GB 0102 CWM/LMS China Personal Boxes 4-10 - Legge, James

7 boxes

The papers were deposited with the London Missionary Society and form part of the special series of personal papers of individual LMS missionaries and officers.
GB 0102 CWM/LMS China Personal Boxes 4-10 1831-c1905 Collection (fonds) 7 boxes Legge , James , 1815-1897 , missionary and Sinologist
Born at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 1815; educated at Aberdeen grammar school; studied at King's College and University, Aberdeen; MA, 1835; affiliated with the Congregational Church; studied at Highbury theological college, London; appointed London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary to Malacca; ordained at Brompton, London, married Mary Isabella Morison (1816-1852), and set sail, 1839; arrived at Malacca and was appointed Principal of the Anglo-Chinese College, 1840; began translating and annotating the Chinese classics; he was to become a pioneering Sinologist; his wife, also a missionary, pioneered education for Chinese girls; DD, University of New York, 1842; following the treaty of 1842, which opened the ports of China, Legge left Malacca for Singapore, 1843; proceeded via Macau to Hong Kong and attended a conference of LMS missionaries and a general convention of missionaries, 1843; appointed to deliberate on the controversial issue of how to render God' in Chinese, advocating use of the nameShang Di'; head of the Anglo-Chinese Theological Seminary, Hong Kong (which replaced the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca), 1843-1856; the preparatory school attached to the Seminary opened, 1844; it became co-educational, 1846; Legge helped to develop an independent Chinese congregation in Hong Kong; visited England for health reasons, 1845-1846; returned to Hong Kong and, in addition to his missionary work, pastor to an English congregation, 1848; visited England, 1858; married a widow, Hannah Mary Willetts (d 1881, née Johnstone), and returned to Hong Kong, 1859; ceased to be supported by LMS funds and returned to England, 1867; LLD, University of Aberdeen, 1870; pastor at Union Church, Hong Kong, 1870-1873; visited mission stations at Shanghai, Chefoo (Yantai) and Peking (Beijing) and returned to England via Japan and the USA, 1873; withdrew as a missionary of the LMS, 1873; Fellow of Corpus Christi College Oxford, 1875; first Professor of Chinese, University of Oxford, 1876-1897; honorary MA, University of Oxford; LLD, University of Edinburgh, 1884; died in Oxford, 1897. Publications include: translated and edited The Chinese Classics (5 volumes, Trübner & Co, 1861-1872, and 3 volumes, Clarendon Press, 1879-1894); Inaugural Lecture ... in the University of Oxford (1876); The Religions of China (1880); and numerous Chinese translations, Chinese tracts, and other pamphlets on Chinese subjects.

The papers were deposited with the London Missionary Society and form part of the special series of personal papers of individual LMS missionaries and officers.

Deposited on permanent loan with the records of the London Missionary Society by the Congregational Council for World Mission (later Council for World Mission) in 1973.

Correspondence and papers, 1831-c1905, of and relating to James Legge, comprising correspondence, largely manuscript and typescript copies (some later than the originals) of letters, 1831-1897, to and from Legge, the correspondents including his wife Hannah and other family members, also concerning the Anglo-Chinese College, Malacca, and its successor the Anglo-Chinese Theological Seminary, Hong Kong; sermons, mainly manuscript but including some printed, preached in Hong Kong, including the Union Church, and England, c1837-1880; publications, typescript copies, press cuttings, and manuscripts of articles, addresses and accounts, 1839-1890s (some undated; including some later copies), mainly by Legge but including some publications of other authors, the subjects including theology, Chinese religion including Confucius, Chinese language and literature, missionary work and journeys made, and Legge's work at the University of Oxford; personal papers, 1839-1897, including his certificate of ordination, 1839, print of an engraving of Legge with three Chinese students at the Hong Kong Theological Seminary, 1849, photographs of friends in Hong Kong and Chinese friends, and letter book containing Notes of my Life for my sons ... and their sisters', begun 1896; papers relating to Legge, including printed papers relating to his death, 1897, and the typescriptJames Legge: Missionary and Scholar' [before 1905]. Many of the typescript copies of correspondence and other writings were presumably made for Legge's daughter, Helen Edith Legge, for her James Legge: Missionary and Scholar (1905).

Unrestricted.

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
English and some Chinese

Unpublished handlist.

Published on microfiche by IDC Publishers.

