Study On James Legge And Wang Tao

With the losing of the Opium War, more and more missionaries came to China, self-invited. Although for one sacred purpose, the way to achieve it was omnifarious. Catholic was inclined to be missionized directly; however, some of the Protestant were apt to be missionized by Confucianism, which had gigantic power among traditional Chinese people. James Legge, who is known to the whole Sinology, is the most representation. He translated a series of Chinese Classics into English. So far, these books are considered to be the most authoritative versions in western Sinology.Strictly speaking, The Chinese Classics were completed with the help of many Chinese scholars. Among those scholars, Wang Tao's contribution was very important. After arriving at Hong Kong, he started to assist James Legge to translate Chinese Classics immediately. In these 11 years, he helped James Legge to translate three volumes of Chinese Classics and two volumes of The Sacred Books of the East.There are countless monographs and theses on James Legge and Wang Tao; however, there is no monograph on the cross-studying between James Legge and Wang Tao. This essay takes the Chinese Classics and their works as to Confucianism or Christianism as the backgrounds, to analyze the contradiction and the communication in their thinking, and extend to the whole missionary work in China in the 19th century.The essay is consisted of four parts. Part one reviews the research history of James Legge and Wang Tao, and summarizes the missionaries' translation on Eastern and Western books in the 1900s. Chapter one includes two parts. The first part introduces James Legge and Wang Tao's life; the seconds reviews the process of translating The Chinese Classics and its authoritative status in Sinology. Chapter two analyzes James Legge's hesitation and inclination between Confucianism and Christianism, missionary and scholar. Chapter three analyzes Wang Tao's contradiction between Confucianism and Christianism, Chinese and Western Culture. Chapter threeThe conclusion sums up the whole essay.