Elihu Doty

Elihu Doty was an American missionary to China. He was responsible for the first textbook of Southern Min in English. Along with John Van Nest Talmage he is credited with the invention of Pe̍h-ōe-jī, the most common orthography used to write Southern Min, although some doubt remains as to the exact origins of this system.

Early mission

Doty arrived in Batavia in the Dutch East Indies in 1836 and spent his first three years as a missionary there; Azubah Caroline Condit was among those who accompanied him on his journey there. His next station was Borneo, from 1839 to 1844, at which point he relocated to Amoy in Fujian, China.

Mission in Amoy

It was while stationed in Amoy that Doty produced the Anglo Chinese Manual of the Amoy Dialect, which was "the earliest existing textbook for a Southern Min dialect".