The Research Of The London Missionary Society Press

In1843, Medhurst established a printing organization in Shanghai,named LondonMissionary Society Press, which was the first modern printing organization in China., After TheAmerican Presbyterian Mission Press based in Shanghai,in1860,publishing activities in LondonMissionry Society Press were gradually replaced, and it was not until between July andAugust,in1877, it was truly closure. The London Missionry Society Press was founded by theprecher in London Missionary Society, so a large number of preachers came to China.They madea significant contributiont to the London Missionary Society Press. In addition to charge thePress,the preachers also translated the religious books, the western science books and a series ofcomprehensive books. Because of the limitation of language, they must rely on the Chinesescholars. So a special group of intellectuals was formed, who was known as or “ConcessionsBel-esprit”. The main contribution of Chinese scholars was to assist the preachers of translationactivities. Their activities were made a great contribution to the West Learning Spreading to theEast in late Qing Dynasty, and the Chinese modern translation.At the beginning of the press, the main translation work was carrying on the activities of theBible Translation in China, by Medhurst. New Testament was printed in1852,and Old Testamentwas printed in1855. The Bible published in the London Missionary Society Press, known as “委办本”, laid the foundation for the later version. The Bible has an important place in history, afterthe many versions of the "Bible" translations have followed commissioned the "God" of thetranslation, and Wang Tao as the main translator of the Bible, played an important effect. Thestyle and format of the Bible, are largely affected by Wang Tao. Medhurst and Wang Tao focusedon writing,“faithfulness”,“expressiveness”, and “elegance”,makes the "Bible" in people’s mindsas a "literary work". According to the Chinese translation of writing habits makes moreconducive to the spread of the Gospel.From1851, there were some western science books printed in succession. From1844to1860, there were171books printed by the London Missionary Society Press，among them, thereligious books accounted for80.7%of the total,and the western science books accounted for19.3%of the total. The translation of the western science books laid a solid foundation for the establishment of Chinese modern various disciplines. The London Missionary Society Presstranslated and published the mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, botany, medicine andoptical books. The London Missionary Society Press translated and published a history book,known as History of England..Its academic value is relatively small. However, in terms ofpromoting cultural exchange, it has played a positive role. Knowledge of Western history openedthe door to China spread, then, especially during the Westernization Movement, Westernhistorians treatises have been introduced to China, the Chinese have insight from thesetranslations in Western history, absorb nutrients, broaden people vision, also prompted people toa new understanding of world history. In this regard, the positive impact of History of Englandshould be affirmed. Alexander Wylie founded the first Chinese newspaper named ShanghaeSerial. It played the role of inheriting in the whole history of modern Chinese newspaper inChina. So it is a significant and unique position of journals,and it had omportant researchsignificance.The London Missionary Society Press was the first translation,printing,published in theintegration of the organization,which was established by the Christian missionaries in shanghai.It is an important place for cultural exchange between China and western countries. It alsotranslated and published a large number of western science books，and provided the teachingmaterials for learning from the west. It was beneficial to the spread of scientific knowledge inChina and the ideological liberation in modern China. At the same time, the advanced printingmachine and technology was introduced into China from the west, so promoted themodernization of Chinese printing induetry. The translation method of the London MissionarySociety Press was interpreting collaborative, which was the unique. It trained a number oftranslation talents for the country. In a word, the London Missionary Society Press made anenormous contribution to the Chinese modernization and the positive influence is worthstudying.In this paper，there are in four aspects to introduce the London Missionary Society Press.First of all, to introduce the whole situation of the press, and then introduce two kinds of people——the missionary and the Concessions Bel-esprit, whose are the most important to it, and Thetranslation of the Bible, the western science books and some comprehensive books. At last, statethe influence on the modern translation publishing industry in China.