Karl Gutzlaff (1803-1851)

Karl Friedrich Augustus Gutzlaff ( anglicized Charles Gutzlaff) was a German Lutheran Missionary to the Far East. He was one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand and Korea. He was the first Lutheran missionary in China.

In 1820 a seventeen old Karl wrote an emotional poem of homage to King Frederick William 111 . Karl and a friend threw a welcoming poem into the emperor’s carriage.The king was so impressed he decreed Karl should receive a scholarship to continues his education. Karl stopped being an apprentice to a girdlemaker/saddler in Stettin and accepted the scholarship. The career of one of the most important Protestant missionaries was launched.

His conversion happened in 1821. One night he had a profound sense of sin which threw into mental anguish. He cried out for God’s forgiveness. It came to him dramatically transforming his life. From this time he was determined to serve God as a foreign missionary. The Netherlands Missionary Society accepted him as a candidate in 1823… He studied in Rotterdam . These studies included elementary medical studies. Continued study and years of of successful practice earned him the title of Dr. Gutzlaff. He also found he had an extraordinary ability to learn languages

He was one of the first protestant missionaries to wear Chinese clothing - see picture.

He was a brilliant linguist and translator. In th 1830’s he acted as interpreter on the ships with an assurance it would allow him to gather more converts. In 1833 he founded the* Chinese Magazine*.He worked, in co-operation with three others, from 1840 on a Chinese translation of the Bible. The translation was completed in 1847. H e founded a school for ’ native missionaries '- Chinese Union- nearly 50 Chinese were trained during the first 4 years.

He left a mixed legacy. He had trusted his native Bible distributors to hand out his material. They wrote/told great stories of conversions and New Testaments sold, In the late 1840’s he reported enthusiastically 2,781 converts and thousands of testaments distributed making traditional missionaries look bad to find out it was a lie .He learned whilst some of his native missionaries were genuine converts others were opium addicts !!! They were selling the books back to the printers who in turn sold them back to Karl!. Some even used it as a cover for opium sales. He eventually learned this at a cost to his reputation and health.
He died on 9th of August 1851 in Hong Kong where he was also buried.

His legacy is the Chinese Evangelization Society which lived on. It sent Hudson Taylor, who founded the China Inland Mission, to say Gutzlaff the grandfather of the China Inland Mission.
Sources used
Ambassadors for Christ
Wikipedia
1801-1900 Church History Timeline
BDCC
The legacy of karl F.A, Gutziaff Jessie g. Lutz (page 1 of 3)