William Edward Soothill

William Edward Soothill (1861 – 1935) was a Methodist missionary to China who later became Professor of Chinese at Oxford University and a leading British sinologist.

Born in Halifax, Yorkshire in January 1861, Soothill matriculated at London University.^[1] He entered the ministry of the United Methodist Free Church arriving in China in 1882 and spent 29 years as a missionary in Wenzhou, China. He founded a hospital, a training college, schools and 200 preaching stations. In 1911 Soothill became President of the Imperial University at Shansi. Upon his return to England in 1920 he was appointed Professor of Chinese at Oxford University. In 1926 he was a member of Lord Willingdon's delegation to China on the settlement of the Boxer Rebellion indemnities.

He is best known for his translation into English of the Analects of Confucius and his Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanscrit and English Equivalents. He married Lucy Farrar in 1884. She wrote an account of their years in China entitled A Passport to China.

Selected works

• William Edward Soothill (1900). The student's four thousand [characters] and general pocket dictionary (2 ed.). American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 420. Retrieved 2011-07-06. 
• William Edward Soothill (1903). The student's four thousand ...: characters and general pocket dictionary, Volume 3 (3 ed.). American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 420. Retrieved 2011-07-06. 
• William Edward Soothill (1908). The student's four thousand tzu and general pocket dictionary (6 ed.). American Presbyterian Mission Press. p. 211. Retrieved 2011-07-06. 
• The Student's Four Thousand and General Pocket Dictionary (1899)
• A Mission in China (1906,1907)
• The Analects of Confucius (1910)
• China and Education, with Special Reference to the University for China (1912)
• Timothy Richard of China (1924)
• China and the West: A sketch of their Intercourse (1925)
• A History of China (1927)
• China and England (1928)
• The Three Religions of China (1929)
• The Lotus of the Wonderful Law: or, The Lotus Gospel (1930)
• A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: with Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index (1937, with Lewis Hodous)
• The Hall of Light: A study of Early Chinese Kingship, edited by Lady Hosie and G. F. Hudson (1951)

Sources

The Methodist Archives Biographical Index: Minutes of Conference 1958 and Encyclopedia of World Methodism (1974)

External links

• "William E. Soothill," Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity

Notes

References and further reading

• Young, John (2012). "William E. Soothill (1861-1935): Missionary and Sinologist1" (PDF). Methodist Missionary History Project.  External link in |journal= (help)

COPAC

Protestant missions to China
Background	Christianity Protestantism Chinese history Missions timeline Christianity in China Nestorians Jesuits Protestant missions in China 1807–1953
People	Gladys Aylward Pearl S. Buck Thomas Cochrane Hunter Corbett Jonathan Goforth Karl Gützlaff Carl C. Jeremiassen Eric Liddell Robert Samuel Maclay Lottie Moon Robert Morrison (1782-1834) Gideon Nye Timothy Richard Issachar Jacox Roberts (1902-1871) Cambridge Seven Hudson Taylor (more missionaries)
Missionary agencies	OMF International/China Inland Mission LMS ABCFM CMS M.E.M US Presbyterian Mission (more agencies)
Impact	Bible translations into Chinese Medical missions in China Manchurian revival Chinese Christian colleges Chinese hymnody Chinese Roman Type Minnan Roman Type Foochow Roman Type Anti-footbinding Anti-opium
Pivotal events	Taiping Rebellion First Opium War Second Opium War Unequal treaty Yangzhou riot Tianjin Massacre Kucheng Massacre Boxer Crisis Xinhai Revolution Chinese Civil War WWII People's Republic
Chinese Protestants	Feng Yuxiang Liang Fa Wat Ngong (Qu Yaang) Samuel Lamb Wang Ming-Dao Watchman Nee Xi Shengmo Sun Yat-sen John Sung Allen Yuan