Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2013 Among a people of unclean lips: Eliza and John Taylor in Siam (1833–1851) Trakulhun, Sven Abstract: John Taylor Jones (1802–1851) and his first wife, Eliza Grew Jones (1803–1838), were the first American Baptist missionaries working in Siam during the reign of King Rama III. They arrivedin Bangkok in 1833, started preaching the Gospel in the Siamese capital and in subsequent years prepared a translation of the New Testament as well as other religious tracts in Thai explaining the basic elements of the Christian faith. The couple’s arduous proselytizing work in Siam did not lead to a significant number of converts, however, but by offering religion in tandem with science and technology their teachings posed a challenge to traditional Thai world views. This paper examines the social, religious and literary sources that shaped the life writings of the Joneses and seeks to grasp the nature of conflict which informed cross-cultural debates between Buddhists and Christians at that time. Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-93734 Journal Article Published Version Originally published at: Trakulhun, Sven (2013). Among a people of unclean lips: Eliza and John Taylor in Siam (1833–1851). Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques, 67(4):1205-1235. Asiatische Studien Études Asiatiques LXVII · 4 · 2013 Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft Revue de la Société Suisse – Asie Biography Afield in Asia and Europe Peter Lang Bern · Berlin · Bruxelles · Frankfurt am Main · New York · Oxford · Wien ISSN 0004-4717 © Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, Bern 2013 Hochfeldstrasse 32, CH-3012 Bern, Schweiz
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