author
Herbert H. (Herbert Henry) Gowen
1864–1960
An Anglican missionary turned scholar, he spent decades interpreting the histories and cultures of China and Japan for English-speaking readers. His life bridged church work, teaching, and early East Asian studies in the Pacific Northwest.
2 Audiobooks
Hawaiian idylls of love and death
by Herbert H. (Herbert Henry) Gowen
The little grey lamb, and other Christmas poems
by Herbert H. (Herbert Henry) Gowen
About the author
Born in Great Yarmouth, England, in 1864, Herbert Henry Gowen trained at St. Augustine’s College, Canterbury, and was ordained in the Anglican Church. Early in his career he served in Hawaiʻi as a missionary, an experience that shaped both his religious work and his interest in Asian and Pacific cultures.
Gowen later became closely associated with the University of Washington, where he taught and helped build interest in the study of East Asia. He was especially known for writing accessible works on the history of China and Japan, bringing those subjects to many readers at a time when they were far less familiar in the English-speaking world.
Remembered as both a clergyman and an orientalist scholar, he published widely across a long career and remained an important early figure in East Asian studies in the American Northwest. He died in Washington state in 1960.