Hosea Ballou Morse

Hosea Ballou Morse (1855-1934) spent thirty-five years in China working for the Chinese Maritime Customs Service as Commissioner and Statistical Secretary. He held posts in different parts of China, including Shanghai, the centre of western commercial and political influence in China. He was involved in diplomatic negotiations in the Sino-Japanese war, representing both the Qing government and the British in negotiations with the Japanese. He also acted as adviser to the Chinese Delegation to...See more

Hosea Ballou Morse (1855-1934) spent thirty-five years in China working for the Chinese Maritime Customs Service as Commissioner and Statistical Secretary. He held posts in different parts of China, including Shanghai, the centre of western commercial and political influence in China. He was involved in diplomatic negotiations in the Sino-Japanese war, representing both the Qing government and the British in negotiations with the Japanese. He also acted as adviser to the Chinese Delegation to the Economics and Financial Conference of the League of Nations. At the time of his death he was regarded as the major historian of modern China and his work both influenced the following generation of scholars and laid the foundations for China scholarship in the United States. Michael Dillon was Founding Director of the Centre for International Chinese Studies, University of Durham, UK. Professor Dillon is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the author of China: A Modern History . See less