Chester Holcombe (1842, Winfield, New York – 1912) was an American missionary to China, diplomat, and author. Holcombe graduated from Union College, where he was selected to Phi Beta Kappa. Ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he performed missionary work in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. In 1884,

S. Wells Williams Samuel Wells Williams (22 September 1812 – 16 February 1884) was a linguistics, linguist, official, missionary and Sinology, Sinologist from the United States in the early 19th century. Early life Williams was born in Utica, New York, son of ...

, the distinguished missionary who had become secretary to the American legation in Beijing, asked Holcombe to be his replacement. As a

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, he filled various posts in US diplomatic service in China, helping in the negotiations of two treaties between the United States and China. He was the author of ''The Real Chinaman'' (1895) and ''The Real Chinese Question'' (1900), which attempted to expose myths concerning China, Chinese culture, and the issue of Chinese immigration to the United States. In September, 1906, he published "The Missionary Enterprise," in The Atlantic Monthly, a defense from the accusations following the

Boxer Uprising The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

.Missionary Enterprise in China
by Chester Holcombe; September 1906, 'ATLANTIC MAGAZINE'

Notes

Bibliography

External links

*
Elibron.com listing for "The Real Chinese Question"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holcombe, Chester 1842 births 1912 deaths People from Winfield (town), New York American Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in China American expatriates in China American diplomats American political writers American male non-fiction writers Union College (New York) alumni