riji, p. 198. On the difficulties other missionaries faced with renting space in treaty ports, see Paquette 1987, p. 171.

43 Native agents were “set apart to the service of the gospel, and maintained by church funds.” They were “not ordained,” did “not administer the sacraments,” but were “‘put in trust with the gospel’ as preachers and teachers.” These descriptions are taken from a polemic against the high numbers of native agents in China; it appeared in The Chinese Recorder in 1867 and therefore a decade after the events analyzed here. Nevertheless, it serves as a description of the work these agents carried out. See Unknown, “On Native Agency,” The Chinese Recorder I (1867), p. 34.

44 Wang Tao riji, p. 201.

45 “New Preaching Stations,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, Series 3, 1 (1859), p. 584.

46 Muirhead 1870, pp. 170–171. Griffith John wrote similarly: “All the principal rivers and lakes are connected by means of artificial canals which […] run like veins and arteries through almost every part of the Empire. Nearly every city, town, and village is accessible by boat.” See Thompson 1906, p. 73.

47 Muirhead 1870, pp. 170–171.

48 “China: Shanghae, For August 1856,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, New Series, 34 (1856), p. 495.

49 舟艙甚迫窄，殊為局促. See Wang Tao riji, p. 194.

50 薄暮抵松江，不及入城。夕泊泖河口。四更雨甚大，聲滴篷背，頓起懷人之想。窗隙漏天，風雨飄入，枕角稍為沾濡，殊覺其苦. See Wang Tao riji, pp. 110–111.

51 Wang Liqun analyzed the role Wang Tao and his friends played in the transmission of Western knowledge to China and also summarized the background information available about them; see Wang Liqun 2003, pp. 97–106.

52 Zhang Zhichun 1994, p. 25.

53 Martin wrote: “While he was with Mr. Wylie, he came very near professing Christianity. Deterred by fear of prejudice to his official ferment, he retained in considerable measure the impressions he then received. […] His faith, if he had any, was a compound of West and East.” See Martin 1900, p. 370.

54 Hanan 2003a, p. 277.

55 Su Ching 1996, p. 325.

56 Su Ching 1996, p. 325.

57 Xu Chang 2018, pp. 46–48 and Cohen 1974, p. 17.

58 Xiong Yuezhi 2013, p. 186.

59 Zhang Zhichun 1994, p. 31. Wang Tao relates his backstory in the following way: “Xiaoyi, cognomen Sifu, is a xiucai of Jiangning. His hometown was destroyed, and he escaped to Dengwei. The Western scholar Joseph Edkins met him while going to Wu (Suzhou) and after talking to him they got along with each other very well, and he [Edkins] brought him back [to Shanghai], where he [Xiaoyi] translated medical texts with Mister Benjamin Hobson.” 小異名嗣復，江寧茂才，家鄉殘破，避難鄧尉。西士艾約瑟至吳遇之，與之談禪，極相契合，載之俱來，同合信君翻譯醫術. See Wang Tao riji, p. 174.

60 Wang Tao riji, p. 266. The term “teaching of names” (mingjiao 名教) is a broad reference to the Confucian school. It was first used by the Xuanxue 玄學 thinkers in the early medieval times in a derogatory way but soon shed this connotation.

61 Su Ching 1996, p. 298.

62 “China, Shanghae: Retrospect of the Mission,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 17 (1853), February 1853, p. 28.

63 Su Ching 1996, pp. 289–293.

64 “A Day at Suchau,” The North-China Herald (November 23, 1850), p. 66.

65 “A Day at Suchau,” The North-China Herald (November 23, 1850), p. 66.

66 “China, Shanghae: Retrospect of the Mission,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 17 (1853), p. 28.

67 壬叔將至西泠，即藉此筵以為祖餞。 … 是日往大境，壬叔已解經去矣. See Wang Tao riji, p. 31.

68 Wang Tao riji, pp. 81–83.

69 四日戊申：午刻抵茸城，至蓮溪舍，把臂欣然，為治餚饌，特市精粲四簋，旨酒一盛，臨窗對酌絮話曩悰。時申江有東道主人，欲聘蓮溪至琉球者，命余達其意，且為之勸架，蓮溪亦躍躍然愿往，有乘長風破萬里浪之志. See Wang Tao riji, pp. 82–83. The last part is a reference to Zong Que 宗愨 (?–465). In his Songshu 宋書 biography, he tells the story of how his uncle asked him if he wanted to take up an official position. To this, Zong Que replied: “I want to ride strong winds and break waves for ten thousand miles.” 願乘長風破萬里浪. See Songshu 76.1971.

