author
Frederic Henry Balfour
1846–1909
A Victorian-era writer and editor in Shanghai, he helped bring Taoist thought to English readers through some of the earliest translations of classic Chinese texts. Alongside his sinological work, he wrote essays, journalism, and fiction shaped by his years in China.
1 Audiobook
Austin and His Friends
by Frederic Henry Balfour
About the author
Frederic Henry Balfour was a British expatriate editor, essayist, author, and sinologist who lived and worked in Shanghai during the Victorian era. He is best known for introducing English-language readers to Taoist writing, especially through Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative (1884), a collection that included his translations of the Tao Te Ching.
Balfour also translated The Divine Classic of Nan-Hua, an early English rendering of the Zhuangzi, and wrote books such as Waifs and Strays from the Far East and Leaves from My Chinese Scrapbook. Sources also identify him as an editor of the North-China Herald, placing him at the center of English-language journalism in late-19th-century Shanghai.
Beyond his China-related work, he published essays on religion and agnosticism as well as several novels. Reliable biographical details about his personal life appear to be limited, but his writing shows a wide range of interests, from Chinese philosophy and language to fiction and religious debate.