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📖 Biography
Early Life and Coming to China
Henry Blodget was born in 1825 in Maine, in the United States. He graduated from Yale College in 1848 and went on to study theology, and in 1854, soon after his ordination, he was sent to China by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). After arriving he worked first in Shanghai alongside colleagues such as Elijah Coleman Bridgman (裨治文) and Justus Doolittle (卢公明), taking part in church periodicals and in early experiments in translating into Mandarin. In the 1860s, after Tianjin was opened as a treaty port, he went north to open work there, cooperating with colleagues of the London Missionary Society and the Presbyterians.
Founding the Work in Beijing
In 1864 he moved to Beijing, where he settled as the Congregational representative, at the mission's station at Dengshikou, and was one of the founders of the mission's work in Beijing. He led the founding of the Beijing Congregational church, boys' and girls' schools and a training class for young men, and worked with colleagues who reached Beijing somewhat later, such as Arthur H. Smith (明恩溥), William Scott Ament (梅子明) and Chauncey Goodrich (富善), building the Congregational mission in Zhili into one of the largest missions in the province.
Mandarin Bible Translation
For many years he was engaged in translating the Bible into Peking Mandarin. He was one of the members of the New Testament committee for the Peking Version, translating together with colleagues from several missions, including Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky (施约瑟), Joseph Edkins (艾约瑟), W. A. P. Martin (丁韪良) and John Shaw Burdon (包尔腾). The Peking Mandarin New Testament was published in 1872 and was an important forerunner of the later Mandarin Union Version.
Translating Hymns
He also devoted himself to translating hymns into Chinese and adapting them for local use. He edited several editions of hymnals, including Hymns of Praise (颂主诗歌), rendering English hymns into Mandarin as songs used throughout the Chinese church, with a lasting influence on the worship life of the churches of North China. In 1894 he returned to the United States for health reasons, and he died of illness at his home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1903.
