author
Thomas Watters
1840–1901
Best known as a diplomat-scholar who spent decades in East Asia, he wrote with unusual depth about Chinese language, Buddhism, and travel. His work still appeals to listeners interested in the meeting point of scholarship, history, and lived experience.
1 Audiobook
Lao-tzu, A Study in Chinese Philosophy
by Thomas Watters
About the author
Born in Newtownards, County Down, on February 9, 1840, Thomas Watters was an Irish-born British diplomat and Oriental scholar. Sources agree that he studied at Queen’s College, Belfast, earning degrees from the Queen’s University before entering the British consular service in China in the 1860s.
Over the course of his career, he served in several posts in China and also spent time connected with Taiwan and Korea. Alongside his official work, he became known as a careful writer on Chinese language, Chinese Buddhism, and Buddhist geography, bringing together close observation, linguistic skill, and wide reading.
Watters died in Ealing, London, on January 10, 1901. He is especially remembered for learned works that helped English-language readers approach Chinese thought and Buddhist history with greater clarity, including studies of Chinese philosophy, religion, and everyday life.