Edward Theodore Chalmers Werner was a British diplomat and Sinologist who served in the British consular service in China for over two decades. After retiring, he dedicated himself to the study of Chinese mythology, folklore, and history. A fluent speaker of Mandarin, Werner had access to rare Chinese texts and native traditions, which he compiled with scholarly rigor and narrative elegance. Myths and Legends of China remains his most celebrated contribution to Sinology and comparative mythology.