Carstairs Douglas

Carstairs Douglas (Chinese: 杜嘉德; Southern Min: Tō· Ka-tek) (born December 27, 1830 in Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire; died July 26, 1877 in Xiamen, China) was a Scottish missionary, remembered chiefly for his writings concerning the Southern Min language of Fujian, in particular his "Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy".

Early life

Castairs Douglas was born a son of the manse in Kilbarchan in Renfrewshire, Scotland, [cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|year=1998|author=Gerald H. Anderson|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.] the youngest or second-youngest of seven children. [cite web|url=http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kosmoid&id=I5211|title=RootsWeb|accessdate=2008-07-01] His father was the parish priest and his elder brother was also closely involved in the church. Douglas studied at the University of Glasgow from 1845 until 1851, gaining an MA degree, and was later awarded the LL.D. by his alma mater in recognition of his scholarly achievements. Going on to study Divinity at the University of Edinburgh, Douglas professed a keen interest in missionary work. He was ordained in February 1855 and set sail for China a month later. [cite web|url=http://www.amoymagic.com/AM_Douglas_Carstairs.htm|title=Carstairs Douglas: The Amoy Mission (1840-1951)|accessdate=2008-07-01]

Mission to Amoy (Xiamen)

As one of the treaty ports opened to Westerners in 1842, Xiamen (then known in the West as "Amoy") was one of the few places in China where missionaries could go about their work relatively unmolested. During his tenure Douglas was responsible for increasing the single church in Xiamen to a congregation of twenty-five churches, composed mostly of Chinese members. [cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|year=1998|author=Gerald H. Anderson|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.] While stationed in Xiamen, Douglas visited Taiwan and was influential in the decision by the English Presbyterian Mission to send missionaries to the island. [cite book|title=ibid]

Published works

*cite book|title=A Reply to the charges brought against Protestant Missions in China ... With a preface [by D. Matheson] |year=1869|location=London

Amoy-English Dictionary

*cite book|title=Chinese English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken of Amoy|origyear=1873|year=1990|location=Taipei|publisher=SMC Publishing|isbn=957-9482-32-2During twenty-two years as a Presbyterian missionary in Xiamen Douglas amassed a wealth of information on the Southern Min language spoken in the area, eventually compiling his Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy (1873), which was the first comprehensive Southern Min-English dictionary and which remains an important work in the understanding of the language. [cite web |url=http://www.tli.com.tw/tli/eng/en/6-6.ASP?class=6|title=Taipei Language Institute Dictionary Page|accessdate=2008-07-01] The dictionary used an early version of the Peh-oe-ji romanisation to represent the sounds of Southern Min, with pronunciations from both the Zhangzhou and Quanzhou dialects of Southern Min, along with literary readings for many of the entries. [cite book|title=Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy|author=Douglas, Carstairs|year=1873] Douglas felt that in regards to his work... Douglas' hope was ended by his early death, although fifty years after the initial publication of his dictionary just such an appendix was added, by the Reverend Thomas Barclay, a missionary stationed in Tainan, Taiwan who had himself much benefited from the volume. [cite book |title=Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy (Supplement)|author=Barclay, Thomas|year=1923]

Death and memorial

Douglas died of cholera [cite journal|title=The Sunday Magazine for Family Reading|year=1878] on July 26 1877 at the age of 47 in his adopted home of Xiamen and was buried on Gulangyu. He is memorialised in a stained-glass window in St. Bryce Kirk, Kirkcaldy which was dedicated by his brother, an elder of the kirk. [cite web |url=http://www.stbrycekirk.org/history/brycewindows.php |title=St. Bryce Kirk, Kirkcaldy |accessdate= 2008-06-27|format= |work= ]

References

Bibliography

*cite book | author=Band, Edward|year=1948|title=Working His Purpose Out|publisher=Presbyterian Church of England
*cite book | author=Douglas, Carstairs & Barclay, Thomas | year=1923 | title=Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, with Supplement | publisher=SMC Publishing (1990 reprint) | isbn=957-9482-32-2
*cite book | author=Douglas, John M. | year=1878 | title=Memorials of Rev. Carstairs Douglas | publisher=Amoy Mission to China

External links

* [http://tailingua.com/readings/douglas.htm Preface to his dictionary]
* [http://www.amoymagic.com/AM_Douglas_Carstairs.htm Carstairs Douglas Online Memorial]