Samuel Wells Williams on Chinese Culture in the nineteenth century

Samuel Wells Williams on Chinese Culture in the nineteenth century 

Samuel Wells Williams (22 September 1812 – 16 February 1884) was a linguist, official, missionary and Sinologist from the United States in the early 19th century.

He sailed for China to take charge of the printing press of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM ) at Whampoa, Canton, aboard the Morrisonon 25 October 1833. The ABCFM was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most important of American missionary organizations and consisted of participants from Reformed traditions such as Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and German Reformed churches, with the  objective of the ABCFM was to spread Christianity worldwide.  ABCFM expanded the role of women, it was the first unmarried female overseas missionary and the first African-American missionary, and by 1855 the Missionary Herald listed the  foreign missions in Africa, Europe, Western and Southern and Eastern Asia.

Samuel assisted Bridgman in the latter's Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect, published in 1842, and Walter Medhurst in completing his English-Chinese Dictionary of 1848, two early works of Chinese lexicography. 

From 1848 to 1851 Williams was the editor of The Chinese Repository, a leading Western journal published in China. In 1853 he was attached to Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry's expedition to Japan as an official interpreter.

In 1855, Williams was appointed Secretary of the United States Legation to China. During his stay in China, he wrote A Tonic Dictionary Of The Chinese Language In The Canton Dialect (英華分韻撮要) in 1856. After years of opposition from the Chinese government, Williams was instrumental in the negotiation of the Treaty of Tientsin, which provided for the toleration of both Chinese and foreign Christians.

In 1860, he was appointed chargé d'affaires for the United States in Beijing. He resigned his position on October 25, 1876, 43 years to the day that he first landed at Guangzhou in 1833. Around 1875, he completed a translation of the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthewinto Japanese, but the manuscripts were lost in a fire before they could be published.

He returned to the United States in 1877 and became the first Professor of Chinese language and literature in the United States at Yale University. Williams was nominated as president of the American Bible Society on February 3, 1881. He died on February 16, 1884.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Board_of_Commissioners_for_Foreign_Missions

The Selected Works of Samuel Wells Williams were published to review the historical figure who made a difference in the 19th century Asia-Pacific and summarize the experience of mutual learning, equal dialogue and constructive interaction between China and the U.S., Japan and the U.S., as well as the East and the West at large.

General introduction to China, written  in 1848 and 1883, is a comprehensive work introducing Chinese society in the late qing dynasty. The author mainly wrote this book for the three factors of "trying to wash away the ridiculous image of Chinese in the eyes of foreigners", "improving the Christian mission Gospel" and "the opportunity of make speeches after returning  home to", and republished this book for reasons of good conditions and practical significance (1883).  A comparison of the two editions was provided an analysis of supplementary revisions to the reissue (1883). Both versions of general introduction to China have been well received by the society with both positive and negative effects.

Williams stood  out as one of the first American missionaries to China, the first American professor in sinology and witnessed  to Japan’s opening to the world. He worked and lived in East Asia (mainly Canton, Macao, Beijing and Japan) for 43 years. 

Also see his “The Selected Works of Samuel Wells Williams”,  with Zhang Xiping (张西平), Wu Zhiliang (吴志良) and Tao Demin (陶德民) as the editors and Gu Jun (顾钧) as the associate editor, a cooperative outcome of Macao Foundation, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Great Elephant Publishing House (Zhengzhou, China).

The Life and Letters of Samuel Wells Williams was written and compiled by his son Frederick Wells Williams with  an intact demonstration of raw materials, it gives a truthful portrait of Williams.

During the first 20 years, he was mainly responsible for editing and publishing (中国丛报) . In 1856, he resigned from the American Board and accepted the position of Secretary of the U.S. Legation to China. In 1858, he witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Tientsin with Wm. B. Reed, U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary. After Williams’ return to the U.S., he was appointed as the first Professor of Chinese Language and Literature by Yale University in 1877. 

