Li Yage (1815-1897), originally named James Legge, was a priest of British London Church, one of the earliest Christian missionaries to China, and an outstanding Sinologist.

He was born in a wealthy Scottish family in 1815. In 1839 he became a priest and in 1840 he came to Malacca to begin his missionary work. Soon after that he assumed the office of dean of famous Anglo-Chinese College. In 1855 he became the editor-in-chief of the first Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong.

Besides cultivating missionaries via the college, he did much research on and translation work of Chinese ancient sutra. He translated the most important Confucianism work with Wang Tao, who was one of excellent scholars in China. Many Sinologists appreciated their collaboration.

In 1873, he went back to Britain. Two years later Oxford University employed him to be speechmaker on Sinology. Li Yage thought that Confucianism could be conciliated with Christianity.