Benjamin Hobson: The Introduction of
Western Religion, Medicine, and Science Into Nineteenth-Century China
Hobson’s success
in China was not only based on the medical practice and his religious work, but
also on his efforts in introducing natural science to the country. He used to preach
to his patients before he treated them. Due to his kind and gentle manner, his
faithful attention and skillful practice, he became known as “the model medical
missionary.” He thought that medical science in China was at a rather low level,
and that the knowledge of anatomy and surgery in ancient Greece and Rome was
much superior to anything in nineteenth-century China. Therefore, he attempted
to introduce the well-establishes principles and facts of Western medical
science to China.
Although Hobson
was a medical missionary, he did more to promote the study of science in China
than any other men of their time. He was the first and for some time most
influential Protestant writer on science in the Chinese language. Hobson presented
a broad range of scientific knowledge pitched to a general audience, borrowing
Chinese terms from those in common use. During the 1850s, he wrote five books
on medical science, which were widely regarded as the standard works in this
field. His book, bowu xinbian(Natural philosophy and natural history),
which was published in 1855 and provided a general introduction to chemistry,
physics, astronomy, geography and zoology, was described as like “the dawn of a
new era upon Chinese minds.” His Chinese translations for the chemical elements
oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, yangqi(nourishing gas), qingqi(light
gas), and danqi(diluting gas), are still in use today.
The purpose of
this paper is to research Hobson’s motivation for the transmission of Western
science into China, and summarize his scientific works and translations in
China.