70 “Description of Loochoo by a Native of China,” The North-China Herald, February 25, 1854; March 4, 1854; March 11, 1854; April 15, 1854. A Chinese report about these events was also published in the Chinese Serial under the title “Liuqiu zaji shulüe” 琉球雜記述略. See Zhao Xifang 2019, p. 13.

71 For background information on Ryukyu and the Loochoo Naval Mission, see Kerr 2000, pp. 260–297, and Fletcher 2010, pp. 599–641.

72 See Yoshihiko 1969, p. 341. For more detailed information on Bettelheim’s translation, see also Nakai 2007, pp. 135–147.

73 “Description of Loochoo by a Native of China,” The North-China Herald (February 25, 1854), p. 119.

74 是夕蓮溪至琉球，余送之江滸，臨別依依，殊有不忍之色。噫！饑來驅人，真可嘆也. See Wang Tao riji, pp. 81–83. Here, Wang Tao is quoting the first verse of the poem “Begging for Food” 乞食 by Tao Yuanming 陶淵明. The translation follows Tian Xiaofei 2020, pp. 10–11.

75 Thompson 1906, pp. 70–71.

76 “China: Shanghai,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, New Series, 33 (1855), p. 165. It has to be noted that the Small Sword Society uprising caused the missionaries great problems. They were hindered in their missionary efforts in Shanghai, and in addition to the dangers of living in the uprising’s ultimate proximity, the prices for everyday goods also rose drastically. For an account of how the uprising affected the young Hudson Taylor, see Broomhall 1929, pp. 55–56.

77 “China: Shanghai,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, New Series, 33 (1855), p. 166.

78 “China: Shanghai,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, New Series, 33 (1855), p. 166.

79 Hudson Taylor, who was at that time closely associated to the LMS missionaries, reported about itinerating with similar enthusiasm. He accompanied Joseph Edkins on several journeys in 1854 and 1855. In his biography, Broomhall writes: “And so, within a few weeks of Dr. Parker’s arrival, we find him commencing a series of evangelistic journeys into areas seldom or never visited before by Protestant missionaries. Sometimes he was alone, sometimes accompanied by Dr. Parker, at other times he went in company with senior workers of other Societies, such as Mr. Edkin [sic] and Mr. Burdon. Without attempting to follow in detail his many itinerations, it must suffice to say that between December, 1854, and the autumn of 1855, he had made no fewer than eight longer and shorter journeys, one of these extending to nearly two hundred miles up the southern bank of the river Yangtse. On this occasion he came to within sixty miles of Chinkiang, travelled in all nearly five hundred miles, entered no fewer than fifty-eight cities, towns and villages, fifty-one of which had never been visited before by preachers of the Gospel.” See Broomhall 1929, p. 63. The journeys are treated in more detail in the biography written by Howard Taylor; see Taylor – Taylor 1912, pp. 255–323.

80 Cohen 1974, p. 20; Hanan 2003a, pp. 225–226.

81 “China. Shanghae,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle 19 (1855), March, pp. 162–168. Hanan worked with the original report about these events that Medhurst sent to the LMS in October 1854 and that is preserved in the LMS archives at SOAS; see Hanan 2003a, p. 224 n. 9. The report contains a translation of Wang Tao’s application for baptism. Hanan attached it to his article “The Bible as a Chinese Text.” See Hanan 2003a, p. 227. For a detailed analysis of the document, see Chapter Two of Huang Xuan’s M.A. thesis; see Huang Xuan 2014, pp. 20–33.

82 “Lan-King” is the missionaries’ rendering of Wang Tao’s style Lanying 蘭瀛.

83 “China. Shanghae,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle 19 (1855), March, p. 164.

84 Cohen 1974, p. 20.

85 For examples, see Wang Tao riji, pp. 116, 117, 118, 122, 123, 132, 139, 140, 142, 143, 163. On the regular church visits, see also Hua Hongyan 2019, p. 219.

86 Wang Tao riji, p. 110.

87 Wang Tao riji, p. 161. There are two instances in which Wang Tao goes to church and the Zhonghua editors interpreted the manuscript to say that he “received dinner” there (shou wan can 受晚餐). See Wang Tao riji, pp. 115 and 165. I was unable to look at the diaries’ original manuscripts, but judging by the context this may well be a misreading of the cursively written sheng 聖 for wan 晚. But even without these two doubtful instances, it still remains undisputed that Wang Tao openly writes about receiving communion in his diaries for the years 1854 and 1855.

88 This refers to John 15:1–8. The parable begins in the King James’ version with “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman […].” The translation of the first verse in the Delegates’ Version goes: 我爲眞葡萄樹、我父爲塲師.

