Charles Hartwell (;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Xià Chálǐ'';

Foochow Romanized Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Mindong linguistic and cultural region. Fuzhou's population was 8 ...

: ''Hâ Chák-lī''; December 19, 1825 - January 30, 1905) was an American Board missionary to

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the second half of the 19th century.

Life and work

Hartwell was born in

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base who live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWe ...

, on December 19, 1825, and was fitted for college at Westford Academy in Westford, Massachusetts. After teaching several months at West Killingly, Hartwell studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

in 1849, and received the degree of

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

from the same institution three years later. He was ordained at

, on October 13, 1852, entered the service of the ABCFM, embarked for

on November 3, and reached

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on April 16, 1853. Hartwell was located at

on June 9, 1853, and was engaged in missionary work there for the rest of his life, with only three visits to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

: 1865 - 1867, 1877 - 1878, and 1890 - 1891, in all, four years. Hartwell ranked high as a

sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

. He spoke the

Fuzhou dialect The Fuzhou language ( zh, t=福州話, s=福州话, p=Fúzhōuhuà; FR: ), also Foochow, Hokchew, Hok-chiu, or Fuzhounese, is the prestige variety of the Eastern Min branch of Min Chinese spoken mainly in the Mindong region of Eastern Fujian ...

with fluency, and was one of the proposers of the

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of that dialect. In addition to preaching the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

, he translated one fourth of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

into the Fuzhou colloquial, composed the Three Character and the Four Character Classics in the same dialect, and various tracts and books (including the 2nd edition of the '' Dictionary of the Foochow Dialect''). He also prepared many textbooks for schools (including one series of the so-called ''Hongkong Readers''), wrote a book on

Meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

, and contributed articles on temperance to English and American journals. The fiftieth anniversary of Hartwell's arrival at

was celebrated on May 26, 1903, a full account of which was issued from the Foochow Mission Press in February, 1904, in a volume entitled ''Jubilee Notes''. Hartwell was married twice during his life. On September 6, 1852, he married his first wife Lucy E. Stearns, who died July 10, 1883, in Fuzhou. In 1885 he married his second wife Hannah Louisa Plimpton Peet Hartwell. Hartwell died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

in Fuzhou on January 30, 1905. At the time of his death he was the senior missionary of the American Board in China. His wife died 3 years afterwards. His daughter, Emily Susan Hartwell, remained in the field until 1937. File:Hartwell with Chinese preachers and booksellers.jpg, Rev. Charles Hartwell with Chinese preachers and booksellers, 1900 File:Hartwell with Foochow College faculty.jpg, Charles Hartwell with Foochow College faculty, 1903

References and further reading

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartwell, Charles Protestant missionaries in China Christian missionaries in Fujian Protestant writers 1825 births 1905 deaths American sinologists American missionaries in China American Protestant missionaries