Among the numerous Western merchants who flooded China with opium, causing significant harm to the physical and mental well-being of the Chinese people, one notable exception was American businessman David Washington Cincinnatus Olyphant, who firmly opposed the opium trade and exclusively conducted tea business in China.
Born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1789, Olyphant was a devout Christian since childhood, as his family belonged to the Presbyterian Church. He came to Guangzhou and founded Olyphant & Co. (Chinese: Tongfu Yanghang) in 1828, soon after the United States’ establishment.
As a faithful believer, Olyphant firmly refused to engage in the opium trade, believing that narcotics would harm people's health and corrupt human nature. Olyphant & Co.'s business was mainly focused on tea. Notably, one of its employees, Mr. Deng Duanfu, was the father of Mr. Deng Shichang, a heroic naval officer in the Beiyang Fleet during the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95).
In addition to his business in China, Olyphant actively promoted evangelization efforts. He had supported various missionaries, including the first missionary to come to China–Robert Morrison, the first American Protestant Christian missionary–Elijah Coleman Bridgman, and others like Samuel Wells Williams, Peter Parker, and David Abeel.
In the book American Missionaries and Modernization of China in the Late Qing Dynasty, it is noted that this generous businessman also reached an agreement with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, stating that anyone willing to come to China to preach can take the merchant ship of Olyphant & Co. for free, reside in the company's accommodations in China at no cost for one year, and receive all necessary provisions.
Apart from preaching the gospel, Bridgman and Williams severely criticized the opium trade in the Chinese Repository, an early journal on China that they edited. Williams was even more excited when China began to crack down on opium. Olyphant's funding also contributed to the publication of these important works.
(Originally published by the Gospel Times, the article has been edited under permission and the author is a believer at a church in Xiamen, Fujian.)
- Edited and Translated by Poppy Chan
