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1818-1998

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__ Ann i versary
Issue

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PaulKua,,_ "Chinese Bibles Published-by Ying Wa,"

Ying Wa College, 1818-1998: 180th Anniversary Issue
(Hong Kong: ~'ing Wa Colleg~, 199~), pp. _14-21 .

YWC - Past & Present

14

CHINESE BmLES PuBLISHED BY YING WA

Ying Wa College has a heritage in publishing

from the very beginning. A number of our

It was one of many old manuscripts found in a

forefathers, Dr. Robert Morrison, Dr. William

sealed cave in Dunhuang and taken by Paul Pelliot,

Milne, Mr. Leung Faat (tiil:3J), Rev. David Collie ,

a French Sinologist,in early 1900's to France. The

Dr. James Legge, and Mr. Hoh FukTong C{OJ;ffl'i:lit:)

document is now held in the National Library of

were all involved in translating, writing, and

France (Bibliothequ e Nationale de France) in

publishing Christian and/or secular materials.The

Paris . It is more than a thousand years old and

Chinese Bible has a very long history dating back

contains a number of interesting terms. San Wei

to at least the Tang dynasty. The Chinese Bibles

c.=:~) stands for the HolyTrinity. The Affectionate

published byYingWa College, representing the

Father (~X:) is God; the Luminous Son (I:ifl

meeting of these two heritages, are unique and

Jesus, and the Fresh Wind (J@. ) is the Holy Spirit.

interesting. This article outlines the history of

Chinese Bibles, and of publishing in Ying Wa. It
then discusses the background of the Ying Wa
Bibles, and compares a few familiar terms and
verses as they appear in several common editions
of the Bible.

Earliest Bibles in China

There are evidences of Christian presence
in China as early as the Han (206BC-AD220) and
the Tang Dynasties (AD618-907). In 1625 , a
marble tablet discovered in Xian described the
history ofNestorian Christianity (::!J:~) in the Tang
Dynasty. ' Inscriptions on this tablet referred to
Chinese translations of at least portions of both
the Old and the NewTestaments by the Nestorian
Christians from Syria during the reign ofTai-zong

CJ1!::k*)2 While these oldest Chinese Bibles may

not have survived, the oldest surviving Christian
manuscript on paper is actually in Chinese! 3 This
Figure 1: Nestorian Christian Manuscript

document, illustrated here as Figure 1, is a Tang

dynasty Nestorian Christian tract called Hymn in

r) is

YWC - Past & Present

15

There were subsequent efforts by Catholic

When the Anglo-Chinese College (which

missionaries in China to translate at least portions

wasYingWa's old name in English) was founded

of the Scripture into Chinese during both the Yuan

by Dr. Morrison in Malacca in 1818

and the Ming Dynasties 4 . In fact , a Chinese

l:f) ,

manuscript of the New Testament found in the

Brief Statement of the Objectives of the Anglo-

British Museum and used by Dr. Morrison as a

Chinese College, perhaps the oldest printed

foundation for his translation of the Bible was

document about our College, pointed out the

most likely transcribed from a Catholic Chinese

following:

cam=+_:=.:

a printing press was set up as part of it. A

Bible. 5
As there is attached to the College a
The earliest efforts by the Protestant

Chinese , Malay, and English press , literary

missionaries occurred during the latter part of the

students may, if they choose, avail themselves of

Qing Dynasty. Almost simultaneously, Dr.

the advantages 7

Marshman and John Lassar (who was born in

Macau and could read and write Chinese) worked

Dr. Morrison published a number of

in Serampore, India; and Dr. Morrison worked in

booklets such as Assembly's Catechism cFWii$H~

Canton, China to translate the Bible into Chinese.

li:l=.Jt~illf~jU!), Exhortation to Read the Scripture

At a later stage, Dr. Milne joined Dr. Morrison and

and Familiarize Oneself with the Text (ll!bt.f'i.~ !f!F.

helped translate part of the Old Testaments.

,~ ~O X). Dr. Milne, our first principal, was very

active in publishing Christian tracts under the

The Publishing Heritage of Ying

literary name of Bo-ai-zhe (t\!t'~). One of these

Wa

tracts, Newly Expanded Summary Explanations

of the Holy Scripture

OrM!ll ~ '!=W~his shown

Dr. Morrison arrived in Canton by way of

below in Figure 2. He also produced titles such

New York in 1807. From the earliest days , he

as Youth's Catechism (f;b~~ ~H", ~) , Tract on

engaged diligently in the study of the Chinese

Justice (1:.~ 0-'F~ :fui.r!) , and Tract on Idolatry

language and in the translation and printing of

Ctt'!I J!. t$ tff5) .

