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			{{Short description\|British diplomat and scholar (1841–1911)}}
	'''William George Aston''' (9 April 1841 – 1911) was a ] consular official in ] and ]. He made a major contribution to the fledgling study of Japan's language and history (Japanology) in the 19th century. The ] in London has by ], apparently the only known likeness of him.
			{{Use dmy dates\|date=May 2021}}
			{{Use British English\|date=May 2012}}
			{{Infobox person
			\|name = William George Aston
			\|image = William George Aston 1911.jpg
			\|alt =
			\|caption = William George Aston, 1911
			\|birth_date = {{Birth date\|df=yes\|1841\|04\|09}}
			\|birth_place = ], ]
			\|death_date = {{Death date and age\|df=yes\|1911\|11\|22\|1841\|04\|09}}
			\|death_place = ], ]
			\|nationality = Anglo-Irish<!-- The lead sentence said "British" until May 2022. A reliable source should probably be found one way or the other. -->
			\|other_names =
			\|known_for =
			\|occupation = diplomat, educator
			}}

			'''William George Aston''' {{post-nominals\|country=GBR\|size=100%\|CMG}} (9 April 1841 – 22 November 1911) was an Anglo-Irish<!-- The evidence supports this; "British" as opposed to "Anglo-Irish" implies the island of Great Britain, which is definitely wrong. The infobox and lead contradicted each other, so unified them to this. But a source should ideally be found. --> diplomat, author, and scholar of the languages and histories of ] and ].<ref>
	==Japanology==
			'']'' (DNB); ]. (1912). DNB, 1901-11 supplement.</ref>
	Aston was also one of the three major British ]s active in ] during the 19th century,
	along with ] and ]. He was the first translator of the '']'' into English. He lectured to the ] several times.

			==Early life==
	In 1912 ] acquired 10,000 rare Japanese volumes from the collections of Aston and ] which formed the starting point of the Library's vast collection.
			Aston was born near ], ].<ref name="pgil">Ricorso: </ref> He distinguished himself at ] (now ]), which he attended 1859–1863. There he received a very thorough ] training in ], ], ], ] and modern history. One of his professors was ].<ref name="kornicki2">Kornicki, Peter. Cambridge University, Department of East Asian Studies, 2008. {{Dead link\|date=November 2024\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004000125/http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/deas/korean/aston-and-korea.html}}</ref><ref name="nie">{{Cite NIE\|wstitle=Aston, William George\|year=1905}}</ref>

	==~~Works~~==		==Career==
			Aston was appointed in 1864 ] to the British Legation in Japan. He mastered the theory of the Japanese verb, and in ] began, with ], those profound researches into the ] which laid the foundations of the critical study of the Japanese language by western scholars.<ref name="nie"/> Aston passed the examination for entry to the Consular Service in 1884, and served in the British consular service in ], ] and ].<ref name="kornicki2"/>
	*W. G. Aston 1879, ‘H.M.S. Phaeton at Nagasaki’, Transactions of the ] volume 7: pp. 323-336
	*W.G. Aston (trans.), '']: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697,'' London: Kegan Paul 1924. (First published much earlier)
	*W. G. Aston ''], the Way of the Gods, ''London: Longmans Green and Co. 1905.

			From 1884 to 1885, Aston served as the United Kingdom's consul-general in Korea. He returned to consular duties in Tokyo as Secretary of British Legation in 1885.<ref name="nie"/> Aston retired from the foreign service on a pension in 1889 because of ill-health<ref name="kornicki2"/><ref name="nie"/> and settled in England.<ref>Ruxton, Ian. (2008). {{Google books\|Xg6RgEkbFsgC\|''Sir Ernest Satow's private letters to W.G. Aston and F.V. Dickins: the Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologist from 1870 to 1918,'' p. xiii.\|page=xiii}}</ref> He was appointed CMG in the ].
	===Letters to Aston===

			===Japan===
	*''Sir ]'s Private Letters to W.G. Aston and ]'' edited by Ian Ruxton with an introduction by ], Lulu Press Inc, December 2007
			Aston made a major contribution to the fledgling study of Japan's language and history in the 19th century. Along with ] and ], he was one of three major British ]s active in Japan during the 19th century.

