Keywords
How to Cite
Abstract
This paper aims to study the Chinese Bible translations from the second half of the 20th century to the present, with the sinicization of Christianity as the historical and cultural backdrop for the efforts to produce new translations of the Bible. The paper suggests that new translations of the Bible should engage in a fruitful dialogue with the global decolonialism/postcolonialism in academia. The paper analyzes the complete Chinese versions of the Bible translated by Chinese translators, namely the Chinese Contemporary Bible (1979, 当代圣经译本), Modern Chinese Translation (1979, 现代中文译本), Today’s Chinese Version (1993, 圣经新译本), The Recovery Version Bible (2005，圣经恢复本), Chinese New Living Translation (2012, 新普及译本), and the Worldwide Bible Translation (2023, 环球圣经译本). This paper argues that, based on an analysis of the biblical texts and the funding behind the translations, among the seven translations, the Recovery Version and the Worldwide Bible Translation practically embody the concept of the sinicization of Christianity while balancing it with de/postcolonialism within the Chinese context.
References
Boles, Joe R. "The Theology of Lewis Sperry Chafer in the Light of His Theological Method." ThD diss., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1963.
Brett, Mark G. Decolonizing God: The Bible in the Tides of Empire. Bible in the Modern World 16. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2009.
———. Quzhiminhua De Shangdi: Diguozhuyi Langchao Zhong De Shengjing 去殖民化的上帝 : 帝國主義浪潮中的聖經. [Decolonizing God: The Bible in the Tides of Empire]. Translated by Dong Wang. Zhongyuan Daxue Jidujiao Xueshu Congshu · Fanyi Xilie 10. Xinbei: Taiwan Jidujiao wenyi chubanshe 臺灣基督教文藝出版社有限公司, 2013.
Cai, Hongqiang. "Dui Jidujiao Zhongguohua De Ruogan Fansi 对基督教中国化的若干反思." Jinling shenxuezhi 金陵神学志 [Nanjing Theological Review] 4, no. 1 (2015): 64-75.
Feng, Jacob Chengwei. "Baoluo•Weigena De Fanyi Lilun Yu Shengjing Hanyi 保罗•魏格纳的翻译理论与圣经汉译 " [In Chinese]. Waiyu yanjiu 外语研究 [Foreign Languages Research] 155, no. 1 (2016): 74–80. https://doi.org/10.13978/j.cnki.wyyj.2016.01.033.
———. "A Contextualized Chinese Theology of Human Nature: Dualistic or Holistic-Integrative? Watchman Nee’s Reading of Hebrews 4.12." In Reading Hebrews and 1 Peter from Majority World Perspectives, edited by Sofanit Ti. Abebe, Elizabeth W. Mburu and Abeneazer G. Urga. Library of New Testament Studies. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2024.
———. "Seven Spirits from Patmos: Towards a Decolonial Chinese Theology for the Third Millennium." Journal for Research of Christianity in China 21, no. 1 (2023): 182-219. https://doi.org/10.29635/JRCC.202312_(21)).0009.
———. "Theological Method of Chinese Theology in the Republican Era (1911–1949): A Case Study of Wang Mingdao and Watchman Nee." Journal of Chinese Theology 9, no. 1 (2023): 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1163/27726606-20230018.
Huang, Xiaojia. English-Chinese Translation as Conquest and Resistance in the Late Qing, 1811–1911: A Postcolonial Perspective. Singapore: Springer, 2019.
"Huanqiu Shengjing Yiben 環球聖經譯本." Huanqiu Shengjing gonghui, N/A, accessed September 8, 2024, https://www.wwbible.org/%E7%92%B0%E7%90%83%E8%81%96%E7%B6%93%E8%AD%AF%E6%9C%AC.
Kearney, Richard. "Introduction: Ricoeur’s Philosophy of Translation." In On Translation, edited by Paul Ricoeur. London: Routledge, 2006.
Kinyua, Johnson Kiriaku. "A Postcolonial Analysis of Bible Translation and Its Effectiveness in Shaping and Enhancing the Discourse of Colonialism and the Discourse of Resistance: The Gĩkũyũ New Testament—a Case Study." Black Theology 11, no. 1 (2013): 58-95.
Liang, Gong. "Houzhimnin Shengjing Piping De Jiben Zhuti 后殖民圣经批评的基本主题." Shijie zongjiao yanjiu 世界宗教研究 2, no. 1 (2010): 77-87.
Lianhe shengjing gonghui. Xiandai Zhongwen Yiben 现代中文译本. [Today’s Chinese Version]. Taipei: Lianhe shengjing gonghui 联合圣经公会, 1979.
Liu, Chao-Chun. "The Influence of the Translators’ Theology on Bible Translation: A Comparative Study of the Chinese Union Version and the Chinese Recovery Version of the New Testament." PhD diss., Durham University, 2023.
Liu, Ping. "Quanqiu Jidujiao ‘Huhua’ Zhong De Jidujiao Zhongguohua 全球基督教’互化‘中的基督教中国化." Sidao xuekan 思道学刊 2, no. Autumn (2020).
Mignolo, Walter D., and Catherine E. Walsh. On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis. Durham: Duke University Press, 2018.
Morrison, Elizabeth. Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison (Vol. 1). London: Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1839.