Christian materials. His first convert in China,

principal in 1827, also published a number of

TsaeA-ko (~r,1lj) , whom he baptized in July, 1814,

tracts in Chinese under the name of Zhong-de-

was his printing assistant

Rev. Collie , who became our

YWC - Past & Present

16

The Press published a monthly in Chinese

When Milne went to Malacca, Leung Faat,

called ~ tlt{~'flt J1 ~Jt:Jtr.1i, perhaps the first

a printer from Guangzhou, accompanied him.

Chinese newspaper anywhere, and a quarterly in

Leung studied at the College in Malacca, and was

English called The Indo-Chinese Gleaner.8 It was

later ordained a pastor. He eventually returned

also active in printing educational materials, such

to China, and was very active in writing, printing

as The English and Chinese Student's Assistant, or

and distributing missionary materials.

Colloquial Phrases, letters, in English and Chinese,

and Natitia Linguae Sinicae , a book in Latin on

In 1840

Cill:J't=

+ :), Dr. James Legge

the Chinese language. In 1824 , it published

became the new principal of the Anglo-Chinese

Memoir of the Rev. William Milne, Late Missionary

College, and also took charge of the in-house

to China and Principal of the Anglo-Chinese

press. Dr. Legge, following the advice of Mr.]. R.

College, edited by Dr. Morrison himself. We even

Morrison, the son of the late Dr. Morrison,

regularly printed our own annual reports. In

decided to move the College to Hong Kong in

several of these reports, an appendix was

1843. At that time, the College was set up on the

included , typically expounding a particular

junction of Staunton Street and Hollywood Road

Chinese subject to English readers . The cover of

on the Island side.

the 1827 Annual Report is also illustrated in Figure

2.

~
"
.

-'

Figure 2. College Annual Report, 1827 and

Christian Tract by Milne

YWC - Past & Present

17
~

~
Q

if'Jfm

iE!mffit~, which was probably the first Chinese

ii if(the New Testaments). In the same year,

periodical published in Hong Kong. Issue No.1,

the Press also printed a second run of the New

published in August, 1853, indicated that each

Testaments. Figure 3 shows a picture of the cover

issue would cost 15 cash, which was merely a

of the NewTestaments printed byYingWa in 1823.

reimbursement of the printing cost.

From this cover, we can tell that the emphasis is

In 1853, the College started a Chinese serial

Bible), fH!t ifCthe Old Testaments), and

on the fact that the translation was done from

In the move to Hong Kong, Dr. Legge took

the original languages of Greek and Hebrew (~

with him an outstanding Ying Wa old boy, Hoh

FukTong. Ho was not only good at both English
and Chinese, he could also read the Old

In 1864-66

(ii"J1iJ-=: -1i0f:), the College,

Testaments in the original Hebrew language. He

now in Hong Kong, published a complete edition

helped with Legge's translation and missionary

of the Holy Bible in large Chinese types in 9

priest 9

Dr.

volumes. The cover of one of the volumes of the

Legge was, of course, known for impressive

Old Testaments is illustrated below in figure 4.

translations of a number of great Chinese classics

On the cover, the name of our school, Hong Kong

work, and was later also ordained a

and related commentaries into English. The

classics translated are li\lat'fr '

r '

l'iDif' til'~&' ~{)c

** ' 9='

)j ' ::fu

'h.:1,. DrLeggeandMr.

Hoh Fuk Tong both demonstrated an excellent

grasp of foreign languages, despite a relatively late
start in learning. Their examples really ought to
inspire most of us at Ying Wa, who typically would
have opportunities to learn English (and, of
course, Chinese) at a much earlier age.

The Ying Wa Bibles

The Holy Bibles printed in our College in
1823 were among the two earliest complete
Bibles printed in Chinese. 10 They were translated
by Dr. Morrison with the help of Dr. Milne, and
bear the Chinese titles of t$7\:~ if (the Holy
Figure 3: Ying Wa Bible, 1823

"'
.....

E.!-

~
;:!
;:!