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds the records of the London Missionary Society (Ref: CWM/LMS), including letters from individual missionaries, among them Legge (Ref: CWM/LMS South China Incoming Correspondence); his candidate's papers (Ref: CWM/LMS Candidates' Papers Box 9 No 44); his report for 1866 from Hong Kong, 1867 (Ref: CWM/LMS South China Reports Box 1 File 1); engravings of Legge (Ref: CWM/LMS General Portraits Box 3); a print of an engraving of Legge by J Cochran (Ref: CWM/LMS China Photographs Box 6 File 27). SOAS also holds other letters and papers of Legge, 1859-1897, mainly letters from him and his wife Hannah to their family (Ref: MS 380476), and a drawing of him with three Chinese students (Ref: PCE China Photographs Box 2 File 2).

Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, holds a journal and papers (Ref: MSS Eng misc c 863-64, d 1252-63, e 556, 1377-81; Top Oxon c 528).

Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed Gerald H Anderson (1998); LMS Register of Missionaries, ed James Sibree; National Register of Archives. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Feb 2002 Academic teaching personnel Ancient religions Anglo-Chinese College , Malacca Anglo-Chinese Theological Seminary , Hong Kong Asian languages Asian literature Autobiographies China Chinese Chinese literature Christianity Christians Clergy Colonial countries Confucianism Confucius , c 551-? 479 BC , Chinese sage Congregationalism Congregationalists East Asia Educational institutions Educational missionaries Educational missionary work Educational personnel England Engravings Europe Hong Kong Legge , Hannah , d 1881 , née Johnson , formerly Hannah Willetts , missionary x Johnson , Hannah x Willetts , Hannah Legge , Helen Edith , fl 1903-1923 , author Legge , James , 1815-1897 , missionary and Sinologist Linguists Literary forms and genres Literature Malacca Malaysia Melaka Missionaries Missionary Society x LMS , London Missionary Society x London Missionary Society Missionary work Mission educational institutions National literatures Newspaper press Ordained missionaries Photographs Political systems Press Press cuttings Prints Prose Protestantism Protestant nonconformists Protestant nonconformity Protestants Religions Religious activities Religious doctrines Religious groups Religious institutions Religious movements Religious texts Sermons Social scientists South and Southeast Asian languages South East Asia Teachers Theology Travel Travel abroad UK Union Church , Hong Kong University of Oxford , Professor of Chinese x Oxford University , Professor of Chinese Visual materials Western Europe West Malaysia Wives of missionaries London Personnel People by occupation People Nonconformity

Deposited on permanent loan with the records of the London Missionary Society by the Congregational Council for World Mission (later Council for World Mission) in 1973.

Correspondence and papers, 1831-c1905, of and relating to James Legge, comprising correspondence, largely manuscript and typescript copies (some later than the originals) of letters, 1831-1897, to and from Legge, the correspondents including his wife Hannah and other family members, also concerning the Anglo-Chinese College, Malacca, and its successor the Anglo-Chinese Theological Seminary, Hong Kong; sermons, mainly manuscript but including some printed, preached in Hong Kong, including the Union Church, and England, c1837-1880; publications, typescript copies, press cuttings, and manuscripts of articles, addresses and accounts, 1839-1890s (some undated; including some later copies), mainly by Legge but including some publications of other authors, the subjects including theology, Chinese religion including Confucius, Chinese language and literature, missionary work and journeys made, and Legge's work at the University of Oxford; personal papers, 1839-1897, including his certificate of ordination, 1839, print of an engraving of Legge with three Chinese students at the Hong Kong Theological Seminary, 1849, photographs of friends in Hong Kong and Chinese friends, and letter book containing Notes of my Life for my sons ... and their sisters', begun 1896; papers relating to Legge, including printed papers relating to his death, 1897, and the typescriptJames Legge: Missionary and Scholar' [before 1905]. Many of the typescript copies of correspondence and other writings were presumably made for Legge's daughter, Helen Edith Legge, for her James Legge: Missionary and Scholar (1905).

Unrestricted.

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

• English

• Latin

English and some Chinese

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds the records of the London Missionary Society (Ref: CWM/LMS), including letters from individual missionaries, among them Legge (Ref: CWM/LMS South China Incoming Correspondence); his candidate's papers (Ref: CWM/LMS Candidates' Papers Box 9 No 44); his report for 1866 from Hong Kong, 1867 (Ref: CWM/LMS South China Reports Box 1 File 1); engravings of Legge (Ref: CWM/LMS General Portraits Box 3); a print of an engraving of Legge by J Cochran (Ref: CWM/LMS China Photographs Box 6 File 27). SOAS also holds other letters and papers of Legge, 1859-1897, mainly letters from him and his wife Hannah to their family (Ref: MS 380476), and a drawing of him with three Chinese students (Ref: PCE China Photographs Box 2 File 2).

Unpublished handlist.

Published on microfiche by IDC Publishers.

Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts, holds a journal and papers (Ref: MSS Eng misc c 863-64, d 1252-63, e 556, 1377-81; Top Oxon c 528).

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• English