The “Term Question” was the most impactful controversy among the Protestant missionaries in China in 19th century, and the debate triggered by the translation of Shangti in The Sacred Book of the East (1879) by James Legge could be seen as the aftermath of it. Centred on the latter debate and based on the original material, this article will analyse the different positions and connections among the people involved, and identify the crucial point in the controversy, in order to demonstrate the significance of the Term Question on the modern British Sinology and modern ideological history.