~-

;;;

:;:,

"'

YWC - Past & Present

18

Ying Wa College, is clearly indicated as the

w hi ch would appeal to the masses. Captain

publisher. As far as we know, this was the first

Brinkley summarized the dilemma quite well:

and only complete Bible printed by the Ying Wa

College in Hong Kong. In 1866, and again in 1869,

No people attach greater importance to

it also published two pocket versions of the New

graces of diction and correctness of style than

Testaments. 11 One of these was done with

the Chinese. Refinements of language invest the

movable types. Contrary to common beliefs, the

most trivial subject with a title to respect in their

Bibles printed in 1864-69 under the supervision

eyes, whereas a theme of vital consequence is

of Dr. Legge were not the Morrison and Milne

at once excluded from consideration by clumsy

version, they were the so-called Delegates version

presentment. The Chinese Bible has never been

translated by a committee of missionaries whose

rendered into Chinese such as would attract

members included Dr. Medhurst, etc 12 Both

educated men. It could not be so rendered

the complete Bible of 1864-66 and the New

without paraphrases intolerable to Christian

Testaments of 1866 have print runs of 5,000

purists who hold inflexibly to the alpha and

copies each. 13 Although many people felt that

omega of the text. 15

the Delegates version was an improvement over

- -------=-

the original Morrison version, some in those days

argued differently, preferring the Morrison
version 14

The Ying Wa Chinese Bibles of 1823 and

those of 1860's are significant for two reasons.
First, they were among the first Chinese Bibles
ever printed. Second , even though in two
different versions, they are both in the literary

CX1il), or classical Chinese style; as opposed to

the vernacular ( B~JS) style, which became
popular later. There were extensive discussions
on what style of Chinese should be used to
translate the Bible. The key difference among the

l;
I

the classical style , which would appeal to the

intellectuals, or in a more vernacular manner,

~M

missionaries was whether to render the Bible in

:t:

jJJ
~

~p

Figure 4: Ying Wa Bible, 1864-66

;{8

1i

YWC - Past & Present

19

Selected terms and verses

used synonymously.

compared
Contrary to Brinkley's perceptions quoted
Reading these two editions of the Chinese

earlier, grace and style of language does not

Bible side by side with the English and the more

necessarily lead to inaccuracy. In some

common vernacular Chinese edition of today is a

incidences, the two literary versions

rather instructive and interesting experience.

demonstrated both accuracy of translation and

succinctness of the classical language. Several

Both versions, being early attempts at this

difficult task, are, of course, subject to

familiar passages from the various versions of the

Scripture are shown here for comparison.

improvements. For instance, a number of

Christian terms commonly accepted today were,

1) Proverbs, Chapter 12, verses 15-16: During

understandably, not easily translated in Dr.

Dr. Morrison's tirrie, the standard English Bible

Morrison's time. Morrison translated Jesus Christ

was the so-called King James version. In this

somewhat cumbersomely as lt~f.!i;f;!t/fiJ 'Il:f. This

edition, the passage is as follows: The way of a

was later simplified to Jt~ f.!i;f;!t'/l:} in the Delegates'

fool is right in his own eyes: but he that

version, the commonly accepted term today. He

hearteneth unto counsel is wise. Afoot's wrath

rendered Paradise as E\:f.fiE&, which today's

is presently known: but a prudent man covereth

Bible simply refers to as ~Iii . Dr. Morrison

shame. The New International Version (NIV),

MM, Dr. Medhurst

more commonly used today, puts the message

translated Holy Spirit into

Mf$.

M:m:

has become the

somewhat clearer: The way of the fool seems

commonly accepted term. Jerusalem was

right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

translated as lt~&JH!I'~ by Dr. Morrison, a term

A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a

which survives until today.

prudent man overlooks an insult. The common

preferred

Today,

vernacular edition of the Chinese Bible translated

There was also a protracted debate about
whether God should be translated as the simple,

f$,

which Dr. Morrison did; or _t W,

this message as follows:

m~A~fi~ , ~~B~~~~ K ~,

, w~Ai'!~t!J~x

which Dr. Medhurst and the delegates preferred,

.~~Aa~~iffi~' .lz:. S~~Ji!t

'

because it was considered closer to the Chinese

iilBA~~~llml~

generic

traditional concept of the Supreme Deity. Today,

both terms are commonly accepted and often

'ttt'~A

YWC - Past & Present

20

""~
0
~
._
"'
~
So

TheYingWa Bible of 1864-66 puts it more

succinctly, without loosing the message:

E1 :Ilk , ~ ~~~J:

:...
~

,~,A

<;

-~,A~ , ~~;g,~

;;;"';::,

"'

"'

, ft&,~ ~{ljjcz

fili 1~~~M~ifw1;Ht!U~

~Ji ftif PJ ~

w.: l'f{j 7.l<.ll

The Ying Wa Bible of 1864-66, shown here

t;;<
;:::

!IMQ ~:Fi\:=JJG WI~~

2) I Corinthians, Chapter 12, verses 14-16:

in Figure 5, puts it like this:

According to the King James Version, the well-

!l~ jfQ~~ !I:Y:"J\.

known saying on the parts of the body goes like

{~ftt't 3'1l~ ~ ' 'Jift~~l](~t~

'

*:llk~~ fl:%

0
0

this: For the body is not one membet; but many.

