Frederic Clement Christie Egerton (c. 1890 d. ??) was an early and mid-twentieth century British travel and adventure writer best known for his The Golden Lotus (1939), a four-volume translation of the Chinese novel, Jin Ping Mei.
After an early career in religious and educational work, Egerton served in the World War One British army, fighting in the Balkans. Upon his return, he spent a brief time in teaching, but his interest in anthropolological and social theory led him to study the Chinese language in order to better understand a civilization that was of equal but different development. This commitment led him to translate Jin Ping Mei a 17th century erotic classic Chinese novel, which appeared until 1939 as The Golden Lotus. Egerton's interest in languages and cultures led him to French Cameroon in search of a "wild place". He concluded that the French administration of the colony had not improved the lot of the common people. He also established long-standing ties in Portugal, leading to a favorable 1943 biography of the Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar, and a 1973 book on the achievements of Portuguese colonialism in Angola.
Career and publications
Clement Egerton's father was an English country parson, though there is no mention that Clement attended university. It was later said he had no religious beliefs, but his early life in fact was involved with the church. In 1909 he published A Handbook of Church Music: A Practical Guide for All Those Having the Charge of Schools and Choirs, and Others Who Desire to Restore Plainsong to Its Proper Place in the Services of the Church. Egerton's introduction said that as a Catholic he followed the direction of Pope Pius X, who had made clear that Catholic churches must not use masses of the sort written by Franz Haydn, Mozart and the like. The Gregorian chant, rather, was the only chant inherited from the ancient fathers. Egerton's book was to teach how "plainsong" should be taught and sung. He in 1911 converted to the schismatic Old Catholic Church, which did not recognize the powers of the Pope, and was ordained Bishop of Norwich. He then joined a Dutch Benedictine monastery, however, and petitioned to be reconciled with the Holy See and he did not serve as a minister.
Egerton's 1914 book, The Future of Education, blamed the "traditionalism of the schools and the conservatism of the teacher" for the "neo-disciplinary theory of education that put more emphasis on the process of learning rather than the content". ("Neo-disciplinary education was associated with the progressive education of John Dewey.) It was unfortunate that religion was considered "bad form" in the schools, Egerton went on, for "there is no better safeguard than common sense religion", but the boys generally associated religion with hypocrisy. He drew particular attention to the question of sex and to the Freudian theory that sexual nature develops in various ways and is involved in all parts of the individual's being. Since sexual energy could also be used for religious, aesthetic, and economic ends, sex education was therefore the responsibility of parents and teachers. British boarding schools were dangerous. Co-education would be far more healthy, as single-sex schools repress individuality and encourage "indecent practices".
From 1914 to 1920, Egerton served with the Gloucestershire Regiment, fighting in the Balkans in World War One, He rose from Captain to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, earned a medal for his service. and was discharged, with a generous pension.
He then returned to England and worked at the Oxford Tutorial College, a university preparatory school. He and his wife, Elizabeth Harker, with whom he had eloped before the war, had four children. He soon met an American, Katherine Hodge, fell in love, and his marriage with Harker ended in divorce. The scandal cost him his job.
At that point, Egerton later explained, his interest in anthropological theory grew. Curious to learn about a developed civilization that was not European, he decided to study Chinese. The School of Oriental and African Studies awarded him the Gilchrist Scholarship for 1925-1926. In 1927 he met the Chinese author C.C. Shu, later famous under his pen-name Lao She, who was teaching at the school. Their friendship burgeoned, and the two worked out an arrangement to share a flat, which they did for the next three years. Shu took responsibility for the rent, while Egerton, who did not find employment during the entire time, looked after the meals. He spent money freely on books, tobacco, and drink, interests that Lao She shared. It was in these years that Egerton and Lao She made the draft translation of Jin Ping Mei.