- Ernst Johann Eitel
Ernst Johann Eitel or alternatively Ernest John Eitel (
13 February ,1838 -1908) was a GermanProtestant missionary toChina born inWürttemberg ,Germany .Missionary career
He served in
Evangelical Church of Württemberg as pastor. Adopting a Chinese name (歐德理), he later came to Lilang,Xin'an district inGuangdong ,China under theBasel Mission . In April 1865 he transferred to theLondon Missionary Society atGuangzhou to take in charge of theBoluo Mission and theHakka villages outside Guangzhou. In January 1870 he moved toHong Kong while still having charge of the Boluo Mission. In 1875 he became Director of Chinese Studies. In April 1879 he resigned from the London Missionary Society.He then became Inspector of Schools in Hong Kong and later Chinese Secretary to Sir
John Pope Hennessy . In 1866 he marriedMary Anne Winifred Eaton of theFemale Education Society . He died inAdelaide ,Australia , in 1908.A Cantonese Dictionary
Eitel has published its Cantonese dictionary, "Chinese Dictionary in the Cantonese Dialect" in 1877. It is based on a Cantonese glossary dictionary "Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect" written in 1856 by
Samuel Wells Williams , expanding with the work ofJames Legge and "Kangxi Dictionary ". His publication was intended to standardize the pronunciation of Cantonese.His work was criticised by
Wong Shik Ling in the book "A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced according to the Dialect of Canton " that it inherited the inaccuracy from former works.Publications
* "Feng-Shui, Or, The Rudiments Of Natural Science In China" (1873)
* "A Chinese dictionary in the Cantonese dialect" (1877)
* "The central school : can it justify its raison d'etre?" (1877)
* "Buddhism : its historical, theoretical and popular aspects" (1873)
* "Chinese School-Books" (1893)
* "Europe In China : The History Of Hong Kong From The Beginning To The Year 1882" (1895)External links
* [http://ricci.rt.usfca.edu/biography/view.aspx?biographyID=38 bibliography]
* [http://www.ganesha-publishing.com/linguist_dic.htm Chinese Dictionaries]
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