William Chalmers Burns

William Chalmers Burns (宾惠廉, 1 April 1815 – 4 April 1868) was a Scottish evangelist and missionary to China with the English Presbyterian Mission who originated from Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. He was the coordinator of the Overseas missions for the English Presbyterian church. He became a well-known evangelist through his participation in two periodic Anglo-American religious revivals.

William Chalmers Burns
Missionary to China
Born	1815 Dun, Forfarshire, Scotland
Died	1868 Niú Zhuāng, China

Biography

William Hamilton Burns by Hill & Adamson

Burns was brought up in a well-to-do household. He was born in Forfarshire, the third son of a local church minister, William Hamilton Burns (1779–1859) and Elizabeth Chalmers (1784–1879). At the age of seventeen, Burns's faith was strengthened through tragedy, and he subsequently commenced theological training at Marischal College in Aberdeen, and at the University of Glasgow's Divinity Hall. (His brother Islay, author of Memoirs, was later a professor there).

During a revival meeting, he encountered an experience in which it became apparent that God had particularly appointed him into His service. By 1839, at the age of 24, Burns had obtained the licence to preach from the Glasgow Presbytery.

While still in his homeland of Scotland, he experienced, together with the preacher Robert Murray M'Cheyne, genuine revival meetings. It was one of the tools from which the great spiritual revivals in his home town of Kilsyth resulted, that took place from July 7, 1839. Burns preached at St. Peter's in Dundee while Robert Murray M'Cheyne was away on a mission to the Jews in Palestine. The days of revival also deeply affected Dundee, and continued after M'Cheyne returned to St. Peter's in November, 1839.

In 1843, Burns sided with Thomas Chalmers in the disruption within the Church of Scotland. In 1845, he visited Canada with his uncle, Robert Burns, minister from Paisley, and the younger Burns preached for the Free Church cause in many communities, including Montreal, Canada East, and in Glengarry County, where he preached in English, Gaelic and French. He later travelled into Canada West, although there was interest in his ministry in France. His uncle remained in Canada, becoming minister of Knox Church, Toronto, and later (1856–1869) a professor at Knox College, University of Toronto.

In 1847, Burns went to the Chinese empire via Hong Kong; during this long ship journey, he spent a lot of time studying the Chinese language. He began his missionary service during the late Qing dynasty in British Hong Kong and went on to preach in such locations as Shantou, Xiamen and Beijing.

In 1855 Burns met Hudson Taylor and the two worked together for quite some time. Both had the courage to advance into the Chinese interior. Hudson Taylor regarded Burns as one of his spiritual mentors and wrote about the depth of Burns's prayer life. Taylor, however, influenced Burns in the way in which he sought to contextualize his ministry by breaking with missionary tradition to wear Chinese clothing while evangelizing in China's interior. During his twenty years of preaching the gospel in China, Burns also spent a short period wrongly imprisoned in Guangzhou.

In 1868, Burns died after a short illness in Yingkou (Niuzhuang), Liaoning Province.

One of William Burns's well-known quotes was: "Always be ready" (1 Peter 3:15).

Publications

• Translation of The Pilgrim’s Progress (classical Chinese)
• Translation of The Pilgrim’s Progress (modern Chinese)
• Memoir (with his brother Islay)

References

Sources

• Blaikie, William Garden (1886). "Burns, William Chalmers". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 7. London: Smith, Elder & Co. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Burns, Islay (1860). The Pastor of Kilsyth ; or, Memorials of the life and times of the Rev. W. H. Burns D.D. London: T. Nelson.
• Burns, Islay (1870). Memoir of the Rev. Wm. C. Burns, M.A., missionary to China from the English Presbyterian Church. New York: Robert Carter and Brothers.
• Burns, William C., Revival Sermons, Banner of Truth Trust, 1980, ISBN 0-85151-316-6
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kilsyth" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 798.
• Clarke, Agnes H. L., China's man of the Book. The story of William Chalmers Burns, 1815–1868, London : Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1968
• Doyle, G. Wright. "William Chalmers Burns". Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
• Guthrie, Charles John Guthrie, Lord (1902). Genealogy of the descendants of Rev. Thomas Guthrie, D.D., and Mrs. Anne Burns or Guthrie : connected chiefly with the families of Chalmers and Trail, to which Mrs. Guthrie belonged, through her mother, Mrs. Christiana Chalmers or Burns, and her great-grandmother, Mrs. Susannah Trail or Chalmers : also incidental references to the families of Guthrie and Burns: comp. from family records, letters, diaries / by Charles John Guthrie. Edinburgh: A. Elliott. pp. 93, 25, 149.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Houghton, S. M., Five pioneer missionaries: D. Brainerd, W. C. Burns, J. Eliot, H. Martyn, J. G. Paton, London : Banner of Truth Trust, 1965
• Japp, Alexander Hay (1873). Golden lives, biographies for the day. London: Strahan & co. pp. 180-226.
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott (1929). A history of Christian missions in China. Vol. 1. New York: The Macmillan company. pp. 257-259.
• MacMillan, Donald N., The Kirk in Glengarry-A History of the Presbytery of Glengarry (Presbyterian Church in Canada) 1787–1984, 1985.
• Matheson, Donald (1866). Narrative of the Mission to China of the English Presbyterian Church. London: James Nisbet & co.
• McMullen, Michael D., God's Polished Arrow: W. C. Burns, Revival Preacher, Christian Focus Publications, 2000, ISBN 1-85792-395-2
• Scott, Hew (1920). Fasti ecclesiae scoticanae; the succession of ministers in the Church of Scotland from the reformation. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd. p. 480. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• Smithers, David. "William C. Burns - 1 April 1815 – 4 April 1868". Revival Library. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
• Stewart James Alexander, Biographical Sketches: William Chalmers Burns / Robert Murray McCheyne, Asheville, NC: Revival Literature, 1963
• Tow, Timothy, William C Burns: Grandfather of Bible-Presbyterians, Singapore: Christian Life Publishers, 1994. ISBN 9971-9913-4-9

Dutch

• Valen, L. J. van, Die aan alle wateren zaait : uit het leven van William Chalmers Burns ; zendeling en evangelist, Ede : Hardeman, 1988, ISBN 90-71272-22-2

Attribution

This article was originally a direct translation from de:William Chalmers Burns and partly from zh:賓惠廉