This is one of the first Western novels to have been translated into Chinese. It is an adaptation of Hermann Ball’s novel Thirza, or, the Attraction of the Cross, first published in Germany in 1841. It tells the story of a Jewish girl and her conversion to Christianity. It may seem strange that the missionary choose this particular theme to inspire Chinese girls. However, the author made great efforts to adapt the story to the Chinese context, writing in the style of a traditional Chinese novel and interjecting personal remarks that address the reader directly, and concepts of ‘filial piety’ play a major role.
Ferdinand Genähr (1823-1864) was a German Protestant missionary affiliated to the Rhenish Missionary Society (Barmen Mission) in China. He arrived in Hong Kong in 1847, and, having learned Cantonese, he moved to Guangdong province, where he established a number of schools. He made great efforts to adapt to Chinese culture and worked with the poor. He published a number of Christian titles in Chinese and worked hard to adapt Christian theology to Chinese culture. He contracted cholera when trying to help a destitute woman and died of the disease together with two of his sons in August, 1864.
See Wylie: Memorials of Protestant missionaries to the Chinese: giving a list of their publications… Shanghai 1867. (p. 161-162, no. 3).
https://archive.org/details/memorialsofprote00wyli/page/162/mode/2up
See also: Li Zipeng: (In Chinese) “The first German Christian novel translated into Chinese: The positioning of female characters in ‘The Golden House’.” Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy. (2014)
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/33151047/-
