Samuel Pollard (20 April 1864 in Camelford, Cornwall – 16 September 1915 in Weining, Guizhou), known in Chinese as Bo Geli () was a British Methodist missionary to China with the China Inland Mission who converted many of the A-Hmao (closely related to the Hmong) in Guizhou to Christianity, and who created a Miao script that is still in use today.

Biography

Born the son of a Bible Christian Church preacher of Cornish extraction, Sam Pollard initially aimed for a career in the civil service. However, a conference in London in 1885 encouraged him to instead become a missionary.

During his mission he travelled extensively, founding churches, training other missionaries, performing the role of language examiner, and arguing the causes of Miao Christians. He also fought against the oppression of the Miao, this often led to clashes with Chinese officials. He was nearly beaten to death at the orders of a greedy landlord.

Death

thumb|Protestant Gospel Church at Shimenkan

After Pollard's death in 1915, he was buried in the mountains near the Shimenkan mission station, located in the area now known as Weining Yi, Hui, and Miao Autonomous County. The mission prospered for another 35 years until 1950, when the CCP ordered all English missionaries to cease proselytizing and leave the country. His grave and the county were closed to foreigners until 1995, when Xinhua announced that work had been taken to restore Pollard's tomb which they now declared to be a national monument.

Dedications

thumb|Samuel Pollard Building

The main building at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in Nanjing, China, is known as the Samuel Pollard Building. It houses the center's library, classrooms and conference space, and administration offices.

The building was dedicated in 2007 as part of the center's twentieth anniversary celebrations, which included keynotes by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen.[http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2007/11jun07/11nanj.html]

Bibliography

  • republished posthumously as:

See also

  • Christianity in Cornwall
  • Christianity in Guizhou
  • List of China Inland Mission missionaries in China

References

What supports what

Sources used

  • — Dingle describes how Sam Pollard used positioning of vowel marks relative to consonants to indicate tones
  • — Morrison recounts meeting Sam Pollard and his wife at the Bible Christian Mission in 1894
  • — reports on an article in The Sunday Times describing the continuing influence of the work of Sam Pollard after his death
  • — quotes Sam Pollard in his efforts to instil a "new-born sense of shame" into his converts, to curb behaviour that he regarded as being drunkenness and promiscuity
  • — Lemoine reports that after 1949 the Pollard script was retained as a symbol of cultural identity and pride
  • — the School of Oriental and African Studies Library holds most of Sam Pollard's notes, diaries, letters, and papers

Further reading

  • , also published as:
  • — full Chinese translations of books about the ministry of Po Geli (Sam Pollard) including The Story of the Miao, In Unknown China, Stone Gateway, and the Flowery Miao
  • Daniel H. Bays, ed. (1996). Christianity in China: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present, Stanford University Press - Part II includes Norma Diamond's study of Sam Pollard's work
  • — Written by Samuel Pollard's son, a well-known professor of physics and biophysics. "Sermon" 17, The Story of Sam Pollard, written for Atheists offers a very personal look at Sam Pollard's life and motivation
  • Yu Suee Yan. (2011.) The story of the Big Flowery Miao Bible. The Bible Translator vol. 62, no. 4: 207–215.
  • Tien Ju-kang, Peaks of Faith : Protestant Mission in Revolutionary China, Leiden, New York and Cologne: E. J. Brill, 1993 (Studies in Chtristian Mission, 8)
  • The Pollard script
  • Archive papers of Sam Pollard are held by SOAS Special Collections
  • Samuel Pollard at bdcconline.net
  • Pollard, Samuel (1864-1915) at myunitedmethodists.org