Wilhelm was a missionary born in Stuttgart. He chose the Chinese name Wei Lixian for himself, and in 1899 was sent to what was then a German colony, Qingdao in China's Shandong Province, to conduct missionary work.
Richard Wilhelm 是基督教傳教士，1873 年生於德國司圖佳特，他給自己取了一個中文名字「衛禮賢」，並在 1899 年奉命前往山東青島（當時的德國殖民地）傳教。