			Aston was the first translator of the '']'' into the English language (1896). Other publications were two Japanese grammars (1868 and 1872) and ''A History of Japanese Literature'' (1899). He lectured to the ] several times, and many of his papers are published in their ''Transactions''.<ref name="nie"/>

			In 1912 ] acquired 10,000 rare Japanese volumes from the collections of Aston and Satow which formed the starting point of the Library's Japanese collection.

			] recalls in chapter eleven on the development and adaption of drama of his book, 明治劇談ランプの下にて, Meiji Gekidan Ranpu no Shitanite () (in English) meeting Aston at the British Legation...
			<blockquote>
			Inevitably, I made up my mind to read the scripts of a foreign country. Around that time I went to the British Embassy, which was then still known as the Legation, and imposed myself on the Secretary Mr. (William George) Aston in his room. I was at the time occasionally babysitting Mr. Aston’s children. He had considerable understanding of Japanese literature. However Mr. Aston had brought into the Legation with him the scripts of various foreign plays. He had brought the complete works of Shakespeare though I doubted even though they were there that I would read them. So Mr. Aston, knowing the scripts of the various plays gave me readings, after all it was just the summary that I simply wanted to hear and as a consequence, based on that, I didn’t really end up appreciating the technique of playwriting.

			But that I didn’t appreciate the techniques of playwriting from just listening it was certainly kind of him and I certainly often went to his room to listen to and discuss drama. The following summer, July if I remember correctly, I went as usual to visit him when Mr. Aston, laughing, said 'similarly you don’t know about this person’s publications' and showed me five books containing six volumes in temporary bindings which had been published. They, the Kawatake Mokuami script series, had been published as articles by the Ginza’s Kabuki Shinpō (Kabuki News) Company. They covered 'Nakamitsu', 'Four Thousand Ryō' () (in Japanese) and ‘’. When I went I had no idea that they had been successively published and had been delivered from a Ginza bookstore. I leapt for joy and straight away started going to him and borrowing them so that I could indulge myself by reading them.
			</blockquote>

			===Korea===
			In 1884, Aston was the first European diplomatic representative to reside in Korea. Political instability caused him to leave in 1885.<ref name="kornicki2"/> In 1885–1887, Aston continued ] studies in Tokyo with ]. This Korean teacher composed a number of stories for Aston to use as practice.<ref name="kornicki2"/> Aston donated these manuscript versions of Korean folk tales to the ] in ], ]<ref>Ким Чегук (]). Корейские новеллы. / Пер. и комм. Д. Д. Елисеева (D.D. Eliseev). (Серия «Памятники культуры Востока». Вып.9) СПб, Петербургское востоковедение. 2004. 599 стр. "Эти рукописи получил в дар от автора, почти неизвестного корейского писателя XIX в Ким Чегука, английский исследователь Кореи У.Г.Астон (1841-1911), собиравший корейскую простонародную литературу."</ref> and they were published in 2004.<ref>. Из корейских рукописей Санкт-Петербургского филиала Института востоковедения РАН / Факсимиле рукописей. Перевод с корейского; According to Aston's transcription, the editor of the storybook ''Corean Tales'' was Jae Kuk Kim a Korean teacher of Aston's at the British official buildings located in Jong Dong, ] in 1885.</ref> This part of Aston's personal collection is now preserved in the ] in St Petersburg.<ref name="kornicki2"/>

			==Later years==
			After retiring from the consular service, Aston published books on ] and ] as well as a number of articles on Korean subjects.<ref name="kornicki2"/> He died 22 November 1911 at ].<ref name="pgil"/> Along with the Japanese books already mentioned Aston's substantial collection of Chinese and Korean books was acquired by ] after his death.<ref name="kornicki2"/>

			==Research notes==
			The only known likeness of Aston is in the ] in London. A 1911 by ] only suggests what he might have looked like as a younger man. Very little is known about Aston's personal life because he left no letters or diaries.<ref name="kornicki2"/>

			==Selected works==
			In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about William George Aston, ]/] encompasses roughly 90+ works in 200+ publications in 4 languages and 3,000+ library holdings.<ref>: </ref>
			{{dynamic list}}
			* 1869 — ''A Short Grammar of the Japanese Spoken Language''
			* 1872 — ''A Grammar of the Japanese Written Language, with a short chrestomathy''
			* 1877 — ''A Grammar of the Japanese Written Language''
			* 1888 — ''A Grammar of the Japanese Spoken Language''
			* 1889 — ''Early Japanese history''
			* 1896 — ''Nihongi; Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697''
			* 1899 — ''A History of Japanese Literature'' (])
			* 1899 — ''Toriwi--its derivation''
			* 1902 — ''Littérature japonaise''
			* 1905 — ''Shinto, the Way of the Gods.''
			* 1907 — ''Shinto, the Ancient Religion of Japan''

			===Articles===
			* 1879 — "H.M.S. Phaeton at Nagasaki," ''Transactions of the ],'' Vol. 7, pp. 323–336.