89 是日禮拜，詣會堂祗受聖餐，入城講解聲書。聽者甚眾，为言真葡萄樹之譬，反覆開導，頗有信者. See Wang Tao riji, p. 161.

90 麥、慕遍歷群峰，[…] 山石犖确，殊不易走，余從其後，足繭腰折，几不能上，默念「寇往我往，彼入我入」之理，奮力追隨，始能相及. See Wang Tao riji, p. 111.

91 For a summary, see also Zhang Zhichun 1994, pp. 29–30 and Hua Hongyan 2019, pp. 219–220.

92 Wang Tao riji, pp. 110–113.

93 “Details of a Missionary Tour to the Thae-Hoo Lake,” The North-China Herald (November 11, 1854), p. 59.

94 抵閔行鎮，維舟上岸，分送聖書。是日風色甚順，約行百里. See Wang Tao riji, p. 110.

95 “Details of a Missionary Tour to the Thae-Hoo Lake,” The North-China Herald (November 11, 1854), p. 59.

96 從麦、慕牧二牧師上岸分書。彼都人士競來聽講，所攜之書頃刻都盡. See Wang Tao riji, p. 111.

97 居民咸至船側聚觀，稱奇弗置，所分聖書，爭來攘奪. See Wang Tao riji, p. 111.

98 “Details of a Missionary Tour to the Thae-Hoo Lake,” The North-China Herald (November 11, 1854), p. 59.

99 “Details of a Missionary Tour to the Thae-Hoo Lake,” The North-China Herald (November 11, 1854), p. 59.

100 歸時，東山司來謁，辭以未暇而去。晚飯後，至東山司署. See Wang Tao riji, p. 112.

101 Wang Tao riji, p. 117.

102 Wang Tao riji, pp. 119 and 121. The missionaries published an account of this trip in the North-China Herald; see “Sketch of a Missionary Journey to Tian-Muh-San,” The North-China Herald (December 23, 1854), p. 64.

103 Wang Tao riji, p. 119.

104 Wang Tao riji, p. 142.

105 Wang Tao riji, p. 143.

106 “China: Shanghae, For November 1856,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, New Series, 34 (1856), pp. 679–680.

107 “China: Shanghae, For August 1856,” The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, New Series, 34 (1856), p. 495.

108 For a full translation of the segment, see Eicher 2020. For a summary, see also Hua Hongyan 2019, pp. 220–221. On the life and work of the missionary Griffith John, there exist two book-length studies; see Gibbard 1998 and Thompson 1906. For a shorter summary, see the chapter in Builders of the Chinese Church (Gibbard 2015).

109 Thompson 1906, p. 73. Griffith John describes his motivation in more detail in this letter: “The longer I stay in China the more I am convinced that her people are to be converted, if ever, by the means of native teachers. What I should like to have is an institution for the education of Christian men who have given some proof of piety and zeal, and to have them under my influence for one or two years, during which period they should go through a course of education similar in character to that of our colleges at home, minus classics. Being prepared for the work, I would fix them down here and there through the country and exercise a kind of general superintendence over them. I should like to work for China, and not to confine my labours to some one particular district, and I don't know of a better way than the above.” See Thompson 1906, pp. 72–73.

110 楊君雅涵來舍，言將與予同至餘杭，約作半月之行. See Wang Tao riji, p. 193.

111 聞法蘭西領事從寧波至杭州，欲索湖上行宮，建天主會堂。浙撫許以别墅，招入署中，歡宴竟日。近英人楊雅涵至吳門賃屋講書，言後將擇地建禮拜寺矣。侏㒧日迫，為禍日深，將奈之何. See Wang Tao riji, p. 265.

112 晨，訪西儒好君，小坐閒話，知美魏茶舊疾未愈，且貧甚，知渠此生不能復至中土矣。追念曩時情好，為之悵惋. See Wang Tao riji, p. 203.

113 Hanan 2003b, p. 276.

114 Hanan 2003b, p. 282, n. 52. 

115 同楊君往錢蓮溪家見諸友。欲進教者群集其舍，楊君為之講書解道. See Wang Tao riji, p. 195.

116 時集於蓮溪家，聽楊君講道者，共有九人. See Wang Tao riji, p. 201.

