李德立 · 1864–1939
Edward Selby Little was a British missionary, writer and businessman active in China from the late 19th to early 20th century, best remembered for founding the "Kuling" (Guling) hill-station resort on Mount Lu, Jiangxi — a landmark of East-West architectural and cultural exchange. Little spent his later years in New Zealand's Bay of Islands, where he is buried alongside his son.
爱德华·塞尔比·李德立是活跃于19世纪末至20世纪初中国的英国传教士、作家与实业家，因一手开发江西庐山"牯岭"避暑地——近代中西建筑与文化交流的地标——而为人所知。他晚年定居新西兰群岛湾地区，与其子一同安葬于此。
After Jiujiang opened as a treaty port in 1861, Western missionaries long troubled by the Yangtze basin's summer heat began searching for a hill retreat. In 1895, after years of negotiation with local officials, Little — together with Dr Edgerton Haskell Hart and others — secured a 999-year lease over a valley on Mount Lu from the Qing government. He named it "Kuling", a play on "cooling" that also reads naturally in Chinese. He subdivided the land and sold plots to Western buyers, funding a 12-mile path up through the tea gardens.
1861年九江开埠通商后，长期饱受长江流域酷暑之苦的西方传教士开始寻找避暑高地。1895年，李德立经过长达数年的交涉，与埃杰顿·哈斯克尔·哈特医生等人从清政府手中获得庐山谷地一块土地长达999年的租约。他将该地命名为"牯岭"（Kuling），取其英文谐音"Cooling"，同时在中文语境中也自然成韵。他将地块分割出售给西方买家，并出资修筑了一条穿越茶园、长达12英里的上山步道。
By the 1920s, Kuling had grown into more than 800 Western-style villas across 20-odd national architectural styles.
至1920年代，牯岭已建成逾800栋涵盖20余国建筑风格的西式别墅。The resort's most famous villa, "Meilu", later served as a residence for both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong, and hosted three Chinese Communist Party Central Committee "Lushan Conferences" between 1959 and 1970.
牯岭最著名的"美庐别墅"后来先后成为蒋介石与毛泽东的驻跸之所，1959至1970年间更三次承办中共中央庐山会议。
Beyond his commercial development work, Little played a minor role in China's political history: during the 1911 Revolution he took part in Shanghai's "North-South Conference" in December of that year, helping to mediate between the northern and southern factions during the founding of the Republic of China.
除商业开发外，李德立在近代中国政治史上亦扮演过一定角色——1911年辛亥革命期间，他参与了同年12月在上海举行的"南北议和会议"，协助调解南北双方谈判。
After 43 years in China, Little retired to Kerikeri in New Zealand's Bay of Islands in 1929. He died there on 2 February 1939, aged 74, and is buried at St James Churchyard. His gravestone records that he "settled in NZ in 1929, after 43 years in China." His son, Edward Selby Little Jr. (1887–1970), later settled in New Zealand too and is buried in the same churchyard — a two-generation family thread linking Lushan to New Zealand's far north.
在华生活工作长达43年后，李德立于1929年移居新西兰群岛湾地区的凯里凯里；1939年2月2日在当地去世，享年74岁，安葬于圣詹姆斯教堂墓园。其子小爱德华·塞尔比·李德立（1887–1970）后来也定居新西兰，并同样安葬于此——形成一段跨越两代人、连接庐山与新西兰北地的家族史线索。
Little's legacy is debated. Some regard him as the "Colossus Unsung" who opened Lushan to East-West architectural and religious exchange; others point to disputed aspects of his early business dealings in China. This entry follows the site's principle of objective inquiry — presenting verifiable facts without taking a single interpretive position, leaving assessment to the reader.
李德立的历史形象存在争议——部分后人视其为促成庐山中西建筑与信仰交流的"被遗忘的维多利亚时代巨人"，也有历史考证指出其早年在华经商手法存在争议之处。本条目按本站客观探索原则，仅陈述可查证史实，不做单一立场的价值判断。
This biography expands on a timeline entry in the China pavilion — return there for the fuller Sino-NZ historical context.
本传记扩展自"大中华"展厅中的一条时间轴条目——返回该展厅可查看更完整的中新历史脉络。
Wikipedia, "Guling, Jiangxi" — settlement history and biographical overview
Find a Grave, Memorial ID 163152547, "Edward Selby Little (1864–1939)" — headstone record, St James Churchyard, Kerikeri
China Rhyming Blog, "Colossus Unsung – the Life of Edward Selby Little"
Historical Photographs of China (University of Bristol), ref. LD01-103, "Edward Selby Little, Shanghai"
Science Museum Group Collection, "Correspondence and notes on Edward Selby Little" (CANT/1/52)
Global Times, "Lushan Mountain keeping history alive"
Little, Edward Selby (1899). The Story of Kuling
Drupal 内容类型建议：Wiki Person（wiki_person）——字段含信息框对应的 `field_born`/`field_died`/`field_nationality`/`field_occupation`/`field_known_for`/`field_family`，正文沿用组件化 Paragraphs，`field_related_pavilion`(关联所属展厅，实体引用，对应"Part of"卡片)。与 News Article 的关键区别：Wiki Person 是常青内容，不设 Publication Date/News Category 这类时效性字段。
