Obed Simon Johnson (May 5, 1881[1] – October 12, 1970) was an American academic, chaplain, congregational missionary and student of Chinese culture and history, known for A Study of Chinese Alchemy, which attributes the origin of alchemy to ancient China, rather than Greco-Egyptians 500 years later.

He then made western scholars aware that one of the central tenets in chemistry, the elixir concept emerged far earlier in China than in Europe (i.e., w/ Roger Bacon).

He contributed important epistemological perspectives to the historical literature including Confucian and Taoist classics, books such as Chuang Tzu and Huai Nan Tzu, and dynastic histories in his seminal book “The Study of Chinese Alchemy”[2] published in Shanghai in 1928.

Following a year each at seminaries at Oberlin, U. Chicago and North Park, Johnson left for China in 1909.

Obed and Vida were married in Shanghai and raised two children, James Waldemar and Johanna Dorothea.

At UC Berkeley, Johnson taught the language, history and civilization of China while taking advanced classes on Asia.

Obed Johnson wrote in his introduction that he was “especially interested in the supernatural beliefs of the Chinese and in the practices to which these beliefs gave rise.”[2] As the two men discussed various dissertation topics, Williams suggested Chinese alchemy, to which Obed Johnson agreed.

An evaluation of Obed Johnson's book is found in Dr. Carmen Lee’s[13] dissertation, “A Bibliographical Study of Western Publications on Traditional Chinese Science (1800-1985).” Eminent sinologist Joseph Needham later wrote: “But by far the widest influence was exerted by the book of Obed Johnson finished in 1925 and printed in Shanghai three years later.

The Study of Chinese Alchemy was based chiefly on what could be got from the Confucian and Taoist classics, and from books such as the Chuang Tzu and the Huai Nan Tzu, but it also made some use of the dynastic histories, showing clearly that while the elixir concept had been mightily prevalent during the Chhin and Han it did not manifest itself in European alchemy until the time of Roger Bacon and the incorporation of Arabic knowledge.

It also obliged the great synthesizers to take China seriously.”[4] Waley went on to write a supplement to Johnson's work.

[6] Interviews with Joseph Campbell were popularized by Bill Moyers on the PBS Series, The Power of Myth.

Inside of a year, white hair will turn black, decayed teeth will grow again, and the body will become sleek and glistening.