Griffith John ( zh, t=楊格非, p=Yáng Géfēi; 14 December 1831 – 25 July 1912) was a Welsh Christian missionary and translator in China. A member of the

Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

, he was a pioneer evangelist with the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

(LMS), a writer and a translator of the Holy

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into the

Chinese language Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39& ...

Biography

Griffith John was born on 14 December 1831 at

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, in

south Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. He was brought up as a Christian in the Congregational tradition, and in 1840 at the age of eight was admitted to full membership of Ebenezer Congregational church, Swansea. When only fourteen he delivered his first sermon at a prayer meeting; at sixteen he became a regular preacher and was known as "boy preacher." He was subsequently trained at the Brecon Congregational Memorial College for the ministry, and then at the Bedford Academy. In 1853 he offered his services to the

and after two years' training was ordained in 1855 at Ebenezer, Swansea. That same year he married his first wife, Margaret Jane, a daughter of the Christian missionary, David Griffiths. After he was ordained, he wanted to serve in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

but was instead persuaded by the London Missionary Society to go to China. The newly wed couple made the voyage to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

arriving in September 1855. Griffith John would serve in China for 55 years, chiefly in Hubei and Hunan. John made extensive missionary journeys into the interior of China, sometimes traveling over 5,000 km. He was among the first to begin Christian missionary work in the provinces of

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

(Hupeh),

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, and

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

(Szechwan). He set up schools, hospitals and training colleges, with a permanent base at Hankou (now part of

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

city) in

. In 1861 he went from

through the provinces of central China, and he later claimed that with his colleagues he had established over 100 mission stations in

and Hunan. In July of that year he had moved to Hankou, which remained his base until his final departure from China in 1912 - although in 1863 he was in neighbouring

Wuchang District Wuchang is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the right (southeastern) bank of the Yan ...

(now part of

city), and in 1867 Hanyang District (also now part of

city). Being fluent in Chinese, known as a powerful and eloquent speaker. He trained numerous Chinese evangelists and wrote numerous Christian tracts and served for many years as chairman of the Central China Tract Society. Mrs John suffered from ill health. In 1870, she and her husband left China for a rare visit to Britain; but in 1873 she died in Singapore during the return voyage. In 1874, John met and married Mrs Jenkins, a missionary's widow. In 1885, his second wife died. Griffith John Blue Plaque

In 1890, he became a founding member of the Permanent Committee for the Promotion of Anti-

Opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

Societies. Fellow committee members were prominent missionaries John Glasgow Kerr MD, American Presbyterian Mission in Canton; BC Atterbury MD, American Presbyterian Mission in Beijing, Archdeacon Arthur Evans Moule, Church Missionary Society in Shanghai, Henry Whitney MD, American Board of Commissioners for foreign Missions in

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 ...

, the Rev Samuel Clarke, China Inland Mission in

Guiyang Guiyang; Mandarin pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively as Kweiyang is the capital of Guizhou, Guizhou province in China. It is centrally located within the province, on the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, eastern part of the Yun ...

and the Rev Arthur Gostick Shorrock, English Baptist Mission in

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

. They resolved to continue their opposition to the opium traffic, urging Christians in China to arouse public opinion against it. The desire of the missionaries that their ideas be carried out caused them to form "continuation committees" that were assigned tasks to assure that action would be taken on whatever matters had been approved by the conferences. John published a New Testament in 1885, using

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese is the language in which the classics of Chinese literature were written, from . For millennia thereafter, the written Chinese used in these works was imitated and iterated upon by scholars in a form now called Literary ...

. He would in 1889 publish a second New Testament translation, this time using

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

. He would continue translating other portions of the Old Testament into Mandarin Chinese, such as

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

and

Proverbs A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial ...

by 1890. In 1889 he was elected chairman of the

Congregational Union of England and Wales The Congregational Union of England and Wales brought together churches in England and Wales in the Congregational tradition between 1831 and 1966. Background The Congregational churches emerged from the Puritan movement, each church operating ...

, but declined the honour and remained in Hankou among the Chinese whom he loved. In the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

valley he founded a theological college for Chinese preachers, which bears his name. The

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

conferred on him the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

(1889) in recognition of his service to the Chinese. In 1905 John celebrated his missionary jubilee at Hankou. For health reasons he left China for a short time but returned in 1907. During a career spanning 60 years John left China only three times. Finally returning to Britain in January 1912, he died in London on 25 July that year. Griffith John was buried at Bethel Chapel on Carnglas Road, Sketty in Swansea following a funeral service in Ebenezer Chapel.

Legacy

In 2012, a bust of Griffith John by sculptor Xiang Jinguo was offered to Ebenezer church but placed in Swansea Museum - a gift from the Union Hospital, Wuhan, who established a programme of cooperation with Swansea University's School of Medicine. In September 2013, a blue plaque was unveiled in memory of John outside Ebenezer Chapel, Swansea, where he worshiped as a boy.

Works

* John, Griffith. ''China: her claims and call''. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1882. (Bodleian Libra

. * John, Griffith. ''Sowing and Reaping: Letters From the Rev. Griffith John.'' London: London Missionary Society, 1897. * John, Griffith. ''A voice from China''. London: James Clarke & Co., 1907. (University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives, China Through Western Ey

.

Biography

Legacy

Works

See also

Notes

References

Further reading