Gaerrimi Jous's Truwlation of the New Testament, Part First, Matthew's Gospel.
Eacu of the great religions of the world has its ancient sacred books which serve as the permanent repository for the doctrines of its sages—the citadel which must last while the religion continues to have any power or induence locally or generally. Thus find the four great religions of China each enshrined in classic writings which are most highly prized and jealously guarded by the faithful. The very fact that while Confu-clanism represents the ancient'cult of the Chinese, Buddhism, Taoism aid Mohammedanism have each succeeded in gaining foothold in the national literature for their sacred books, and that all are allowed or tolerated by Government and people alike, is 8 most hopeful prospect for Christianity, and for the Bible on which it is supposed to depend. We are thus fully justified in the hope that the Bible will gradually occupy an important position in. se eeratinee as yenrs roll on, and the Roman Catholic ani Piscean forms of Christianity ad-out the land: We may safely. predict for vance step by step in their progress through the Bible, in the near future, at least as high a place as any other exotic sacred book in China.
But when we consider the vast machinery now in motion all tending in the one direction of exalting the Bible to the place which we think it should occupy among the Chinese,—when we look on the one hand at the fast increasing number of Bible Agents, and Colporteurs, foreign and native, who make it their sole business to print and disseminate the Bible whole or in parts wholesale, a million copies at a time, throughout the Length and breadth of the eighteen provinces; and on the other hand when we see the rapidly growing army of missionaries engaged in preaching from the Bible, as well as trans-luting it in forms and styles to suit all classes of society—we may well pause and ask what all this inundation of China with our Scriptures is likely to lead to, and. whether much unnecessary and random labour is not Veing spent which might be directed into more profitable and satisfactory channels.
In the first place we may reasonably enquire what Bible ought to be presented to the Chinese; for Bibles differ most materially. From first to last our Bible has been a far more uncertain book than the sacred writings of the other great religions. It is impossible to get the dif ferent clements which compose the "Church militant" to agree as to what the real Bible is. Councils with all the show of authority have determined on this matter only to have their conclusions reversed by other Councils. We generally understand that at the Council of Trent (1645-63) the Canon was finally closed and made to consist of seventy-three books as representing the complete Bible. Yet our present Bible has now only sixty-six books. Either Protestants have too little or Roman Catholics too much Bible. Then we know that ancient as well as modern scholars and critics have indulged in their own opinions both privately and publicly as to the value of its different portions. Some have believed that books struck out of the Bibleas it formerly existed ought to be retained, while others have insisted that portions retained ought to be left out. Luther for instance was particularly hard on the epistle of James calling it an epistle of straw"; he especially detested the book of Esther and spoke of tossing it into the Elbe; while the Book of Revelations aroused in' him a bad temper because "the writer promises and threatens while uttering things so obscure that ne ope cap tel) jat he weans." Again, we find a fragment here and a book there have been lost; while the present ly received collection shows evident signs that it has not escaped the vicissitudes to which all treasures of literature and of classic lore especially have been exposed. What then is the real Bible that ought to be given to the Chinese? Will our present collection of books not _undergo a thorough sifting and scrutiny before another generation has passed away, and more chaff be winnowed from the wheat? Or is nothing but genuine wheat now left? Or again has not some of the wheat already been winnowed away in the Apocryphal books? These are questions which theologians might do well to try and investigate to their very depths and settle among. themselves before committing our scriptures in the present wholesale manner to the severe criticism of Chinese literati. It must puzzle such of them as can read our Bible in English to find important omissions in our new revised version, in one case, amounting to twenty or more words. If these omissions will be made in all new Chinese versions, as ought to be the case what will the shrewd natives say when they notice the changes And what if more changes are found necessary hereafter But our object on the present occasion is to deal briefly and for the benefit of general readers with the Chinese translations of the Bible that have been made from time to time; and especially with the recent work of this kind that has appeared from the well-known and most industrious sinologueand missionary, the Rev. Griffith John, of Hankow. Our Tevised English version is pretty generally accepted among all English-speaking people; and the translations into other languages, Occidental and Oriental, are as a rule free from the necessity of serious criticism. But how about the Chinese? What has been done to produce a standard translation that will be generally accepted both by the foreign promulgators of Christianity and the body ut the Chinese nation as correctly representing the Sacred Classics of the West we believe that the Protestant Bible, as generally accepted, is greatly superior to all the Oriental Scriptures in literary, moral and religious value, because it fowed out of a higher conception of God and man and hi nan duty, what have we Protestant ations done to ensure its being presented in a form and style commensurate with its importance? And which of the many tra lations of the Bible undertaken and published by foreign missionaries from time to time is likely or deserves to become the standard translation? Or have we to wait until the Chinese translate for themselves or can put the present translations into such high literary form and style as to make hem universally acceptable? We really fear this matter has not yet received the attention its importance deserves.
