Edward Charles MacIntosh Bowra (1841–1874) was a British citizen serving in the

Chinese Maritime Customs The Chinese Maritime Customs Service was a Chinese governmental tax collection agency and information service from its founding in 1854 until it split in 1949 into services operating in the Republic of China on Taiwan, and in the People's Rep ...

working for the government of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. He was among those

treaty port Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire. ...

residents who contributed to Western knowledge of China through translations and scientific work.

Career

As an amateur

Sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

he showed a range of scholarly and practical interests which reflected the then common view that a cultivated gentleman could master Oriental culture. He published a history of the province of

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

, and compiled ''Index Sinice et Latine'' for Justus Doolittle'
''Vocabulary and Handbook of the Chinese Language''
(1872), but his most widely known accomplishment was a pioneering translation of the first eight chapters of

Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' (''Honglou Meng'') or ''The Story of the Stone'' (''Shitou Ji'') is a novel composed by Cao Xueqin in the middle of the 18th century. One of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, it is known fo ...

in 1868. Bowra was educated at the

City of London College London Guildhall University was a university in the United Kingdom from 1992 to 2002, established when the City of London Polytechnic was awarded university status. On 1 August 2002, it merged with the University of North London to form Londo ...

, then served in the

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

before he went to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to join the British Legion in support of Red Shirts of

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pa ...

in their campaign for Italian unity.

Service in China

In 1863 he was appointed clerk in the

, serving under Sir Robert Hart in Tientsin and Shanghai. He was sent in 1864 as a

student interpreter Student interpreter was, historically, an entry-level position in the British and American diplomatic and consular service, principally in China, Japan, Siam and, in the case of the United States, Turkey. It is no longer used as a title. A number o ...

to Peking, then appointed interpreter in Canton. Bowra organised the 1866 tour for the Chinese Secretary of Customs, Pin Chun. In England Bowra married Thirza Woodward. On his return to China he was sent to

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

, where his children Ethel and Cecil were born. He was promoted to Deputy Commissioner in 1872.He organized the Chinese contribution for the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, for which the Austrian government awarded him the Order of the Iron Crown.Bowra died in England at the age of thirty-two in 1874, apparently after over-exerting himself at a garden party. He was buried in the

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

. His son, Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra (1869–1947) also served in the Chinese Maritime Service. His grandson, Maurice Bowra, born in

Kiukiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

, became a prominent classical scholar.

Notes

External links

* Photograp
Bowra's Farewell Tiffin
* The Bowra Papers (of Edward Charles Bowra and Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra) are held b
SOAS Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowra, Edward Charles 1841 births 1874 deaths British sinologists Burials at West Norwood Cemetery

Career

Service in China

Notes

Further reading

External links