1838 — 1908
Ernst Johann Eitel
Early German missionary and sinologist
An early German missionary, Dr. Ernst Johann Eitel served with the Basel German Evangelical Society (or Basel Mission) in South China from 1862-65. He then served with the London Missionary Society in Beijing from 1865-78, and baptised the first Protestant Christian in that city. A sinologist, he wrote for the Chinese Recorder and published several books: Feng-Shui, or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China (1873); Chinese English Dictionary in the Cantonese Dialect(1877); and, Europe in China: the History of Hong Kong (1895). Beginning in 1878, he served as Inspector of Schools in Hong Kong, and later as adviser to the Hong Kong government.
Sources
- A.J. Broomhall, Hudson Taylor and China's Open Century: Barbarians at the Gates, 208, 228, 372, 395
- A.J. Broomhall, Hudson Taylor and China's Open Century: Over the Treaty Wall, 351.
- Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christian Missions in China, 436.
- For more details and bibliographic information, see the article on Eitel by R. G. Tiedemann in The Ricci Roundtable.
About the Author
Research Assistant, Global China Center.