	==See also==		==See also==
			* ]
			* ]
			* ]

			==Notes==
	*The entry about Aston by ] in the 1901-11 supplement to the ].
			{{Reflist}}
	*]

	*]
			==References==
			* Ruxton, Ian. (2008). Morrisville, North Carolina: Lulu Press. {{ISBN\|9781435710009}}; {{OCLC\|237202832}}

	==External links==		==External links==
			*{{Commons category-inline}}
	{{Wikisource author}}
			*{{Wikisource author-inline}}
	* by ], on the website of the ] at ]
			* {{Gutenberg author\|id=43589}}
			* {{Internet Archive author \|sname=William George Aston}}
			* at Archive.org
	* by W.G. Aston (Yokohama: Kelly and Walsh, 1899)		* by W.G. Aston (Yokohama: Kelly and Walsh, 1899)

			{{Authority control}}

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, William George}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, William George}}
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Latest revision as of 16:48, 3 November 2024

British diplomat and scholar (1841–1911)

William George Aston
William George Aston, 1911
Born	(1841-04-09)9 April 1841 Derry, Ireland
Died	22 November 1911(1911-11-22) (aged 70) Beer, Devon, England
Nationality	Anglo-Irish
Occupation(s)	diplomat, educator

William George Aston CMG (9 April 1841 – 22 November 1911) was an Anglo-Irish diplomat, author, and scholar of the languages and histories of Korea and Japan.

Early life

Aston was born near Derry, Ireland. He distinguished himself at Queen's College, Belfast (now Queen's University Belfast), which he attended 1859–1863. There he received a very thorough philological training in Latin, Greek, French, German and modern history. One of his professors was James McCosh.

Career

Aston was appointed in 1864 student interpreter to the British Legation in Japan. He mastered the theory of the Japanese verb, and in Edo began, with Ernest Mason Satow, those profound researches into the Japanese language which laid the foundations of the critical study of the Japanese language by western scholars. Aston passed the examination for entry to the Consular Service in 1884, and served in the British consular service in Tokyo, Kobe and Nagasaki.

From 1884 to 1885, Aston served as the United Kingdom's consul-general in Korea. He returned to consular duties in Tokyo as Secretary of British Legation in 1885. Aston retired from the foreign service on a pension in 1889 because of ill-health and settled in England. He was appointed CMG in the 1889 Birthday Honours.

Japan

Aston made a major contribution to the fledgling study of Japan's language and history in the 19th century. Along with Ernest Mason Satow and Basil Hall Chamberlain, he was one of three major British Japanologists active in Japan during the 19th century.

Aston was the first translator of the Nihongi into the English language (1896). Other publications were two Japanese grammars (1868 and 1872) and A History of Japanese Literature (1899). He lectured to the Asiatic Society of Japan several times, and many of his papers are published in their Transactions.

In 1912 Cambridge University Library acquired 10,000 rare Japanese volumes from the collections of Aston and Satow which formed the starting point of the Library's Japanese collection.

Okamoto Kidō recalls in chapter eleven on the development and adaption of drama of his book, 明治劇談ランプの下にて, Meiji Gekidan Ranpu no Shitanite (On the Theatre of the Meiji Period - Under the Lamp) (in English) meeting Aston at the British Legation...

