Buddhism and Buddhists in China

Lewis Hodous was an educator, sinologist, Buddhist scholar, and missionary for the American Board in China. He was born in Vesec, Bohemia, on December 31, 1872, and immigrated to the US in 1882 together with his parents. He earned diplomas from Adelbert College of Western Reserve University in 1897, Hartford Theological Seminary in 1900, and Cleveland High School in 1893. He also spent a year studying abroad at the University of Halle in Germany. On September 18, 1901, Hodous received his ordination as a congregational preacher at Cleveland, Ohio's Bethlehem Church. He served in Foochow as a missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1901 and 1917. He worked with the Chinese Red Cross in 1911 during the Hsinhai Revolution. On October 31, 1918, Hodous returned from his time serving in missions, having left it in 1917. He taught history and religious philosophy in addition to Chinese culture at the Hartford Seminary Foundation's Kennedy School of Missions. Hodous also served as a translator for the American government during the Second World War.