The Centre for the Study of Christianity in China, based in Oxford (England), has the pleasure of announcing an academic conference in honour of Robert Morrison, to coincide with the bicentenary of his arrival as missionary to China. The theme underpinning this conference is his role as a “bridge between cultures”. Contacts between China and the western world were, during the early nineteenth century, limited to a minimum, due to state policy and sheer distance. The consequences of his efforts, however, are still to be felt today, at a time when China is assuming ever greater importance in international relations. One of the lasting legacies of Robert Morrison’s life as teacher and translator has been the study of China and of Chinese culture at Western universities, in particular in the United States of America.

The conference is intended to tie in with other, worldwide events being organised in 2007 in order to provide insight into the life and work of Robert Morrison. More than twenty of the most renowned scholars of Christianity in early nineteenth-century China have already committed themselves to present papers. The publication of a conference volume is being discussed. Scholars with an insight into the life and work of Robert Morrison, Christian missionary contacts with early nineteenth-century China (Protestant and Catholic), Qing state and society between c.1800-1850 and into the contacts between the Qing empire and the rest of the world are cordially invited to present papers at this conference. Contributions should be based on original research. The list of already agreed panels includes:

The Cultural Parameters of late imperial China
Crossroads: Merchants and Missionaries in Qing China
Textuality and Confucianism
“Opium of the People” – Religion and Drugs as manifestations of Western imperialism?
China and Christianity
Morrison’s Mission
Translation and Printing
Culture and Religion

Suggestions for further panels are still being welcomed.

Accommodation can be made available at the University of Maryland. Public transport from and to Washington is easily available