Inevitably, I made up my mind to read the scripts of a foreign country. Around that time I went to the British Embassy, which was then still known as the Legation, and imposed myself on the Secretary Mr. (William George) Aston in his room. I was at the time occasionally babysitting Mr. Aston’s children. He had considerable understanding of Japanese literature. However Mr. Aston had brought into the Legation with him the scripts of various foreign plays. He had brought the complete works of Shakespeare though I doubted even though they were there that I would read them. So Mr. Aston, knowing the scripts of the various plays gave me readings, after all it was just the summary that I simply wanted to hear and as a consequence, based on that, I didn’t really end up appreciating the technique of playwriting.
But that I didn’t appreciate the techniques of playwriting from just listening it was certainly kind of him and I certainly often went to his room to listen to and discuss drama. The following summer, July if I remember correctly, I went as usual to visit him when Mr. Aston, laughing, said 'similarly you don’t know about this person’s publications' and showed me five books containing six volumes in temporary bindings which had been published. They, the Kawatake Mokuami script series, had been published as articles by the Ginza’s Kabuki Shinpō (Kabuki News) Company. They covered 'Nakamitsu', 'Four Thousand Ryō' (Yonsenryō) (in Japanese) and ‘Kagatobi’. When I went I had no idea that they had been successively published and had been delivered from a Ginza bookstore. I leapt for joy and straight away started going to him and borrowing them so that I could indulge myself by reading them.

Korea

In 1884, Aston was the first European diplomatic representative to reside in Korea. Political instability caused him to leave in 1885. In 1885–1887, Aston continued Korean language studies in Tokyo with Kim Chae-guk. This Korean teacher composed a number of stories for Aston to use as practice. Aston donated these manuscript versions of Korean folk tales to the Asiatic Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and they were published in 2004. This part of Aston's personal collection is now preserved in the Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg.

Later years

After retiring from the consular service, Aston published books on Japanese literature and Japanese religion as well as a number of articles on Korean subjects. He died 22 November 1911 at Beer, Devon. Along with the Japanese books already mentioned Aston's substantial collection of Chinese and Korean books was acquired by Cambridge University Library after his death.

Research notes

The only known likeness of Aston is in the National Portrait Gallery in London. A 1911 crayon drawing of Aston by Minnie Agnes Cohen only suggests what he might have looked like as a younger man. Very little is known about Aston's personal life because he left no letters or diaries.

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about William George Aston, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 90+ works in 200+ publications in 4 languages and 3,000+ library holdings.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

1869 — A Short Grammar of the Japanese Spoken Language
1872 — A Grammar of the Japanese Written Language, with a short chrestomathy
1877 — A Grammar of the Japanese Written Language
1888 — A Grammar of the Japanese Spoken Language
1889 — Early Japanese history
1896 — Nihongi; Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697
1899 — A History of Japanese Literature (available at Wikisource)
1899 — Toriwi--its derivation
1902 — Littérature japonaise
1905 — Shinto, the Way of the Gods.
1907 — Shinto, the Ancient Religion of Japan

Articles

1879 — "H.M.S. Phaeton at Nagasaki," Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. 7, pp. 323–336.

Notes

Kornicki, P. F. (2004). "Aston, William George (1841–1911)," Dictionary of National Biography (DNB); Longford, Joseph Henry. (1912). DNB, 1901-11 supplement.
^ Ricorso: Aston, bio notes
^ Kornicki, Peter. "Aston Cambridge and Korea," Cambridge University, Department of East Asian Studies, 2008.
^ Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Aston, William George" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
Ruxton, Ian. (2008). Sir Ernest Satow's private letters to W.G. Aston and F.V. Dickins: the Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologist from 1870 to 1918, p. xiii., p. xiii, at Google Books
Ким Чегук (Kim Chae-guk). Корейские новеллы. / Пер. и комм. Д. Д. Елисеева (D.D. Eliseev). (Серия «Памятники культуры Востока». Вып.9) СПб, Петербургское востоковедение. 2004. 599 стр. "Эти рукописи получил в дар от автора, почти неизвестного корейского писателя XIX в Ким Чегука, английский исследователь Кореи У.Г.Астон (1841-1911), собиравший корейскую простонародную литературу."
Ким Чегук. Корейские новеллы. Из корейских рукописей Санкт-Петербургского филиала Института востоковедения РАН / Факсимиле рукописей. Перевод с корейского; Uliana Kobyakova, 'A study on the Corean tales' According to Aston's transcription, the editor of the storybook Corean Tales was Jae Kuk Kim a Korean teacher of Aston's at the British official buildings located in Jong Dong, Seoul in 1885.
WorldCat Identities: Aston, W. G. (William George) 1841-1911