James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

(1840–1873) and was the first Professor of Chinese at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(1876–1897). In association with

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...

he prepared the monumental ''

Sacred Books of the East The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts ...

'' series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.

Early life

James Legge was born at

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

. He enrolled in

Aberdeen Grammar School Aberdeen Grammar School is a state secondary school in Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of thirteen secondary schools run by the Aberdeen City Council educational department. It is the oldest school in the city and one of the oldest grammar school ...

at age 13 and then

King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...

at age 15. He then continued his studies at Highbury Theological College, London.

Mission to China and family

Legge went, in 1839, as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

to China, but first stayed at Malacca three years, in charge of the Anglo-Chinese College there. The College was subsequently moved to Hong Kong, where Legge lived for nearly thirty years. On 2 December 1843, Legge married Mary Isabella Morison (1816–1852), daughter of the Rev. John Morison, D.D. of Chelsea. The next year, she gave birth in Hong Kong to a son who lived for only a few hours.Births. ''The Leeds Mercury'', Saturday 23 March 1844. By her he also fathered Sir

Thomas Morison Legge Sir Thomas Morison Legge CBE"Legge, Sir Thomas Morison"

Wat Ngong, accompanied Legge when he moved in 1844. He returned home to Huntly, Aberdeenshire, in 1846–7, taking with him three Chinese students. Legge and the students were received by Queen Victoria before his return to Hong Kong. After Isabella died, he married secondly a widow, Hannah Mary Willetts née Johnstone (d. 1881).

Translating the classics

Convinced of the need for missionaries to be able to comprehend the ideas and culture of the Chinese, he began in 1841 a translation in many volumes of the

Chinese classics Chinese classic texts or canonical texts () or simply dianji (典籍) refers to the Chinese texts which originated before the imperial unification by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, particularly the "Four Books and Five Classics" of the Neo-Confucian ...

, a monumental task that he completed a few years before his death. During his residence in Hong Kong, he translated Chinese classic literature into English with the help of Wang Tao and

Hong Rengan Hong Rengan (; 18 February 1822 – 23 November 1864) was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was a distant cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Gan Wang (干王, lit. "the Shield K ...

, among others. He was appointed headmaster of

Ying Wa College Ying Wa College (also referred to as YWC, Anglo-Chinese College, ) is a direct subsidised boys' secondary school in Kowloon, Hong Kong near Nam Cheong station. It was established (as the Anglo-Chinese College) in Malacca in 1818 by the first P ...

in Malacca in 1839 and continued in that position until 1867, the college having removed to Hong Kong in 1844. He was pastor of the Union Church in Hong Kong from 1844 to 1867. He was third and final editor of the ''

Chinese Serial ''Chinese Serial'' was the first Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong, since the Treaty of Nanjing. Founded in August 1853 and published by Ying Wa College in binding-book style. It introduced Western history, geography and sciences to Chinese ...

'', the first Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong. The paper closed in May 1856. In 1867, Legge returned to

Dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, where he invited Wang Tao to join him, and received his LLD from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

in 1870. While in Scotland, he also revisited his native burgh, Huntly, accompanied by Wang Tao. He then returned to Hong Kong as pastor at Union Church from 1870 to 1873. While in Hong Kong he published ''The She King (

Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, c ...

)'' in 1871 which according to Peter France is the first substantial volume of Chinese poetry in English translation still in use. The work underwent a new edition in 1876 in verse. He took a long trip to North China, beginning 2 April 1873 in Shanghai, arriving at Tianjin by boat, then travelling by mule cart and arriving in Peking on 16 April 1873, where he stayed at the

headquarters. He visited the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups ...

Ming Tombs The Ming tombs are a collection of mausoleums built by the emperors of the Ming dynasty of China. The first Ming emperor's tomb is located near his capital Nanjing. However, the majority of the Ming tombs are located in a cluster near Beijing an ...

and the

Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...

, where he felt compelled to take off his shoes with holy awe. He left Peking, accompanied by

Joseph Edkins Joseph Edkins (19 December 1823 – 23 April 1905) was a British Protestant missionary who spent 57 years in China, 30 of them in Beijing. As a Sinologue, he specialised in Chinese religions. He was also a linguist, a translator, and a philolo ...

