James Summers
Encyclopedia
James Summers was a British
scholar of English literature
, hired
by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan
to establish an English language
curriculum at the Kaisei Gakuin (the forerunner of Tokyo Imperial University in 1873.
in Hong Kong
in 1848 with hopes of becoming a diplomat in the future. His stay in Hong Kong was eventful – he was arrested by the Portuguese
authorities in Macao
in 1849 for refusing to remove his hat during a Catholic
religious procession. The Portuguese refused to accede to the British government’s request for his release, and he was only returned after the British threatened military action. Summers was forced to resign his post, and returned to England in 1851.
In 1852, Summers became professor of Chinese language
of King's College London
in the University of London
at the age of 25, despite his lack of a formal education. In 1853 he published a first book on the Chinese language
, and the following year translated the Bible
into Shanghai dialect (using the Latin alphabet
). His services and lectures were in great demand by diplomats, missionaries and merchants intending to travel to China. One of his students was Ernest M. Satow, who came to Japan as an interpreter in the early part of the Meiji period
and later became the British Consul.
From 1864, Summers began publishing essays on the Japanese language
and Japanese grammar
, as well as translations of Japanese poetry
and an excerpt from the Tale of the Heike in British literary magazine
s. It is not clear how Summers learned Japanese, but some Japanese students (including Minami Teisuke) were already in Great Britain
from 1865.
In 1873, Summers published the first overseas Japanese-language newspaper, The Taisei Shinbun in London
. The newspaper contained articles on Windsor Castle
, Niagara Falls
, the death of Napoleon, the Palace of Versailles
, and news related to Britain along with advertisements. Summers intended it for Japanese students in London, but it did not sell well and soon ceased publication.
In 1872, when the Iwakura Mission
visited England, Summers assisted with the visit, and was offered a position as an English teacher at the new Kaisei Gakuin (later Tokyo Imperial University) in Tokyo. He departed Southampton
in mid-summer with his family, arriving in Japan in October 1873.
Summers used works by Shakespeare (notably Hamlet
and Henry VIII ) and John Milton
in his teaching. His students included future Prime Minister
Katō Takaaki
, diplomat Amanō Tameyuki, and artist Okakura Kakuzō
,
In August 1876, after his three year contract as a O-yatoi gaikokujin
expired, Summers went to the Niigata
English School as an English teacher but six months later the school was closed, and he transferred to the Osaka
English School. In June 1880, Summers was invited to the Sapporo Agricultural College
as a professor of English literature, where one of his students was Inazō Nitobe
. In 1882, Summers returned to Tokyo, where he tutored foreign children and opened a private school in 1884.
In 1891, Summers died of a cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Tsukiji
Tokyo. His widow and daughters continued the school he had established, teaching English to noted novelist Junichirō Tanizaki
before it closed in 1908. Summers is buried in the foreign cemetery in Yokohama
.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
scholar of English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
, hired
O-yatoi gaikokujin
The Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as oyatoi gaikokujin , were those foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government for their specialized knowledge to assist in the modernization of Japan at the end of the Bakufu and during the Meiji era. The term is sometimes...
by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
to establish an English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
curriculum at the Kaisei Gakuin (the forerunner of Tokyo Imperial University in 1873.
Biography
Summers was born in Richfield, Kent. His father was a sculptor of limited means, and could only provide him with a primary school education. Summers studied foreign languages and classical literature on his own, and obtained a teaching position at St. Paul's CollegeSt. Paul's College, Hong Kong
St. Paul's College is an Anglican day school for boys in Mid Levels, Hong Kong and is located adjacent to University of Hong Kong. Established in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in Hong Kong that is still in operation...
in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
in 1848 with hopes of becoming a diplomat in the future. His stay in Hong Kong was eventful – he was arrested by the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
authorities in Macao
Mação
Mação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District....
in 1849 for refusing to remove his hat during a Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
religious procession. The Portuguese refused to accede to the British government’s request for his release, and he was only returned after the British threatened military action. Summers was forced to resign his post, and returned to England in 1851.
