MEDHURST (Walter Henry).
Private: Remarks on the signification of the Chinese character E.
This title is written by Medhurst the Younger (1822–1885), son of the famous missionary, who became a British diplomat in a number of Open Ports in China. Medhurst responds to a an essay by P. P. Thoms who insisted that the Chinese do not call Europeans “Barbarians”. Medhurst opens his argument by putting the term into the context of long-held beliefs of China regarding itself as the centre of the world where all surrounding tribes were described by the generic term e (Pinyin yi). He gives sixteen examples showing the usage of the term in ancient Chinese literature and goes on to explain that “the word, though not necessarily opprobrious, alway implied inferiority.” (p. 13). In summing up he advises that the removal of the term from official documents would go a long way to remove the impressions amongst foreigners that they were being referred to in a derogatory way.
Extremely rare. Only 5 copies in OCLC.
