List of Chinese Bible translations

This is list of the Bible translations to Chinese language.

Bible translations into Chinese began with unpublished manuscripts by individual Roman Catholic priests in the sixteenth century and individual Protestant missionaries in the early nineteenth century. The first complete translation to be published was that of Joshua Marshman in 1813, followed by that of Robert Morrison in 1823. A group of Protestant missionaries in Hong Kong in 1843 started a collaborative translation. The New Testament of their so-called "Delegates Version" was published in 1850 and the Old Testament in 1853. A translation of the Old Testament by Karl Gutzlaff, first published in 1840, was widely distributed and was used by the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion as the basis of their theological study.

The second half of the century saw the publication of Chinese Bibles in regional languages using romanization rather than Chinese characters, the first works printed in the regional language. The Classical Chinese of the Delegates Version could not be understood when read aloud, and towards the end of the century the national missionary body started a revision which used vernacular Chinese. The resulting Union Version, published in 1919, became the standard translation for Protestants and was adapted and published in different forms, including Braille. A Chinese New Version was published in 1992 and a Revised Chinese Union Version in the early twenty-first century.

The Studium Biblicum Version, now the standard Chinese Bible for Catholics, was started in the 1930s and published in 1968. Starting in the 1850s, there have been three Russian Orthodox translations.

Classical Chinese

Mandarin Chinese

Northern Mandarin

Southern Mandarin

Wu Chinese

Bible in Soochowese Suzhou dialect Romanised (Gospel of Mark), published by the American Bible Society.

Hankou dialect

Suzhou dialect

Shanghai dialect

Bible in Shanghainese Romanised (Gospel of Mark), published by the American Bible Society.

Character Colloquial Versions

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Ningbo dialect

Bible in Ningpo (Ningbo) Romanised (Genesis), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Hangzhou dialect

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Jinhua dialect

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Wenzhou dialect

Taizhou (Zhejiang) dialect

Bible in Taichow (Taizhou) Romanised (Genesis), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Northern Min

Bible in Jian'ou Romanised (Genesis), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Jian'ou dialect

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Jianyang dialect

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Eastern Min

Fuzhou dialect

Character Colloquial Versions

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Southern Min

Amoy dialect

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Shantou dialect

Character Colloquial Versions

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Teochew dialect

Bible in Teochew Romanised (First Book of Samuel), published for the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Romanized Vernacular Versions

11 Samuel. (Tie-chiu dialect.)

Hainan Junjiahua

Bible in Hainan Romanised (Genesis), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Xinghua (Puxian) Min

Bible in Hinhwa (Xinghua) Romanised (Genesis), published by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Gan Chinese

Shaowu dialect

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Jianning dialect

Hakka

Character Colloquial Versions

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Dingzhou dialect

Wujingfu Hakka dialect (五经富)

Swatow Hakka Dialect

Taiwan Siyen Hakka dialect

Yue Chinese (Cantonese)

Guangzhou dialect (Cantonese)

Translations into Cantonese include:

Character Colloquial Versions

Romanized Vernacular Versions

Lianzhou dialect

Yangcheng dialect

Notable Translations

Chinese Bible used by the Filipino-Chinese Anglican Community in Saint Stephen's Pro-Cathedral under the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.

Notes

  1. ↑ An Encyclopaedia of Translation, David E. Pollard, p.67
  2. ↑ Chaò-chî Yi-sû Chī-tuh Sang Iah Sing Shī: Sz̀ fuh-iang tà sź-du ae-djüe fa üe-tsiu t'û. Dà-ìang sing-shï whaỳi yiáng-ge. 1894. p. 564.
  3. ↑ 《圣经》方言译本书目考录

References

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