Wang Tao ¤ýÃü 1828-1897

Wang was one of the earliest Chinese scholars to promote Western studies as well as an important figure in the history of Sino-Western cultural interaction. Born in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, he failed the imperial examinations and went to Shanghai in 1842, only five years after the opening of the treaty port to westerners. For thirteen years he worked in the Mohai shuguan ¾¥®ü®ÑÀ], or the London Missionary Society Press, where he helped W. H. Medhurst (1796¡V1857) to translate the Bible into Chinese. Later, wanted by the Qing government for his early connections with the Taiping rebellion, he fled to Hong Kong. There he started his long-term cooperation with missionary and Sinologist James Legge (1815¡V1897) in translating Chinese classics into English.

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