This book examines the language studies of Western missionaries in China and beyond. The goal
of this study is to examine the purpose methods context and influence of missionary language
studies. The book reveals new insights into the hitherto less well-known and unstudied origins
of language thinking. These publically unknown sources virtually form our hidden history of
language. Some key 17 th century and pre-17 th century descriptions of language not only pass
on our Greco-Latin grammatical heritage internationally for about two millennia. They also
reveal grammar speaking and language as an esoteric knowledge. Our modern life has been
formed and influenced through both esoteric and common connotations in language. It is
precisely the techniques allusions and intentions of language making revealed in rare coded
texts which have influenced our modern identities. These extraordinary and highly controversial
interpretations of both language and Christianity reveal that our modern identities have been
largely shaped in the absence of public knowledge and discussion.
