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Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse, 2nd Baronet (20 October 1873 – 8 January 1944) was a British oriental scholar, Sinologist, and linguist whose work exerted a powerful influence on the Western view of the last decades of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). Since his death, however, it has been established that some of his sources were forged, though it is not clear how many or by whom. His biographer, Hugh Trevor-Roper, described him as "a confidence man with few equals."〔http://campcatatonia.org/article/1184/hugh-trevor-roper-on-sir-edmund-backhouse〕 Derek Sandhaus of Earnshaw Books, the editor of Backhouse's memoirs, after consulting with specialists in the period, argues that Trevor-Roper was offended by Backhouse's homosexuality and that Backhouse's undoubted confabulation was mixed with plausible recollection of scenes and details.〔Edmund Trelawny Backhouse, Derek Sandhaus, ed., ''Décadence Mandchoue the China Memoirs of Edmund Trelawny Backhouse'' (Chicago: Earnshaw Books, 2011), Introduction, xv-xxiv.〕 Backhouse told ''The Literary Digest'': "My name is pronounced ''back'us''" 〔Charles Earle Funk, ''What's the Name, Please?'' (Funk & Wagnalls, 1936).〕 ==Life== Backhouse was born into a Quaker family in Darlington; his relatives included many churchmen and scholars. His youngest brother was Sir Roger Backhouse, who was First Sea Lord from 1938–39. When reflecting on his childhood he wrote that "I was born of wealthy parents who had everything they wanted and were miserable...I heard not a kind word nor received a grudging dole of sympathy..."〔Seagrave, Sterling, and Peggy Seagrave. Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China. New York: Knopf, 1992. 282. Print〕 Backhouse attended Winchester College and Merton College, Oxford. While at Oxford he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1894, and although he returned to the university in 1895, he never completed his degree, instead fleeing the country due to the massive debts he had accumulated.〔Robert Bickers, 'Backhouse, Sir Edmund Trelawny, second baronet (1873–1944)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (accessed 4 May 2011 )〕 In 1899 he arrived in Peking where he soon began collaborating with the influential ''Times'' correspondent Dr. George Ernest Morrison, translating works from Chinese to English, as Morrison could not read or speak Chinese. Backhouse fed Morrison what he said was insider information about the Manchu court, however there is no evidence of him having any significant ties with anyone of prominence. At this time he had already learned several languages, including Russian, Japanese and Chinese. In 1918 he inherited the family baronetcy from his father, Sir Jonathan Backhouse, 1st Baronet. He spent most of the rest of his life in Peking, in the employment of various companies and individuals, who made use of his language skills and alleged connections to the Chinese imperial court for the negotiation of business deals. None of these deals was ever successful.〔Bickers, 'Backhouse, Sir Edmund Trelawny, second baronet (1873–1944)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (accessed 4 May 2011 )〕 In 1910 he published a history, ''China Under the Empress Dowager'' and in 1914, ''Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking'', both with British journalist J.O.P. Bland. With these books he established his reputation as an oriental scholar. In 1913 Backhouse began to donate a great many Chinese manuscripts to the Bodleian Library, hoping to receive a professorship in return. This endeavour was ultimately unsuccessful. He delivered a total of eight tons of manuscripts to the Bodleian between 1913 and 1923. The provenance of several of the manuscripts was later cast into serious doubt. Nevertheless, he donated over 17,000 items, some of which "were a real treasure", including half a dozen volumes of the rare Yongle Encyclopedia of the early 15th century.〔 The Library describes the gift: ''The acquisition of the Backhouse collection, one of the finest and most generous gifts in the Library's history, between 1913 and 1922, greatly enriched the Bodleian's Chinese collections.''〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History and scope of the Chinese collections )〕 He also worked as a secret agent for the British legation during the First World War, managing an arms deal between Chinese sources and the UK. In 1916 he presented himself as a representative of the Imperial Court and negotiated two fraudulent deals with the American Bank Note Company and John Brown & Company, a British shipbuilder. Neither company received any confirmation from the court. When they tried to contact Backhouse, he had left the country. After he returned to Peking in 1922 he refused to speak about the deals. Backhouse's life was led in alternate periods of total reclusion and alienation from his Western origins, and work for Western companies and governments. In 1939, the Austrian Embassy offered him refuge, and he made the acquaintance of the Swiss consul, Dr Richard Hoeppli, whom he impressed with tales of his sexual adventures and homosexual life in old Beijing. Hoeppli persuaded him to write his memoirs, which were consulted by Trevor-Roper, but not published until 2011 by Earnshaw Books.〔Backhouse, Derek Sandhaus, ed., ''Décadence Mandchoue,'' Introduction.〕 Backhouse died in Beijing in 1944, unmarried, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew John Edmund Backhouse, son of Roger Backhouse. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sir Edmund Backhouse, 2nd Baronet」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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