One of his books: A Chinese Commercial Guide （中国商业指南), 

Williams also wrote on Chinese weights and measures, natural history, literature, construction, etc. His  works still provides valuable sources for missionary studies and the research on American sinology, China-U.S. relationship in the 19th century and modern Chinese history at large.

The Middle Kingdom 《中国总论》is the first book in the U.S. that makes a comprehensive overview of China’s cultural history and current conditions (in late Qing Dynasty). It epitomizes American sinology in the 19th century.

As a linguist, diplomat and missionary, he was able to survey every aspect of China including the Taiping Rebellion, the Second Opium War.  Much of the revision was assisted by his son Frederick W. Williams. Since the American Revolution, Americans’ knowledge of China had been indirect and partial, and this book did provided an accurate and brilliant insight into China and the Chinese. For example, on the character of the Confucian system of ethics, it captures one of the essences of Confucianism – ritual propriety: “From the duty, honor, and obedience owed by a child to his parents, he (Confucius) proceeds to inculcate the obligations of wives to their husbands, subjects to their prince, and ministers to their king, together with all the obligations arising from the various social relations. Political morality must be founded on private rectitude.” (vol.1, p.530)

In Williams’ private letters to his wife in 1853–1854, it was faithfully transcribed by Prof. Miyazawa Shinichi (宫泽 真一). It falls into five parts: the Preface by Shinichi, the body part of Japan Journal, the Reference of the editors, the Appendix which comprises miscellaneous unpublished correspondence of Williams in 1853–1854.  

On Mar 31st 1854, the Treaty of Kanagawa was signed, a symbol of the establishment of U.S.-Japan bilateral ties. On Jul 11th, another treaty was signed between the U.S. and Lewchew, a strategic port to Japan. On Aug 11th, Williams ended his second expedition and returned to his home in Macao.

The book offered precious materials for the research on the diplomatic career of S. Wells Williams as well as Japan-U.S. relationship. During the two expeditions, Williams’ command of Japanese and Chinese contributed to the conclusion of the treaties, and moreover, his timely advice to Perry helped ease possible frictions with Japan. For example, in drafting the Kanagawa Treaty, the number of Japanese ports to be opened was cut to two from five, and consular jurisdiction was excluded upon Williams’ request. With his reason and dispassion, Williams served as a buffer agent between the assertive commodore and the vigilant Japanese. Meanwhile, he was steadfast and far-sighted. He made it clear that Japanese close surveillance would incur resolute actions from America, and he bluntly turned down Japan’s request to limit U.S. movement within Nagasaki, Williams laid the foundation for the enduring business interests of America in East Asia. As Shinichi puts it, the expeditions put an end to the isolation policy of Shogunate Government through peaceful, though threatening with men-of- war, means, and opened Japan’s long-closed doors to foreigners and their commerce, with its impact as far-reaching as what the Opium War left on China. With the two expeditions, Williams accomplished the state-conferred mission and embarked on the journey of professional diplomacy.

The Journal of S. Wells Williams: Expedition to Tientsin and Peking

(1858–1859) is a collection of private letters from Williams to his wife between Apr 17th, 1858 and Jan 13th, 1860. During this period, Williams was attached to the U.S. embassy, assisting Minister William B. Reed in the negotiation of the Tientsin Treaty, and accompanied his successor John E. Ward to Peking to exchange the ratifications. Meanwhile, he also went to Shanghai and Japan with the legation. The letters tell of Williams’ experiences and association as a diplomat as well as his concern for his family across the Pacific.

In April 1858, the warships of Britain, France, Russia and America assembled at the Taku Forts at a stalemate with China. Rounds of futile negotiations provoked conflicts between the Anglo-French Allied Force and the Qing army. The disparity in strength was clearly detected by Williams, but remained oblivious to the conceited and feckless Chinese officials.    “... my pity is more excited at their ignorant confidence, than my indignation at their refusing to grant us what is demanded. I’m afraid nothing short of the Society for the Diffusion of Cannon Balls will give them the useful knowledge they now require to see their own helplessness. (p.44)” As Williams observed, the citizens of Tientsin fled in large numbers during the war and moved back when it winded down. They remained indifferent to foreign faces and passive in resistance though in dire poverty. Such a disorder and suffering must have hardened Williams’ missionary resolve and impelled him to get the article into the Tientsin Treaty which permitted the free exercise of the Christian religion among the Chinese people.

