William Woodville Rockhill

William Woodville Rockhill (April 1, 1854 – December 8, 1914) was a United States diplomat, best known as the author of the U.S.'s Open Door Policy for China, the first American to learn to speak Tibetan, and one of the West's leading experts on the modern political history of China.

Life and career Rockhill was born in Philadelphia, the son of Thomas Cadwalader Rockhill and Dorothea Anne Woodville (1823–1913). His father died when he was 13 years old and his mother relocated the family to France to escape the Civil War. While in his teens, Rockhill read Abbé Huc's account of his 1844-46 voyage to Lhasa, which sparked young Rockhill's interest in Tibet. Rockhill attended the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr, where he studied Tibetan.

The Rockhills sold the ranch in 1881 and moved to Montreux, Switzerland, where William's mother lived. After perfecting his language skills, he was upgraded to a paid position.

During the administration of President of the United States Grover Cleveland, Rockhill served as Third Assistant Secretary of State from April 17, 1894, until February 13, 1896. He then served as United States Assistant Secretary of State under United States Secretary of State Richard Olney from February 14, 1896, until May 10, 1897. Afflicted by a severe cold he contracted in San Francisco, he developed pleurisy on the voyage, and had to leave the ship on arrival at Honolulu for treatment. Four days later, the pleurisy overcome, the ordeal occasioned him heart failure and he died in a Honolulu hospital on 8 December 1914, aged 60. Rockhill is buried in the East Cemetery in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Selected works

Udânavarga: A Collection of Verses from the Buddhist Canon (1883) Prâtimoksha sutra; ou, Le traité d'émancipation selon la version tibétaine: avec notes et extraits du Dulva (Vinaya) (1884) with Ernst Leumann and Nanjo Bunyu, The Life of the Buddha: And the Early History of His Order (1884) The Land of the Lamas: Notes of a Journey Through China, Mongolia and Tibet (1891) Explorations in Mongolia and Tibet (1893) Diary of a Journey Through Mongolia and Thibet in 1891 and 1892 (1894) Journey through Mongolia and Tibet, 1891 and 1892 (1894) Notes on the Ethnology of Tibet: Based on the Collections in the U.S. National Museum (1895) The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World (1900) China's Intercourse with Korea from the XVth Century To 1895 (1905) Diplomatic Audiences at the Court of China (1905) The Dalai Lamas of Lhasa and Their Relations with the Manchu Emperors of China. 1644-1908 (1910) "Diplomatic Missions to the Court of China: The Kotow Question I," The American Historical Review, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Apr., 1897), pp. 427–442. "Diplomatic Missions to the Court of China: The Kotow Question II," The American Historical Review, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Jul., 1897), pp. 627–643.

Edited works Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet (1902)