Theodore Hamberg () (25 March 1819 – 13 May 1854) was a Swedish
missionary and author active in China. He is known for his role in having authored an important account on the early
Taiping rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted ...
and for his role in establishing Christian missions in
Guangdong province. He also laid the foundations for the study of the
Hakka dialect in the West.
Early life
Hamberg, born Knut Theodor Hamberg,
was the son of sea captain Nicholas Hamberg and his wife Magdalena Lovisa Löfvenberg and the younger brother of the Swedish chemist
Nils Peter Hamberg. His father died in 1830 when Hamberg was 11 years old. He began working in the office of British consul George Foy and maintained a close relationship with the family. Daughter
Mathilda Foy
Mathilda (or ''Mathilde'') Foy (or ''Foj''), also known as ''Tante Esther'', (10 November 1813 – 1 November 1869), was a Swedish philanthropist and writer, known for her charitable work. She is known as a pioneer of the Sunday school, and as ...
, a writer, wrote about Hamberg frequently. After graduating from school, Hamberg worked as a commercial bookkeeper in Stockholm. He became a member of an association to support the
Swedish Mission Society in 1835.
Hamberg's conversion came in 1842 through the preaching of
Pietist
Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy and ...
revivalist preacher
Carl Olof Rosenius
Carl Olof Rosenius (February 3, 1816 – February 24, 1868) was a Swedish lay preacher, author and editor of the monthly '' Pietisten'' (The Pietist) from 1842 to 1868.''Twice-Born Hymns'' by J. Irving Erickson, (Chicago: Covenant Press, 1976 ...
, whom he became close friends with and introduced to Mathilda. He and Foy were also godparents of Rosenius' first child.
In 1844, he left the bookkeeping trade to join the
Basel Mission
The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), found ...
under the influence of
Peter Fjellstedt
Peter Fjellstedt (17 September 1802 – 4 January 1881) was a Swedish '' Nyevangelist'' missionary and preacher who founded the Fjellstedt School and Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen.
Biography
Upbringing
Fjellstedt was born to carpente ...
and with the support of the Swedish Mission Society. Hamberg spent the following two years in training at a missions school in Switzerland.
Missionary work in China
In 1846, Hamberg was sent to China, where he arrived on 19 March the following year and started to work in the
Guangdong mission, where he worked to convert members from the
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
community. He also worked out a draft of the first description of the
Hakka dialect, which provided the foundation to D. MacIver's Hakka dictionary. Hamberg initially worked under the influential German missionary
Karl Gützlaff, but Hamberg gradually grew skeptical of Gützlaff's strategy of mass conversions; instead he advocated a more cautious approach, which in due course would bring him into conflict with Gützlaff and with the
Basel Mission
The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), found ...
. After the death of Gützlaff, Hamberg was vindicated and he continued to work under the Basel Mission.
Hamberg and the Taiping Rebellion
In 1852, Hamberg met
Hong Xiuquan's cousin
Hong Ren'gan, who had been separated from the rebellion and fled to
Hong Kong. Hong Ren'gan also provided Hamberg with important information on the
Taiping rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted ...
, which formed the basis of a book Hamberg later published on the rebellion. The book was the first extensive account on the Taiping rebellion in a Western language and remains an important source on the early life of Hong Xiuquan. Hamberg also instructed Hong in Christianity and baptized him.
Hamberg died in Hong Kong on 13 May 1854 after contracting dysentery.
Works
*''Report regarding the Chinese Union at Hongkong.'' Hong Kong: Printed at the Hong Kong Register Office, 1851.
*''The visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen, and origin of the Kwang-si insurrection.'' Hong Kong: The China mail office, 1854.
References
*Hannich, Gustav. ''Treue bis ans Ende. Erlebnisse des schwedischen Missionars Theodor Hamberg in China.'' Basel: Basler Missionsbuchh., 1941.
*MacIver, D. ''A Chinese-English dictionary. Hakka-dialect as spoken in Kwang-tung province.'' Revised by M.C. MacKenzie. Shanghai: Presbyterian Mission Press, 1926.
*Schlyter, Herman. ''Theodor Hamberg: Den förste svenske Kinamissionären.'' Lund: Gleerup, 1952
*So Kwan-wai, Eugene P. Boardman and Ch'iu P'ing. "Hung Jen-kan, Taiping Prime Minister, 1859-1864." ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies'', Vol. 20, No. 1/2. (Jun. 1957), 262-294.
External links
Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon (in Swedish)Biography from Ricci Roundtable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamberg, Theodore
1819 births
1854 deaths
Swedish Protestant missionaries
Protestant missionaries in China
Swedish expatriates in China