In 1852, Summers became professor of Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
of King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
in the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
at the age of 25, despite his lack of a formal education. In 1853 he published a first book on the Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, and the following year translated the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
into Shanghai dialect (using the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
). His services and lectures were in great demand by diplomats, missionaries and merchants intending to travel to China. One of his students was Ernest M. Satow, who came to Japan as an interpreter in the early part of the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
and later became the British Consul.
From 1864, Summers began publishing essays on the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Japanese grammar
Japanese grammar
The Japanese language has a regular agglutinative verb morphology, with both productive and fixed elements. In language typology, it has many features divergent from most European languages. Its phrases are exclusively head-final and compound sentences are exclusively left-branching. There are many...
, as well as translations of Japanese poetry
Japanese poetry
Japanese poets first encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang Dynasty. It took them several hundred years to digest the foreign impact, make it a part of their culture and merge it with their literary tradition in their mother tongue, and begin to develop the diversity of their native poetry. For...
and an excerpt from the Tale of the Heike in British literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
s. It is not clear how Summers learned Japanese, but some Japanese students (including Minami Teisuke) were already in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
from 1865.
In 1873, Summers published the first overseas Japanese-language newspaper, The Taisei Shinbun in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The newspaper contained articles on Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
, Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
, the death of Napoleon, the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, and news related to Britain along with advertisements. Summers intended it for Japanese students in London, but it did not sell well and soon ceased publication.
In 1872, when the Iwakura Mission
Iwakura mission
The Iwakura Mission or Iwakura Embassy was a Japanese diplomatic journey around the world, initiated in 1871 by the oligarchs of the Meiji period. Although it was not the only such "mission", it is the most well-known and possibly most important for the modernization of Japan after a long period...
visited England, Summers assisted with the visit, and was offered a position as an English teacher at the new Kaisei Gakuin (later Tokyo Imperial University) in Tokyo. He departed Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
in mid-summer with his family, arriving in Japan in October 1873.
Summers used works by Shakespeare (notably Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and Henry VIII ) and John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
in his teaching. His students included future Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
Katō Takaaki
Kato Takaaki
Count was a Japanese politician and the 24th Prime Minister of Japan from 11 June 1924 to 28 January 1926. He was also known as Katō Kōmei.- Early life :...
, diplomat Amanō Tameyuki, and artist Okakura Kakuzō
Okakura Kakuzo
was a Japanese scholar who contributed to the development of arts in Japan. Outside of Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as the author of The Book of Tea.-Biography:...
,
In August 1876, after his three year contract as a O-yatoi gaikokujin
O-yatoi gaikokujin
The Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan, known in Japanese as oyatoi gaikokujin , were those foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government for their specialized knowledge to assist in the modernization of Japan at the end of the Bakufu and during the Meiji era. The term is sometimes...
expired, Summers went to the Niigata
Niigata, Niigata
is the capital and the most populous city of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It lies on the northwest coast of Honshu, the largest island of Japan, and faces the Sea of Japan and Sado Island....
English School as an English teacher but six months later the school was closed, and he transferred to the Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
English School. In June 1880, Summers was invited to the Sapporo Agricultural College
Sapporo Agricultural College
was a school in Sapporo established in the purpose of education of student who would pioneer Hokkaidō by Kaitakushi, the local government of Hokkaidō in those days...
as a professor of English literature, where one of his students was Inazō Nitobe
Inazo Nitobe
was a Japanese agricultural economist, author, educator, diplomat, politician, and Christian during Meiji and Taishō period Japan.-Early Life:Nitobe was born in Morioka, Mutsu Province . His father was a retainer to the local daimyō of the Nambu clan. His infant name was Inanosuke...
. In 1882, Summers returned to Tokyo, where he tutored foreign children and opened a private school in 1884.
In 1891, Summers died of a cerebral hemorrhage at his home in Tsukiji
Tsukiji
Tsukiji is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, the site of the Tsukiji fish market. Literally meaning "reclaimed land," it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century, during the Edo period....
Tokyo. His widow and daughters continued the school he had established, teaching English to noted novelist Junichirō Tanizaki
Junichiro Tanizaki
was a Japanese author, one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature, and perhaps the most popular Japanese novelist after Natsume Sōseki. Some of his works present a rather shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions; others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics...
before it closed in 1908. Summers is buried in the foreign cemetery in Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
.