, and headed for Shandong by mule cart to visit

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

, Taishan, where they ascended the sacred

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the '' Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being ...

, carried by four men on chairs. Leaving Mount Tai on 15 May, they visited Confucius Temple and the Forest of Confucius at

Qufu Qufu ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, and a total population of ...

, where he climbed to the top of Confucius' burial mound. Legge returned to Shanghai by way of the Grand Canal, and thence to England via Japan and the USA in 1873.

Oxford professor

In 1875, he was named Fellow of

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

and in 1876 assumed the new Chair of Chinese Language and Literature at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he attracted few students to his lectures but worked hard for some 20 years on his translations of the Chinese classics in his study at 3 Keble Terrace, later renumbered 3 Keble Road, which now has an Oxfordshire Blue Plaque in his memory. According to an anonymous contemporary obituary in the

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed int ...

, Legge was in his study every morning at three o'clock, winter and summer, having retired to bed at ten. When he got up in the morning the first thing he did was to make himself a cup of tea over a spirit-lamp. Then he worked away at his translations while all the household slept. In 1879, Legge was a member of a committee formed to create a women's college at Oxford "in which no distinction will be made between students on the ground of their belonging to different religious denominations". This resulted in the founding of Somerville Hall, later renamed

Somerville College Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, ...

, one of the first two Oxford colleges for women. Legge was an ardent opponent of Britain's opium policy, and was a founding member of the

Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade The Anglo-Oriental Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade, generally known by the somewhat shorter name of Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade (SSOT), was a British lobbying group in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cent ...

. In addition to his other work Legge wrote ''The Life and Teaching of

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

'' (1867); ''The Life and Teaching of

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...

'' (1875); ''The Religions of China'' (1880); and other books on Chinese literature and religion. His respect for

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

was controversial among his fellow missionaries. Legge was given an honorary MA, University of Oxford, and LLD,

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, 1884.

Death and legacy

Legge died at

in 1897 and is buried in

Wolvercote Cemetery Wolvercote Cemetery is a cemetery in the parish of Wolvercote and district of Cutteslowe in Oxford, England. Its main entrance is on Banbury Road and it has a side entrance in Five Mile Drive. It has a funeral chapel, public toilets and a small a ...

. Many of his manuscripts and letters are archived at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

.'James Legge – A short biography' in: Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2012). ''The Illustrated Tao Te Ching''. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B008NNLKXC

Ideas on Bible translation

In the Book of Documents and the

, the word, "

Shangdi Shangdi (), also written simply, "Emperor" (), is the Chinese term for "Supreme Deity" or "Highest Deity" in the theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later '' Tian'' ("Heave ...

" (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

: 上帝;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''Shàngdì''; Wade-Giles: ''Shang Ti''; lit. "High Emperor"''),'' is used in reference to a deity''.'' Legge believed and argued that the word "Shangdi" represented a monotheistic god; therefore, he thought it an appropriate term for translating words in reference to the Christian God into Chinese. He believed that using a term already deeply entrenched in Chinese culture could prevent Christianity from being seen as a completely foreign religion. His opponents argued that this would cause confusion due to the word's use in

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

and

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

Selected works

Legge's most enduring work has been ''The Chinese Classics: with a Translation, Critical and Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena, and Copious Indexes'', 5 vols., (Hong Kong: Legge; London: Trubner, 1861–1872):
Volume 1
''Confucian Analects, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean'' (1861)
Revised second edition
(1893), Oxford: Clarendon Press, reprinted by Cosimo in 2006 ()
The Confucian Analects

Volume 2
''The works of Mencius'' (1861), Revised second edition (1895), Oxford: Clarendon Press, reprinted by Dover Books in 1990 (). * Volume 3: ''The Shoo King ( Book of Historical Documents)'' (1865): *
Part 1
Prolegomena (with ''

Bamboo Annals The ''Bamboo Annals'' (), also known as the ''Ji Tomb Annals'' (), is a chronicle of ancient China. It begins in the earliest legendary time (the age of the Yellow Emperor) and extends to 299 BC, with the later centuries focusing on the history ...

'') and Chapters 1–36 *
Part 2
Chapters 37–58 and indexes * Volume 4: ''The She king (

)'' (1871) *
Part 1
Prolegomena and first section *
Part 2
Second, third and fourth sections * Volume 5: ''The Ch'un ts'ew (

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The ''Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...

