8vo, five parts bound in one. Comprises title and 30 double folded leaves, title printed on yellow paper. Text written in traditional Chinese script, a few corrections in ink. Bound in the traditional Chinese style, original paper wrappers with small tears and a light stain.

An early book printed in Singapore (it is the earliest Chinese book printed in Singapore in the National Library of Singapore's collections). The Mission Press was established in that city in 1823 and, in its early years published mainly works in English. The author of this work, Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (1803-51), was a German Lutheran missionary to Batavia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China. A controversial figure, he made trips along the Chinese coast and nearby areas to preach and distribute tracts, even though this was against Chinese law at the time.

Gützlaff had a natural facility to learn languages, including Chinese, Hakka, and Malay, and had some knowledge of Thai, Japanese, and the language of the Cambodians. His skill at languages enabled him to serve the British government on several diplomatic missions. In order to raise funds for his missionary work, Gützlaff also worked as a translator for a British company selling opium to the Chinese. This attracted much criticism from other missionaries.

Gützlaff wrote this religious work under his pen name, "Aihanze." It was published by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Singapore, for distribution throughout Chinese-speaking Asia. The publication focuses on the Sermon on the Mount, a collection of Jesus's teachings from the Gospel of Matthew, followed by an exposition of the passages. It was an attempt to integrate Jesus within the concept of the Confucian ideal.

Rare. Only two known library copies; at the National Library of Singapore and U.C. San Diego.

Not in Cordier or in Löwendahl. Wylie, Memorials of Protestant Missions to the Chinese, p. 57, no.11; Ralph Covell, Confucius, the Buddha, and Christ - A History of the Gospel, 2004