Paul Georg von Möllendorff (17 February 1847 in

Zehdenick Zehdenick is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Havel, southeast of Fürstenberg/Havel, and north of Berlin (centre). Since 31 July 2013, the city has the additional appellation "Havelstadt". ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

– 20 April 1901 in

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 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

) was a German linguist and diplomat. Möllendorff is mostly known for his service as an adviser to the

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

king Gojong in the late nineteenth century and for his contributions to

Sinology 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 th ...

. In English-language publications, Möllendorff is often credited with having designed a system for romanizing the Manchu language, which was in fact the creation of his compatriot

Hans Conon von der Gabelentz Hans Conon von der Gabelentz (13 October 1807 – 3 September 1874) was a German politician who served as prime minister of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg from 1848 to 1849. He was also a gifted linguist and an authority on the Manchu language. He de ...

Early life

Hailing from the

n aristocratic family von Möllendorf, Paul Georg von Möllendorff was the son of Georg von Möllendorff, a high-ranking Prussian civil servant. The young Möllendorff attended gymnasium in

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

and he enrolled at

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

in 1865, where he studied law, oriental studies and philology. Möllendorff showed a strong aptitude for the study of classical and foreign languages and acquired a good command of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, but did not study any East Asian languages at the time.

China

In 1869, Möllendorff interrupted his studies and went to China in order to join the

Imperial Maritime Customs Service 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 Republ ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. While working for the Customs in Shanghai and later

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers wher ...

, Möllendorff acquired a good command of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and quickly passed the required language exam. However, he soon grew dissatisfied with his tasks in the service and left it in 1874 in order to join the German consular service as an interpreter and was eventually promoted German vice-consul in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

. During his service in Tianjin, Möllendorff befriended

Ma Jianzhong Ma Jianzhong (; 1845 – 1900), courtesy name Meishu (), also known as Ma Kié-Tchong in French, was a Chinese official and scholar in the late Qing dynasty. Ma was born in Dantu (), Jiangsu province to a prominent Chinese Catholic family. After ...

, who worked in the secretariat of the prominent Qing statesman, governor-general

Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...

. In 1879, Möllendorff assisted Li in procuring weapons and warships from the German companies

Vulkan Vulkan is a low- overhead, cross-platform API, open standard for 3D graphics and computing. Vulkan targets high-performance real-time 3D graphics applications, such as video games and interactive media. Vulkan is intended to offer higher perform ...

and

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

. In 1881, Möllendorff left the German consular service because of his complicated relationship to the German minister in Beijing,

Max von Brandt Maximilian August Scipio von Brandt (born 8 October 1835 in Berlin; died 24 August 1920 in Weimar) was a German diplomat, East Asia expert and publicist. Biography Max von Brandt was the son of Prussian general and military author Heinrich von ...

Korea

In 1882, Li Hongzhang recommended Möllendorff to the position of the adviser to the Korean government and in December 1882, he arrived in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

for his first audience with King Gojong. Möllendorff quickly learned enough

to be able to communicate with the king and soon earned the trust of the king, who appointed him deputy foreign minister and charged him with the establishment of the Korean Customs Service. Möllendorff adopted the Sino-Korean name Mok In-dok ( ''Mok Indeok'', ''Mù Líndé'' in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

) and soon became a very influential figure in the Korean government. Möllendorff wanted to assert the independence of Korea and contrary to the wishes of

and Robert Hart, he wanted to make the Korean Customs Service as independent from the Chinese Maritime Customs Service as possible. Möllendorff also advocated that Korea enter into an alliance with the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

to counterbalance Chinese and Japanese influences on the Korean peninsula. In response to this, the British occupied the Korean island of Geomun by force, calling it Port Hamilton. Consequently, the Qing government felt that Möllendorff acted too independently and in 1885 Li Hongzhang forced Möllendorff's resignation from the Korean government. In 1888, King Gojong unsuccessfully tried to reinstate Möllendorff.

Scholarly work and later life

Having left his position in Korean government, Möllendorff returned to work in the Imperial Maritime Customs and became Commissioner of Customs in the southern treaty port of Ningbo, where he would spend the last days of his life. In Ningbo, he worked to improve the customs service and also wrote a number of works on Sinology. Between 1896 and 1897 he was the president of the China Branch of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

Sources

*Lee Yur-Bok. ''West Goes East: Paul Georg Von Möllendorff and Great Power Imperialism in Late Yi Korea.'' Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1988.

Selected works

Public domain

English

* (Harvard University) * * * * (the University of California) * (Harvard University) * (Harvard University

*(with Otto Franz von Möllendorff.
''Manual of Chinese Bibliography, Being a List of Works and Essays Relating to China.''
Shanghai, London:

Kelly & Walsh Kelly & Walsh was a notable Shanghai-based publisher of English language books, founded in 1876, which currently exists as a small chain of shops in Hong Kong specializing in art books. Kelly & Walsh Ltd. was formed in 1876 by combining two Shang ...

, Trübner & co., 1876. *"Essay on Manchu Literature." ''Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 24, no. 113 (1889–90): 1-45. * Shanghai, 1892. *"Die Juden in China." In ''Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums.'' (1895): 327–331 *''Ningpo Colloquial Handbook.'' Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, 1910.

French

*(Harvard University) (Translated by Rodolphe de Castella)

German

* (the University of Michigan) * (the University of Michigan) * (the University of California) * (Harvard University)

Modern reprints

* * * * (Translated by Rodolphe De Castella ) * (Translated by Rodolphe De Castella ) *

External links

Article by Hans-Alexander Kneider (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mollendorff, Paul George Von 1847 births 1901 deaths People from Zehdenick German expatriates in China German expatriates in Korea Linguists from Germany German diplomats German untitled nobility People from the Province of Brandenburg Joseon people Manchurologists German sinologists German male non-fiction writers