It is still a vexed question among Protestant Missionaries as to what ought to be done with the Bible in China and how. Hence they goon year after year wasting too much of their precious time in individual action, one after another doing the same work over and over again and contesting about comparatively unimportant things as reasons for new translations, instead of first combining as they ought to do in one great effort to settle all their differences. Then they might unite to produce a joint translation, once and for all, which would be generally received, and also prove acceptable to Chinese of even the highest literary tastes. But we can hardly hope for sny such united work while each Society acta independently of, and sometimes, in way ox of the difficulty seems ace rome opposition to others. The only practical highly talented individual to do the whole work independently as Mr. John has been doing for years past, and for the others to accept it usa general standard making alterations where they think it necessary to suit their ong contradictory views for terms.
From first to last the number of individual and joint translations of the whole or parts of the Bible into Chinese has been very considerable. We have specimens of every style, from the highest form of the classics, intel-eligible only to native scholars of considera ble pretensions, or foreign missionaries of Jong application to the language, down to the lowest form of the mandarin dialect, or local patois of small districts—the simplest vernacular as spoken by the and Inbouring classes, and despised by the learned. In fact' some colloquial translations seem to be very much on a par with what the Bible would appear like, if done into the current brogue of some of the lower classes in America or into the genuine Yorkshire or Somersetshire dialects. We are also informed on good authority that the one which is considered the most highly finished and complete version in the - Classical style has taken some passages almost literally from the Chinese classics where there was resemblance in meaning, such as in parts of the Psalms or Proverbs. This implies a comnion origin for the Bible and the Chinese classics—an idea repugnant to all bibliolaters We are led to believe that the permanent standard Chinese version must steer a middle course between the extremes of the high classical and low colloquial styles. Tt must carry with it an air of authority and intellisibility and must call forth the respect and suited to the capacity of the average scholar. It must neither involve too much labour on the part of the Foreign Missionary or Chinese convert to master its exact or meaning. Tt must not contain the quial of any district but must be in the easy classical or current style known all over the empire, and which native newspapers have of late' years done much to cultivate and improve. It must not contain note or conment, which might thus prove vantage ground for the introduction of pet theories or favourite dogmas. It must be an original translation made direct from the originals, and not the translation of a translation, But time will not permit us to say all that we think the standard translation ought to be suffice it to-say that we consider Mr. John recent translation of the New Testament in its amended form to be a most praiseworthy effort in the right direction, and coming very near indeed to the mark in all its necessary or essential particulars, Although still capable, perhaps, of further improve-it is yet evidently quite equal to the present needs of evangelistic work in all facie! of China. There can be little doubt ut that this version will prove acceptable to the great body of Missionaries, although of course we may be very sure there will be many of the more: fastidious who stick to their crochets and refuse to use it, preferring their own translation, however inferior, or that of their ce-religionists. It is to be hoped that the Rev. Mr, John will have health and strength to complete the whole Bible in the same as hi Fas done the New Testament, and live to see it make that impression on the religion and litera ture of the nation which be so fervently aspires to, and which ill the reward be seeks for his herculean labours.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.