117 Thompson 1906, p. 89.

118 Wang Tao mentions the following temples or monasteries that presumably offered the possibility for preaching and/or tract distribution: Chaoguo temple (Chaoguo si 超果寺), Guanyin Pavilion (Guanyin ge 觀音閣), Dongsheng tower (Dongsheng lou 東升樓), Eighteen Mile Bridge (Shiba li qiao 十八里橋), Chashan temple (Chashan si 茶禪寺), Temple for King Yue’e (Yue’e wang miao 岳鄂王廟), Mingchun terrace (Mingchun xuan 茗春軒), Zhaoqing temple (Zhaoqing si 昭慶寺), Great Buddha temple (Dafo si 大佛寺), Maitreya Monastery (Mile yuan 彌勒院), Broken Bridge (Duanqiao 斷橋), Zhaodan terrace (Zhaodan tai 照膽台), Shengyin temple (Shengyin si 聖因寺), Qiantang Gate (Qiantang men 錢塘門), Examination Compound (Gong yuan 貢院), Luji hall (Luji tang 魯濟堂).

119 予亦得藉此以覽湖山之勝，欣然從之. See Wang Tao riji, p. 193.

120 Platt 2012, p. 38.

121 Walrond 1872, pp. 279–280.

122 Walrond 1872, p. 281.

123 泊於金沙江畔，往訪錢蓮溪。既至，則知於前日在申江矣。蓋偉君將乘兵船至楊子江，特倩慕公作札致彼，令其往為通事. See Wang Tao riji, p. 201.

124 晤西士慕君，知偉烈君於昨晨已隨公使北行，將至漢口申畫通商界址. See Wang Tao riji, p. 202.

125 雨。聞北行之舟，留滞淤沙中，或言為賊所困。道路紛紛，究無确耗也. See Wang Tao riji, p. 226. Wang Tao’s information was correct. We know from Elgin’s notes that the expedition did get stuck in sand banks repeatedly. This happened from November 16 to November 18 (see Walrond 1872, pp. 282–284); from December 19 to December 20 (see Walrond 1872, pp. 298–299) and for the last time on December 31 (see Walrond 1872, p. 302). How Wang Tao learned about this, is not clear. 

126 See also Walrond 1872, p. 303.

127 One of the city gates of Nanjing that faced the Yangzi.

128 與長髮交仗僅二次，於觀音門外毁其一砲臺，群賊盡竄，匿跡不出，此真烏合之眾也！See Wang Tao riji, p. 228. Wang Tao’s information again matches with Elgin’s notes. Elgin’s expedition had two military exchanges with the Taiping. Elgin notes the first instance for November 20 and the retribution, the destruction of several forts, on November 21 (see Walrond 1872, p. 285). On November 26, they were fired at again and again retaliated, but this time Elgin does not mention destroying forts (see Walrond 1872, pp. 287–288). It took Elgin and his ships four weeks to arrive in Hankou and they arrived there on December 6 (see Walrond 1872, p. 293).

129 Yan 燕 was one of the noble ranks in the Taiping system. The translation “Duke” used here is only an approximation, as Taiping official titles are notoriously difficult to translate. Wang Tao added a bewildered comment about the official system of the Taiping to his diaries: “The names and offices of the bandits are getting stranger and stranger the more we learn about them. There is a ‘Duke of Promoting the [Example/Rule of] Heaven’ (Jintian yan 晉天燕) and a ‘Duke of Following the [Example/Rule of] Heaven’ (Caitian yan 蔡天燕), a ‘Duke of the Propitious Heaven” (Xiangtian yan 祥天燕), a ‘Duke of the Flourishing Heaven’ (Yitian fu 益天福) and other titles like this. I don’t know what they do and how to explain them, but they are sufficient to arrive at the conclusion that they are only bandits and nothing else!” 賊官名目，愈出愈奇，有曰晉天燕及蔡天燕、祥天燕、益天福等名號，不知作何解，适成其為賊而已矣。See Wang Tao riji, p. 229.

130 繼抵金陵，賊首偽太平王遣偽指揮晉天燕朱雄邦奉偽詔到舟，稱英公使曰西洋番弟，詞甚倨傲，公使亦不怒也. See Wang Tao riji, p. 229.

131 See Michael 1972, vol. 2, p. 720, and also Platt 2012, p. 40.

132 “Missionary Itinerancies in the North of China,” September, 1859, in: The Evangelical Magazine, and Missionary Chronicle, Series 3, 1 (1859), p. 661.

133 Thompson 1906, p. 72.

134 自清波門至武林門，烈焰亙天，號哭之聲震地。民之不死于火者，則死于賊刃。街衢間尸相枕籍，西湖水為之赭. See Wang Tao riji, p. 329.

135 是日，偉烈君同楊君雅涵往杭州，余得賦閒. See Wang Tao riji, p. 346.

136 偉烈君從杭州回，言杭州風景極為凄寂，西湖庄墅尚未毁，而昭慶寺以往，悉頹垣焦土矣. See Wang Tao riji, p. 352.

