Robert Morrison (missionary)
Robert Morrison | |||||||||
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Portrait of Morrison by John Wildman | |||||||||
| Born | 5 January 1782 | ||||||||
| Died | 1 August 1834 (aged 52) | ||||||||
| Occupation | Protestant missionary with the London Missionary Society | ||||||||
| Spouses | Mary Morrison (née Morton)
(m. 1809; died 1821)Eliza Morrison (née Armstrong)
(m. 1824) | ||||||||
| Children | 8, including John Robert Morrison, George S. Morrison | ||||||||
| Parent(s) | James Morrison Hannah Nicholson | ||||||||
| Religion | Congregationalist | ||||||||
| Title | D.D. | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 馬禮遜 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 马礼逊 | ||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 羅拔・摩理臣 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 罗拔・摩理臣 | ||||||||
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Robert Morrison, FRS (5 January 1782 – 1 August 1834), was an Anglo-Scottish Protestant missionary to Portuguese Macao, Qing-era Guangdong, and Dutch Malacca, who was also a pioneering sinologist, lexicographer, and translator considered the "Father of Anglo-Chinese Literature".
Morrison, a Presbyterian preacher, is most notable for his work in China. After twenty-five years of work he translated the whole Bible into the Chinese language and baptized ten Chinese believers, including Cai Gao, Liang Fa, and Wat Ngong. Morrison pioneered the translation of the Bible into Chinese and planned for the distribution of the Scriptures as broadly as possible, unlike the previous Roman Catholic translation work that had never been published.
Morrison cooperated with such contemporary missionaries as Walter Henry Medhurst and William Milne (the printers), Samuel Dyer (Hudson Taylor's father-in-law), Karl Gützlaff (the Prussian linguist), and Peter Parker (China's first medical missionary). He served for 27 years in China with one furlough home to England. The only missionary efforts in China were restricted to Guangzhou (Canton) and Macau at this time. They concentrated on literature distribution among members of the merchant class, gained a few converts, and laid the foundations for more educational and medical work that would significantly impact the culture and history of the most populous nation on earth. However, when Morrison was asked shortly after his arrival in China if he expected to have any spiritual impact on the Chinese, he answered, "No sir, but I expect God will!"