Missionaries to China: A Historical Dictionary

(Hardback)

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A comprehensive sourcebook for historians and sinologists, containing biographies of over 1000 Christian missionaries who served in China before 1955.

In this monumental reference work, Leopold Leeb provides biographical accounts of over 1000 missionaries in China, beginning in the year 635 and continuing through the mid-twentieth century. Missionaries to China: A Historical Dictionary is distinctive for its wide historical range, its emphasis on both Catholic and Protestant missions, and its many entries on women and lesser-known figures in the missionary history of China. Based on sources in several languages including Chinese, German, French, and Latin, Leebs dictionary is a wellspring of historical and cultural information. The books biographical entries are contextualized by an introduction to the history and historiography of China missionaries. Enhancing its functionality as a research tool, the dictionary provides the English and Chinese names of both the missionary figures and the titles of works that they published. The dictionary lists all place names in China in both English and Chinese, and it features a bilingual index of names and a topical index. Given the books scope of information and user-friendly design, Missionaries to China: A Historical Dictionary is an essential resource for scholars studying Christianity and missionary activity in China.

Reviews

In this landmark work, Leopold Leeb has provided the most comprehensive biographical dictionary of China missionaries to date. Based on exhaustive resources in several languages, this meticulous work introduces the reader to virtually every imaginable missionary who served in China. This book is a treasure trove for anyone interested in Christianity in Asia, and scholars will have it at their fingertips for decades to come. -- Anthony E. Clark, professor of history, Whitworth University
The result of decades of research and compilation, Missionaries to China: A Historical Dictionary provides reliable biographical and bibliographical information on nearly 1,400 missionaries in the history of China. The dictionary breaks new ground by including the biographies of many women missionarieslong overlooked by scholarsand by bringing together missionaries from different congregations and denominations, some of whom are not very well known. Without doubt, the dictionary of Leopold Leeb will be an indispensable reference work in the history of Christianity in China. -- Thierry Meynard, professor of philosophy, Sun Yat-sen University

Author Bio

Leopold Leeb is professor in the School of Liberal Arts at Renmin University of China.