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capable apprentice Hóng Réngan (1828-1864) who later died as the Shield King among the Taiping insurgents, and Legge's co-pastor of the Chinese congregation at Union Chapel (later Union Church) for twenty-five years, the first modern Chinese theologian, Ho Tsun-sheen (P. Hé Jinshan, known in the 20th century by his sobriquet among Chinese Christians, "Ho Fuk-tong," 1817-1871). Among the many forgotten persons whom Legge knew in his role as a missionary-pastor is a Cantonese resident more than 20 years Legge's elder, Ch'ëa Kam-Kwong (P. Che Jinguang, c. 1800-1861). In the Hong Kong newspapers of the early 1860s it was Ch'ea's life and fate which catapulted Legge into the status of a folk hero among the expatriate and Chinese Christian communities. Yet Ch'ëa's own unusual conversion, his subsequent career as a self-determined missionary, and his tragic murder years later by a local Chinese vigilante squad have been almost completely overlooked in English and Chinese sources. To Legge's credit Ch'ea was the subject of many letters and reflections in various places, so that it became one of three post-mortem memorials for notable Christians associated with his missionary career. Consequently, it is largely on account of the Scottish missionary's writings that Ch'ëa's name and story can be rescued from the dustbins of forgotten Chinese history.
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## PART TWO: Walking through shadowlands: Ch’ea's transition across major traditions
The town of Poklo (P. Bóluó) was the leading city in a district of the same name, about 40 miles east of the capital city of Canton (Guǎngzhōu) and about 20 miles southeast of the impressive mountains of Lo-fow (or Laufu, P. Liúfú or Luófú) range. Those mountains were already made famous after the end of the Han dynasty (4th century A.D.) by Gé Hóng (283-363), a famous Daoist priest who made his retreat on the slopes of Mount Lo-fow when in search of special materials for an immortality elixir. Four or five temples of both Daoist and Buddhist traditions were well established on its slopes in the 19th century, and were visited by Legge and his younger Scottish colleague, John
191
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capable apprentice Hóng Réngan (1828-1864) who later died as the Shield King among the Taiping insurgents, and Legge's co-pastor of the Chinese congregation at Union Chapel (later Union Church) for twenty-five years, the first modern Chinese theologian, Ho Tsun-sheen (P. Hé Jinshan, known in the 20th century by his sobriquet among Chinese Christians, "Ho Fuk-tong," 1817-1871). Among the many forgotten persons whom Legge knew in his role as a missionary-pastor is a Cantonese resident more than 20 years Legge's elder, Ch'ëa Kam-Kwong (P. Che Jinguang, c. 1800-1861). In the Hong Kong newspapers of the early 1860s it was Ch'ea's life and fate which catapulted Legge into the status of a folk hero among the expatriate and Chinese Christian communities. Yet Ch'ëa's own unusual conversion, his subsequent career as a self-determined missionary, and his tragic murder years later by a local Chinese vigilante squad have been almost completely overlooked in English and Chinese sources. To Legge's credit Ch'ea was the subject of many letters and reflections in various places, so that it became one of three post-mortem memorials for notable Christians associated with his missionary career. Consequently, it is largely on account of the Scottish missionary's writings that Ch'ëa's name. and
story can be rescued from the dustbins of forgotten Chinese
history. 14
13
PART TWO: Walking through shadowlands: Ch’ea's transition across major traditions
The town of Poklo (P. Bóluó) was the leading city in a district of the same name, about 40 miles east of the capital city of Canton (Guǎngzhōu) and about 20 miles southeast of the impressive mountains of Lo-fow (or Laufu, P. Liúfú or Luófú) range. Those mountains were already made famous after the end of the Han dynasty (4th century A.D.) by Gé Hóng (283-363), a famous Daoist priest who made his retreat on the slopes of Mount Lo-fow when in search of special materials for an immortality elixir. Four or five temples of both Daoist and Buddhist traditions were well established on its slopes in the 19th century, and were visited by Legge and his younger Scottish colleague, John
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