Sir Edmund Backhouse, Baronet na biyu

Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse, Baronet na biyu (20 ga Oktoba 1873 - 8 ga Janairu 1944) masanin gabas ne na Burtaniya, Sinologist, kuma masanin harshe wanda littattafansa suka yi tasiri sosai a kan ra'ayi na Yammacin shekarun da suka gabata na Daular Qing (1644-1912). Tun bayan mutuwarsa, duk da haka, an tabbatar da cewa babban tushen kasar Sin a karkashin Empress Dowager, Diary of His Excellency Ching Shan, karya ce, mai yiwuwa daga Backhouse da kansa.

Mawallafin tarihinsa, Hugh Trevor-Roper, ya bayyana Backhouse a matsayin "Mutumin da ya amince da shi tare da 'yan kaɗan", wanda kuma ya yaudari gwamnatin Burtaniya, Jami'ar Oxford, Kamfanin Bankin Bankin Amurka da John Brown & Company. Derek Sandhaus, editan tarihin Backhouse na Décadence Mandchoue, ya yi jayayya cewa su ma wani abu ne da ba a musanta ba amma suna dauke da abubuwan tunawa da abubuwan da suka faru da cikakkun bayanai.

 Rayuwa ta farko 
An haifi Backhouse a cikin iyalin Quaker a Darlington; danginsa sun haɗa da malamai da yawa. A shekara ta 1918, ya gaji Baronetcy na iyali daga mahaifinsa, Sir Jonathan Backhouse, 1st Baronet, darektan Bankin Barclays. Yayansa ƙarami shine Sir Roger Backhouse, wanda ya kasance First Sea Lord daga 1938 zuwa 1939. Backhouse ya gaya wa The Literary Digest: "An furta sunana a baya".".

Lokacin da yake tunani game da yarinta ya rubuta cewa "An haife ni ne daga iyaye masu arziki waɗanda ke da duk abin da suke so kuma ba su da kyau ... Ban ji kalma mai kyau ba kuma ban sami tausayi". Backhouse ya halarci Kwalejin Winchester da Kwalejin Merton, Oxford. Yayinda yake a Oxford ya sha wahala a cikin 1894, kuma kodayake ya koma jami'a a cikin 1895, bai taɓa kammala digiri ba, a maimakon haka ya gudu daga ƙasar saboda manyan basussuka da ya tara. Paul Theroux na The New York Times ya rubuta cewa Backhouse ya bar Oxford "a ƙarƙashin girgije mai tsawa". 

 China 
A shekara ta 1899, ya isa Beijing inda nan da nan ya fara aiki tare da mai ba da labari na Times George Ernest Morrison, yana fassara ayyukan daga Sinanci zuwa Turanci, saboda Morrison ba zai iya karantawa ko magana da Sinanci ba. Backhouse ya ciyar da Morrison abin da ya ce bayanan sirri ne game da kotun Manchu, amma babu wata shaida da ta nuna cewa yana da wata dangantaka mai mahimmanci da wani sananne. A wannan Lokaci, ya riga ya koyi harsuna da yawa, ciki har da Rasha, Jafananci da Sinanci. Ya shafe mafi yawan sauran rayuwarsa a Beijing (wanda aka sani a wasu lokuta a rayuwarsa da Beiping), a cikin aikin kamfanoni da mutane daban-daban, waɗanda suka yi amfani da ƙwarewar harshe da kuma zargin haɗin kai da kotun daular kasar Sin don tattauna yarjejeniyar kasuwanci. Babu wani daga cikin wadannan yarjejeniyoyi da ya taba samun nasara.

A cikin 1910, ya wallafa wani tarihi, China Under the Empress Dowager kuma a cikin 1914, Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking, duka tare da ɗan jaridar Burtaniya J. O. P. Bland . Tare da waɗannan littattafan ya kafa sunansa a matsayin masanin gabas. A cikin 1913, Backhouse ya fara ba da gudummawa ga rubuce-rubucen Sinanci da yawa ga ɗakin karatu na Bodleian, yana fatan samun farfesa a madadin. Wannan yunkurin bai yi nasara ba. Ya kawo jimlar tan takwas na rubuce-rubuce ga Bodleian tsakanin 1913 da 1923. Daga baya an jefa asalin wasu daga cikin rubuce-rubucen cikin shakku mai tsanani. Duk da haka, ya ba da gudummawa sama da abubuwa 17,000, wasu daga cikinsu "dukiya ce ta gaske", gami da rabin kundin goma sha biyu na Yongle Encyclopedia na farkon karni na 15. Laburaren ya bayyana kyautar: "Sakamako na tarin Backhouse, ɗaya daga cikin kyaututtuka mafi kyau da karimci a tarihin Laburaren, tsakanin 1913 da 1922, ya wadatar da tarin Sinanci na Bodleian".
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