Wen Huilian
(1811-1864), whose original name was William Jones Boone, was one of the
earliest American missionaries to China, and the founder and first bishop of the
Anglican-Episcopal Church China branch.
He majored in law in an American university
in his early years and was baptized in 1833. The Anglican-Episcopal Church was
founded in 1835 and planned to set up a branch in China. Wen Huilian applied to
go to China and his application was approved. In 1836 he got the priest
qualification and one year later he came to Southeast Asia to begin his
missionary work. He was appointed as the bishop of the Anglican-Episcopal Church
China branch. In 1846 he founded a school in Shanghai. Later he attended a
meeting on translation of the Bible and he collaborated with other
missionaries to translate the Old Testament. He died in Shanghai in 1864.
Many of his works were written in Shanghai dialect and the most influential one
was Congregation Pray.