), with the Tso chuen ( Commentary of Zuo)'' (1872) *
Part 1
Books 1–8 *
Part 2
Books 9–12 These contain parallel Chinese and English text, with detailed notes, introductions and indexes. Chinese names are transcribed in Legge's own romanisation. Legge originally planned his ''Chinese Classics'' as seven volumes, but his translations of the ''

I Ching The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...

'' and ''

Book of Rites The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book ...

'' (and several others) were instead included in the ''

'' series edited by

(Oxford: Clarendon Press):
Volume 3
''The Shû king ( Book of Documents). The religious portions of the Shih king (

). The Hsiâo king (

Classic of Filial Piety The ''Classic of Filial Piety'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Xiaojing'', is a Confucian classic treatise giving advice on filial piety: that is, how to behave towards a senior such as a father, an elder brother, or a ruler. The t ...

).'' (1879)
Volume 16
''The Yî king (

)'' (1882) * ''The Lî Kî (

)'' (1885), 2 vols.: *
Volume 27
Chapters 1–10 *
Volume 28
Chapters 11–46 * ''The Texts of Taoism: The Tâo Teh King (

Tao Te Ching The ''Tao Te Ching'' (, ; ) is a Chinese classic text written around 400 BC and traditionally credited to the sage Laozi, though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion d ...

); The Writings of Kwang-dze ( Chuang Tzŭ)'' (1891), 2 vols.: *
Volume 39
''Tao Te Ching'' and ''Chuang Tzŭ'' books 1–17. *
Volume 40
''Chuang Tzŭ'' books 18–33 and shorter works: the ''Taishang Ganying Pian'' (Tractate of Actions and their Retributions), the ''

Qingjing Jing The ''Qingjing Jing'' () is an anonymous Tang Dynasty Taoist classic that combines philosophical themes from the ''Tao Te Ching'' with the logical presentation of Buddhist texts and a literary form reminiscent of the '' Heart Sutra''. It instruc ...

'' (Classic of Purity), the ''

Yinfujing The ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' (), or ''Yinfujing'', is a circa 8th century CE Taoist scripture associated with Chinese astrology and ''Neidan''-style Internal alchemy. In addition, ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' is also the name of a Chinese Fengshui text on ...

'' (Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and Unseen), the ''Yushu Jing'' (Classic of the Pivot of Jade) and the ''Nei Riyong Jing'' (Classic of the Directory for the Day). Other works:
''The religions of China: Confucianism and Tâoism described and compared with Christianity''
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1880.
''The Nestorian monument of Hsî-an Fû in Shen-hsî, China''
London: Trübner & co., 1888; repr New York: Paragon Book, 1966, . (Contains Chinese-English parallel.)

References

Citations

Sources

* * Forbes, Andrew; Henley, David (2012). ''The Illustrated Tao Te Ching'' (Jamese Legge translation). Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN: B008NNLKXC * *Lauren F. Pfister, ''Striving for 'The Whole Duty of Man': James Legge and the Scottish Protestant Encounter with China'', 2 vols., published by The Scottish Studies Centre of the Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz in Germersheim, 2004. * Legge, Helen Edith (1905).
James Legge, Missionary and Scholar
', London: Religious Tract Society.

External links

* * *

most of which were translated by Legge * Smith, Carl (1986)
"A sense of history (Part I)"
''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch'' 26: 144–264.

English translation by James Legge. Scalable text on white, grey or black background. Downloadable as a .txt file. *
James Legge and the Confucian Classics: Brilliant Scot in the Turmoil of Colonial Hong Kong
'. 2015. By Marilyn Bowman. An eBook downloadable as a .pdf file. * Letters and papers, dated 1859-1897, of James Legge, and of his second wife, Hannah (died 1881) are held b
SOAS Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legge, James 1815 births 1897 deaths 19th-century British translators Alumni of the University of Aberdeen British expatriates in China British sinologists Chinese–English translators Congregationalist missionaries in China Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Missionary linguists People educated at Aberdeen Grammar School People from Huntly Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery Protestant missionaries in China Scottish Congregationalist missionaries Scottish linguists Scottish translators Shaw Professors of Chinese 19th-century translators Founders of colleges of the University of Oxford People associated with Somerville College, Oxford