"Jidujiao Zhongguohua De Nandian Ji Jianyi 基督教中国化的难点及建议." Zhongguo minzu dianzibao 中国民族电子报, 2012, http://www.mzzjw.cn/zgmzb/html/2012-04/17/content_84002.htm.
Nayar, Pramod K., ed. Postcolonial Studies: An Anthology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
Nee, Watchman. Ni Tuosheng Wenji 倪柝声文集. [Collected Works of Watchman Nee]. 62 vols. Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 2005.
Nida, Eugene A. "Principles of Translation as Exemplified by Bible Translating." In On Translation, edited by R. A. Brower, 11–31. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959.
Niranjana, T. Sitting Translation: History, Post-Structuralism, and the Colonial Context. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1992.
"Obituary: Ken Taylor, Translator of the Living Bible, Dies at 88." Christianity Today, 2005, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/juneweb-only/55.0a.html.
Ricoeur, Paul. Jieshixue Yu Renwen Kexue 解释学与人文科学. [Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences]. Translated by Yuanhua Tao. Shijiazhuang: Hebei renmin chubanshe 河北人民出版社, 1987.
———. On Translation. Translated by Eileen Brennan. Thinking in Action. London: Routledge, 2006.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage, 1978.
Sugirtharajah, Rasiah S., ed. Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World. New York: Orbis Books, 1991.
Tiandao shulou. Shengjing Xinyiben (Jianti•Shenzi) 圣经新译本（简体•神字）. [Chinese New Version]. Hong Kong: Tiaodao shulou 天道书楼, 1992.
"Cnv’s Brief History." Huanqiu Shengjing gonghui 環球聖經公會 [Worldwide Bible Society], 2024, accessed Jul 24, 2024, https://www.wwbibleus.org/about-us.
Wu, Wenan. Houzhimin Fanyi Yanjiu: Fanyi He Quanli Guanxi 后殖民翻译研究：翻译和权力关系. [Postcolonial Translation Studies: Translation and Power Relations]. Beijing: Waiyu jiaoxue yu yanjiu chubanshe 外语教学与研究出版社, 2008.
Xinli chubanshe. Dangdai Shengjing 当代圣经. [The Chinese Living Bible]. Hong Kong: Zhongguo Shengjing chubanshe 中国圣经出版社, 1979.
Xu, Jishi. "Fangwen Zhou Yongjian Mushi 訪問周永健牧師." Zhonghua shenxue yanjiu zhongxin yanjiu jibao 中華神學研究中心研究季報 1, no. 1 (2020): 3–6.
"Jidujiao ‘Zhongguohua’ Bingfei Bentuhua Ershi Zhengzhihua 基督教‘中国化‘并非本土化而是政治化." Christianity Today, 2023, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/january-web-only/china-christianity-xi-religion-policy-sinicization-zh-hans.html.
Young, Robert J. C. Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction. 15th Anniversary ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016.
Zha, Changping. "Translation and Theology: The Lord’s Prayer in Three Chinese Versions." International Bulletin of Mission Research 47, no. 1 (2023): 107–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393221106182.
———. "Zhudaowen De Fanyi Yu Shenxue 主祷文的翻译与神学." Zongjiaoxue yanjiu 宗教学研究 [Religious Studies] 4, no. 1 (2014): 207–12.
Zhang, Hui. Houzhimin Lilun Yu Dangdai Zhongguo Wenhua Piping 后殖民理论与当代中国文化批评. [Postcolonial Theories and Contemporary Chinese Cultural Criticism]. Kaifeng: Henan daxue chubanshe 河南大学出版社, 2010.
Zhang, Zhenghao, and Fuchu Zhou. "Jidujiao Zhongguohua Zhi Yiran Yu Weiran: Zongpai Yu Shenxue Sixiang Jianshe 基督教中国化之已然与未然：宗派与神学思想建设." Zhongguo Jidujiao yanjiu 中国基督教研究 6, no. 1 (2016): 20–39. https://doi.org/10.29635/JRCC.201606_(6).0002.
Zhang, Zhigang. "‘Jidujiao Zhongguohua’ Sansi ’基督教中国化‘三思." Shijie Zongjiao wenhua 世界宗教文化 5, no. 1 (2011).
Zhao, Xiaoyang. "20 Shiji Gangtai Huaren Shengjing Fanyi Yanjiu 20世纪港台华人圣经翻译研究." Lanzhou xuekan 兰州学刊 6, no. 1 (2022): 5–14.
Zhao, Xiaoyang, and Ronggang Guo. Jinxiandai Jidujiao De Zhongguohua 近现代基督教的中国化. [The Sinicization of Christianity of Modern and Contemporary Times]. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe 中国社会科学出版社, 2015.
Zhuo, Xinping. "Guanzhu Dangdai Jidujiao Fazhan Jiqi ‘Zhongguohua’ Wenti 关注当代基督教发展及其‘中国化’问题." Jidu zongjiao yanjiu 基督宗教研究 1, no. 1 (2014): 2-9.
———. "Jidujiao Zhongguohua De Sanyaosu 基督教中国化的三要素." Zhongguo minzubao•Zongjiao zhoukan 中国民族报•宗教周刊 (Beijing), March 17 2015, 第7版 (Section 7).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.