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Letter from Rev. C. Gutzlaff on Buddhist Literature in China

Identity area

Reference code

GB 891 RAS GOV7-RAS GOV7/1

Publication status

Published

Level of description

File

Extent and medium

1 page handwritten

Date(s)

  • 24th Aug 1846 (Creation)

Context area

Name of creator

_Gützlaff_ _Karl Friedrich August_ _1803-1851_

Biographical history

Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (Charles Gutzlaff), was a German Lutheran missionary to the Far East, one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand (1828) and Korea (1832). He was also the first Lutheran missionary to China. He was a magistrate in Ningpo and Chusan and the second Chinese Secretary of the British administration in Hong Kong.

Repository

Royal Asiatic Society Archives

Content and structure area

Scope and content

'Copy of a letter by the Rev. C. Gutzlaff, dated Victoria, Hong Kong, 24 August 1846, on the subject of Buddhist literature'. Gutzlaff is replying to Colonel Sykes' enquiry about Buddhist literature and explains that the largest collection he has seen is on the 'Golden Island' and consists of 'beautifully bound volumes in yellow covers'. These were a present more than a century ago and the inscriptions he has seen are in Sanskrit. Gutzlaff then explains that collections in China are superseded by those in Siam (Thailand). He also informs that 'the land where Pali books are most valued is Cambodia'.

Conditions of access and use area

Language of material

  • English
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