Ma Lixun

Ma Lixun (1782-1834), or Robert Morrison, was the first Protestant missionary to missionize in China.

Sent by the London Missionary Society, Ma Lixun went to Macao in 1807. He entered Guangzhou via Macao, and lived in a warehouse. There, he learned to read and write Chinese with the help of a Chinese student who he met in London, and imitated Chinese ways of living, dressing and eating.

Later, he went back to Macao to recuperate and got married there in 1809. He served as a English-to-Chinese translator in the East India Company. He died in 1930 in Guangdong.