Issachar Jacox Roberts (Chinese: 罗孝全 ''Luó Xiàoquán''; 1802 – December 28, 1871) was a

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

missionary in

Qing China The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty ...

notable for being in direct contact with

Hong Xiuquan Hong Xiuquan (1 January 1814 – 1 June 1864), born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun, was a Chinese revolutionary and religious leader who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty. He established the Taiping Heavenly K ...

and for denying him Christian

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

Early life

Roberts was born in

Sumner County, Tennessee Sumner County is a county located on the central northern border of Tennessee in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 196,281. Its county seat is Gallatin, and its most populous city is Hendersonville. T ...

, and graduated from

Furman University Furman University is a private university in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1826 and named after Baptist pastor Richard Furman, the Liberal arts college, liberal arts university is the oldest private institution of higher l ...

, a Baptist school in Greenville, South Carolina.

Significance

He was known for his erratic behaviour and "falling into difficulties with nearly everyone who worked with him", which cost him his connection with the Southern Baptist Convention. Roberts was the only

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

known to have influenced

(洪秀全, Wade-Giles: Hung Hsiu-ch'üan), the

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

who led the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...

(1851–1864) against the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

which caused millions of deaths. Hong spent two months studying with Roberts at Canton (

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

) in 1847. Roberts refused Hong's request for baptism, perhaps due to a misunderstanding. He was also the first Baptist missionary, arriving in

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 ...

in February 1842.

With the Taiping

In 1860, Roberts left Canton for the Taiping capital at

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

. He was dismayed to find that the beliefs of the Taiping departed widely from his own Christianity, but nevertheless accepted a post as advisor to

Hong Rengan Hong Rengan (; 20 February 1822 – 23 November 1864) was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was a distant cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Gan Wang (干王, lit. "the Shield K ...

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

at the Taiping court. While there, Roberts arranged for some Baptists from the United States to visit Nanjing and meet Hong directly. He left in January 1862, on board the British gunboat ''Renard'', following a dispute with Hong, accusing Hong of the murder of Issachar's servant, and was thereafter fiercely critical of the Taiping.

Death

Roberts died of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

(which he had contracted in

Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...

in 1837) at the home of his niece in Upper Alton,

Madison County, Illinois Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 264,776, making it the eighth-most populous county in ...

on December 28, 1871.

References

Bibliography

* American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society Archives, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Issachar J. Roberts papers and correspondence * Boardman, Eugene Powers, Christian Influence on the Ideology of the Taiping Rebellion, 1952 * Coughlin, Margaret Morgan, "Strangers in the House: J. Lewis Shuck and Issachar Roberts, First American Baptist Missionaries in China, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Virginia, 1972 * Pruden, George Blackburn Jr., "Issachar Jacox Roberts and American Diplomacy in China." Ph.D. dissertation, American University, 1977 * Rapp, John A., "Clashing Dilemmas: Hong Rengan, Issachar Roberts, and a Taiping "Murder" Mystery," Journal of Historical Biography 4 (Autumn 2008) * Teng, Yuan Chung, "Reverend Issachar Jacox Roberts and the Taiping Rebellion," ''

Journal of Asian Studies ''The Journal of Asian Studies'' is the flagship journal of the Association for Asian Studies, publishing peer-reviewed academic scholarship in the field of Asian studies. Its acceptance rate is approximately 6%. Each issue circulates over 8,200 ...

'', 23, no. 1, (1963) 55–67. * Zetzsche, Jost: «Gützlaffs Bedeutung für die protestantischen Bibelübersetzungen ins Chinesische», i Karl Gützlaff (1803-1851) und das Christentum in Ostasien, s. 155–171, red. av Thoralf Klein, Reinhard Zöllner. Collectana Serica. Nettetal: Monumenta Serica, 2005 * For a fictionalized account of Robert's activities in Nanking during the Taiping years see ''Tienkuo: The Heavenly Kingdom'' by "Li Bo" (Steven Leibo) 1802 births 1871 deaths 19th-century American people 19th-century Baptists Baptist missionaries from the United States Baptist missionaries in China Furman University alumni People from Madison County, Illinois People from Sumner County, Tennessee People of the Taiping Rebellion American expatriates in China Baptists from Tennessee Deaths from leprosy Infectious disease deaths in Illinois {{US-reli-bio-stub