Williams, Channing Moore

Japanese: ウィリアムズ - Ｗｉｌｌｉａｍｓ，ＣｈａｎｎｉｎｇＭｏｏｒｅ

Year of death: 1910.12.2 (1910.12.2)
Born: July 18, 1829
A missionary of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the first bishop of Edo, and the founder of Rikkyo University. After three years of pioneering missionary work in China, he came to Nagasaki in 1859. He was the first Protestant missionary to land on the Japanese mainland. He returned to Japan in 1908. From before the discovery of hidden Christians in 1865 until the removal of the notices banning Christianity in 1873, he relentlessly campaigned for the repeal of the ban on Christianity both at home and abroad. In particular, during his stay in the United States in November 1866, he met face-to-face with the President and Secretary of State in Washington to urge diplomatic pressure. At the end of the Edo period, anti-evil monks praised him as "renowned for his vast knowledge," and in the early Meiji period, spies dispatched by the Dajokan praised him, saying, "He is well versed in Japanese and Chinese languages. His intellect and intellect are powerful. He is an outstanding teacher," and feared him for his will to die as a martyr, saying, "His determination is as great as stone." After the Nagasaki period at the end of the Edo period, he established Osaka Eiwa Gakusha and Rikkyo School (Rikkyo University) in Osaka and Tokyo, respectively, and established a wave-like evangelism network from the mission base in the capital and sought cooperation with the two British missions of the same sect. The Unified Japanese Prayer Book was based on his Japanese translation, and in response to the pending issue of the legal and constitutional regulations of Japanese church organizations, he deleted the British 39 Articles and independently created and incorporated articles with the same content as the Lambeth Four Articles of Chicago, which later became the Constitution of the Anglican Church (the conventional theory by E. Bicastes is incorrect), and contributed to the establishment of the Anglican Church in Japan in 1887. After resigning as bishop, he became a missionary himself, and pioneered the Kyoto area by evangelizing in cold climates, pushing his aging body to the limit. He humorously responded to Japanese people that he only rode third class on trains because there were no fourth class seats, but emphasized to missionaries that he had to evangelize to the general public. He lived a life of simple clothing and simple food, was homeless, lived frugally, played innocently with small children, and hid his self-sacrifice and good deeds. His eccentric behavior led to him being revered as a medieval saint beyond religious circles, and his patience, prayer, and wisdom were a foundation for the difficult mission work in Japan, transcending denominations. He anonymously donated his own money to the construction of countless churches, including St. John's Church in Kyoto (an important cultural property), and by the time he returned to Japan he was exhausted both mentally and physically. He passed away in his hometown of Virginia. A memorial monument erected in Kyoto and his hometown reads, "Fifty years in Japan, spreading the word but not spreading the word of himself." The "Williams Letters" are on display at the Rikkyo University Niiza Repository.

(Oe Mitsuru)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1910.12.2(1910.12.2)
生年：1829.7.18
米国聖公会宣教師,初代江戸伝道主教,立教大学の創立者。3年間の中国開拓伝道後,安政6(1859)年長崎に渡来。日本本土に上陸した新教最初の遣日宣教師。明治41(1908)年帰国。慶応1(1865)年の潜伏キリシタン発見前から明治6(1873)年のキリシタン禁制の高札撤去後まで,国内外に禁教令撤廃運動を執拗に展開。特に滞米中の慶応2年11月には,ワシントンで大統領と国務長官と直接会見し外交圧力を促す。破邪僧は幕末に彼を「博識ヲモテ鳴ル」と評し,太政官が派遣した諜者は明治初期に彼を「和漢ノ語ニ通シ。其智力。根機力。抜群ノ教師也」と賛嘆,殉教覚悟の「其志金石ノ如シ」と畏怖した。幕末の長崎時代後,大阪,東京に,それぞれ大阪英和学舎,立教学校(立教大学)を設け,首都中心のミッション拠点から波状伝道網を確立し,同派英国系2ミッションとの協調を模索。統一邦語祈祷書は彼の邦訳が基礎となり,懸案の邦人教会組織の法憲法規問題では英国の39カ条を削除,のち全聖公会綱憲となるシカゴ・ランベス4綱領と同内容の条項を独自に別途作成編入し(定説のビカステス,E.は誤り),明治20年の日本聖公会組織成立に貢献した。主教辞任後は自ら一宣教師となり,老体に鞭打つ寒冷地伝道で京都地方を開拓。列車の3等席しか乗らない理由を4等席がないからと邦人にはユーモアで応答したが,宣教師には一般庶民への伝道手段を強調。粗衣粗食無宿,質素倹約,無邪気に幼児と戯れ,自己犠牲,善行を隠す奇行は教界を越えて中世的聖人として崇敬され,その忍耐,祈り,知恵は教派を超え困難な日本伝道の盤石となった。京都聖ヨハネ教会(重要文化財)など無数の教会建築に匿名で私財投与,帰国時には精神肉体とも使い果たしていた。郷里ヴァージニアで永眠。京都市と郷里に建てられた追慕碑には「在日五十年,道ヲ伝ヘテ己ヲ伝ヘズ」と記されている。立教大学新座書庫に「ウィリアムズ書簡」がある。

(大江満)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Williamsburg (English spelling)

>>: College of William and Mary