If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand,

I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the
body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not
the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not
of the body? The vernacular version in Chinese
translated the passage as follows:
~~~~:llk-Mtt~~~$&0
~~~~ . ~~ :ilkf ~~~~~~~
fm~~~!NJltJ?Jt~~ ~~r

~~~ ~ . ~~ :Ilk~ ~~~~~~~

1mm~~~!NJJUt ~~~5r~

The Ying Wa Bible of 1823 puts it as follows:

~ ~~nu - Jl1 , ~ $ &
~z,;

, ~ ~N~f* f ,

~n~~5t

:W: ~Jlti'iJ:~ JI~~

)Z.~~z,; , ft12SJ~t~ I , ~P~JI~

:W: l2.(Jltii!l:~ JI~~

3) Psalm 23, verses 1-2: The Lord is my

shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside
the still water. The vernacular version goes like
this:
Figure 5 , Psalm 23, Ying Wa Bible, 1864-66

YWC - Past & Present

21

Kong Museum of Art in June, 1997.

Concluding Remarks
4

These early efforts were by the Franciscans

in Yuan Dynasty, and mostly by the Jesuits
and the Franciscans in Ming Dynasty. See
China: Arts & Daily Life as seen by Father
Matteo Ricci and Other Jesuit Missionaries,
ed. Gianni Guadalupi, Milan, Italy, 1984, pp.
17-23.

See G.W. Sheppard, the Romance of the

Chinese Bible, pp. 5-11.

See Latourette, pp. 212-213, or Wang, pp.

152-153.

See A Brief Statement of the Objectives of

the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, 1818,
printed at the Anglo-Chinese Press, p.20.

SeeWang,p .155,Latourette,p.215 .

Hoh is the father of Sir Ho Kai, the first

Chinese general practitioner of western
medicine in Hong Kong, and the first
Chinese in Hong Kong to be knighted. See
Education in Hong Kong: Past and Present,
ed. Joseph S. P. Ting, Urban Council, 1993,
p. 30 & p.44.

This year, our College celebrates its 180th

Anniversary. As an alumnus ofYing Wa, I have
often been awed by the long and remarkable
history of our school. The short article outlined
an aspect of this history - our ro le in the
development of the Bible in Chinese. Many other
aspects of our history are fascinating . Some of
you may be interested in researching them one
day. More importantly, our distinguished history
ought to challenge us. No doubt, the roles of the
College and its students have changed over time.
But, whatever our roles are today, are we striving
to excel in ways that would make our forefathers
proud?

Paul KUA

efiif{Jj/:l!fi)

Note:
1

For detailed discussions on the early

evidences of Christianity in China and the
Nestorian tablet see Wang Chih-hsin CEnt
'l,'), History of Christianity in China ("f ~
;!t'!i~.{)!:'JiffiJ), if1993, chapters 4 & 5;
Alexander Wylie, Chinese Researches, 1897,
pp. 24-77; or Kenneth Latourette, A History
of Christian Missions in China, 1929,pp.4660.

See Wylie, pp. 88-89.

There are, of course, older Christian

documents such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.
They were, :P.owever, written on
parchments, papyrus, etc, not on paper.
This document was exhibited in the Hong

10 The other one was the version by Dr.

Marshman and John Lassar, which was
completed in 1822 in Serampore, India. For
details on both these two editions, see T.H.
Darlow & H. F. Moule, Historical Catalogue
oflhel?rinted Editions of Holy Scripture,pp.
181-186:
11 See Darlow & Moule, p.197-9
12 In Lindsay Ride, Robert Morrison: The
Scholar and tlie Man, 1957, the Illustrated
Catalogue in the back lists the Ying Wa Bible
of 1864-66 as exhibit no. 3, and erroneously
identified it as Dr. Morrison's own work.
13 See Helen E. Legge,James Legge: Missionary
and Scholar, 1905, p. 171
14 See, for example, CritiCal Remarks on Dr.
Medhurst's orDE egates' Chinese Version of
the First Chapter of St.John's Gospel, 1859,
pp.1-20.
15 See Captain F. Brinkley, China: Its History
Arts and Literature, Vol. XI, 1902, p. 153.