About the book:
This book is Course I in a series of college text-books on Oriental Studies, comprising China, Japan, etc. Published by Kelly and Walsh in Shanghai in 1900, the book is now scarce and goes covers in fair detail the religious history of China beginning with its ancient history and the Five Emperors period. Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism are also covered, with biographies of major figures and the outlines of the major sects within each religion. The book concludes with Judaism, Islam and Christianity in China.
About the author (from Wikipedia):
John Fryer (6 August 1839, Hythe, Kent, England – 1928), also known as Fu Lanya (Chinese: 傅蘭雅), was an English sinologist who was first Louis Agassiz Professor of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. He was professor of English at Tung-Wen College (Chinese: 同文館; pinyin: Tongwenguan), Peking, China and head of the Anglo-Chinese School (Chinese: 英華書館; pinyin: Ying hua shuguan) in Shanghai, China, and established the Shanghai Polytechnic (Chinese: 格致學院; pinyin: Gezhi Shuyuan) and Institute for the Chinese Blind there. He was president of the Oriental Institute of California, United States.
Through his extensive translation output while working at the Kiangnan Arsenal, Fryer is considered to have had a profound influence on the standardization of scientific translation in 19th century China and promoting the understanding of Western science in China. His The Translator’s Vade-mecum set out his lexicological solutions to translation of technical and scientific terminology into Chinese and marked him a pioneer in the field.
The John Fryer Trophy for Chinese History is conferred by St. Paul’s College, Hong Kong, for academic excellence.