137 午後，錢莲溪從松江來話被難情事殊慘。松江城既瘠薄，賊擾之後，殘破已極，賊故舍之而去。松人被殺者不少，婦女被奸虜者不可勝數. See Wang Tao riji, pp. 372–373.

138 Zhang Zhichun 1994, p. 51.

139 Zhang Zhichun 1994, p. 51.

140 晨，行抵龍華鎮，泊舟小住。艾、楊二君及他西士，皆舍舟登陸，步行回滬。余與尤五詣茗寮小啜。 See Wang Tao riji, p. 368.

141 The corresponding accounts are contained in parts in The Missionary magazine and chronicle and in the North-China Herald. About Wang Tao’s involvement we read: “For the ‘faithful king,’ Chung wang, the chief in command at Suchow, Mr. John and I prepared together, with Wung lau king’s (sic!) assistance, a theological statement on several important subjects, asking the Chung wang, after perusal, to submit it to the inspection of the ‘celestial king’ at Nanking. […] All this was directed against the peculiar errors of the Insurgents.” See “Christian Instruction supplied by the Missionaries to the Insurgents,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 24 (1860), October, p. 275.

142 With the letter, Edkins strove to remind Hong Rengan “of the instruction he had received, during his residence here, from the late Dr. Medhurst, and the other opportunities he had had of learning the truths of Holy Scripture, and urged on him the steadfast holding of those truths, and resistance to all that is contrary to Scripture.” About the writing of the letter, Edkins remarks: “This letter was prepared by Wang-lan-king, who accompanied us, and who was Dr. Medhurst’s assistant in translating the Scriptures […].” See “Mission of Hung Jin to Tae-Ping-Wang, Chief of the Chinese Insurgents at Nanking,” The Missionary Magazine and Chronicle 24 (1860), October, pp. 277–278.

143 Zhang Zhichun 1994, p. 53.

144 艾君以偽干王洪仁矸有書來招, 欲復至吳門，堅邀余去。余固辭不往，托疾以辭之。是晚解纜。余在家得以跂脚揮扇，高枕早眠，何為觸熱冒險至此賊窟乎?且顧名思義，斷不可重往者也。See Wang Tao riji, p. 374. The corresponding invitation letter (“Li Hsiu-ch’eng’s Letter to Joseph Edkins and Griffith John inviting them to visit Soochow”) was translated in Michael 1972, pp. 1114–1115.

145 Qian Lianxi 1870b, 1870c. For a partial analysis of these writings, see Chan Chi Him 2011, p. 115.

146 For Zhejiang, it is stated that: “The China Inland Mission began in 1866, but the founder, Mr. Hudson Taylor, with his associates, had worked from 1854 in connection with the Chinese Evangelisation Society. The province of CHEKIANG was the first in which inland residence and permanent work were effected. In 1859, the Rev. J. L. and Mrs. Nevius of the American Presbyterian Mission, and the Rev. T. Burdon (afterwards Bishop of Victoria) of the Church Missionary Society visited Hangchow at some risk, and resided there for some month; but they were unable to secure permanent residence. Mr. Burdon subsequently attempted residence in Shaohing, and worked there during the summer of 1861, but both Shaohing and Hangchow were left in consequence of the approach of the Taipings.” See Broomhall 1907, p. 78. The section for Jiangsu only talks about Shanghai when it describes the missionary activities prior to 1860, aside from mentioning that Griffith John and William Muirhead visited Suzhou several times. See Broomhall 1907, pp. 86–92.

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Sebastian Eicher

Sebastian Eicher (Ai Botian 艾柏田) is a postdoctoral researcher at Ca' Foscari's Department of Asian and North African Studies. His main research interests are the Protestant mission and traditional historiography. His recent publications include “Echoes of Victorian Hellenism in Mid‑Nineteenth‑Century China: Joseph Edkins' Recurring Column ‘Western Literature’ (Xixue shuo 西學說) in the Journal Liuhe congtan 六合叢談 (Shanghae Serial),” Annali di Ca' Foscari. Serie orientale 58 (2022), “Wang Tao's Diary: Excerpts,” Renditions 93 (2020), “Yuan Hong's Evaluation of the Han-Wei Transition,” T'oung Pao 104 (2018), and his dissertation Das Hou Hanji des Yuan Hong: Zur Historiographie der Späteren Han-Dynastie (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2018). He has also published in Early Medieval China, the Journal of Asian History and the Journal of Chinese History.

Correspondence to: Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca' Foscari University, Dorsoduro 3246, 30123 Venice, Italy.