After leaving Tientsin, Williams went to Shanghai in charge of investigating the losses of Americans at Canton and elsewhere. There, he learned the miserable news of his son Olyphant’s death. Later, in 1859, he went with the new U.S. Minister Ward to exchange ratifications at Peh-tang as the latter refused to perform the kowtow before the Emperor.

Williams works also included :

The Syllabic Dictionary of the Chinese Language 《汉英韵府》which was published in 1874, embodies the highest achievement of Williams in the Chinese language research.

A Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language《英华分韵撮要》Other works of his predecessors had also been consulted. For example, Williams referred to the Wu-fang Yuen Yin 《五方元音》in arranging characters, the K’anghi Tsz’tien

《康熙字典》and Medhurst’s translation in defining characters and expressions, and the Selected Characters Carefully Examined 《艺文备览》in defining etymologies.

The Introduction part of the lexicon is a multifaceted and profound thesis on the Chinese language, including Mandarin, orthography, aspirates, tones, old sounds, dialects, radicals and primitives. It also included the Abstract of the Chinese Dynasties, the List of Family Surnames of the Chinese, the Names of the 18 Provinces and the 28 Chinese Zodiacal Constellations. The body part contains 12,527 characters under 522 pronunciations. Every pronunciation is annotated by the manner of articulation, the old sound and the ways to pronounce its dialects, followed by all the Chinese characters of that pronunciation and different tones. Such a phonetic transcription system distinguishes the Dictionary from others.  Apart from its pronunciation and tone, almost every character is marked with the structuring or etymology and the meanings, and exemplified by common phrases and expressions. Compared with the Dictionary of the Chinese Language《五车韵府》by 120 Journal of Cultural Interaction in East Asia and A Dictionary of the Ko-keen Dialect of the Chinese Language《福建土话字典》by Walter Medhurst, this Dictionary has more concise, accurate and evenly explained definitions. Moreover, a cultural perspective was adopted to clarify character structures which offers Chinese learners a deeper insight into Chinese philosophy and society.  Notably, different from Robert’s long-winded analysis, Williams used the shortest sentences to convey the richest cultural connotation. Despite its breakthroughs, the lexicon is still flawed. In some cases, a meaning has no illustrative expression, or one expression overlap another (理 会 and 必理会这一句 on p.519). Although the emphasis on dialects makes the Dictionary special, they’re limited to those spoken in missionary and business destinations. This brings us to the conclusion that Williams’ study of Chinese is also utilitarian.

After its debut in 1874, the Dictionary received wide applause and became a must-have for Western Chinese learners. It had since been modeled on by lexicon compilers for its accuracy, conciseness and tidiness, and was later revised in accordance with the Wade system.

Samuel W. Williams in East Asia: Selected Archives from the United States and Japan is a treasury of archives on the study of Williams compiled by Tao Demin, professor of Kansai University and founding President of Society for Cultural Interaction in East Asia.

The abundant and wide-ranging archives embody the strenuous research efforts, the historical facts are provided in diverse forms, in multiple languages (the Kanagawa Treaty, the Additional Articles to the Tientsin Treaty) and in extracts of different books (Luo Sen’s Journal of a Visit to Japan). 

Both Perry and Williams were key players in the expedition to Japan and their journal and memoir are central to relevant analysis, by  taking all the materials into account, one will gain a holistic picture of an event. 

In studying the diplomatic life of Williams, one will find his important role in the conclusion of the Burlingame Treaty. The dual identity of Burlingame in China-U.S. diplomacy might also emerge as a new dimension of interest.

http://www.sciea.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/c044d077dab8fd338a6375f1d37da06d.pdf