The Translation of the Bible into Chinese: The Origin and Unique Authority of the Union Version

by Ann Cui'an Peng

Overview

A history of the translation of the Bible into Chinese, this book tells a fascinating story beginning with Western missionaries working closely with Chinese assistants. They struggled for one hundred years to produce a version that would meet the needs of a growing Chinese church, succeeding in 1919 with publication of the Chinese Union Version (CUV). Celebrating the CUV's centennial, this volume explores the uniqueness and contemporary challenges in the context of the history of Chinese Bible translation, a topic that is attracting more and more attention. Peng's experiences give her a unique perspective and several advantages in conducting this research. Like the majority of readers of the CUV, she grew up in mainland China. When Chinese Christians went through severe political and economic ordeals, she was there to witness the CUV comforting those who were suffering under persecution. She has participated in Chinese Bible revision under the United Bible Societies. She was also director of the Commission on Bible Publication at the China Christian Council and chief editor of the CUV concise annotated version (1998).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781532675683
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	04/23/2021
Series:	Studies in Chinese Christianity
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	238
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Ann Cui’an Peng is a senior associate with the Global China Center and serves as associate editor for the Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity. She was co-translator for the GCC series Salt and Light: Lives of Faith that Shaped Modern China. Peng received her PhD in theology (2007) from the University of Birmingham. She served as vice principal and lecturer in the 1990s at Nanjing Theological Seminary, where she had studied in the 1980s.

Table of Contents

Illustrations and Sources Preface Acknowledgements Note on Language Abbreviations Introduction Part I: A Historical Survey of Chinese Bible Translation 1. The Beginnings of Chinese Bible Translation 2. The Early Protestant Translations 3. The Union Version Project Part II: The Evolution of the Mandarin Union Version 4. Translations 5. Revisions Part III: Probing the Authority of the Union Version and Its Challenges 6. Unique Significance 7. Contemporary Challenges Conclusion Appendix 1: Comparison of The Chinese Bible Contents of Protestant with Roman Catholic Appendix 2: Three Executive Committees of The Union Version Project Appendix 3: Protestant Chinese Bible Translation in Three Stages Appendix 4: A List of Chinese Assistants in the History of Chinese Protestant Missionary Bible Translation Appendix 5: Questionnaire for Chinese Bible Readers Appendix 6: A List of Union Versions Translators with their Chinese Names Bibliography About the Author

Editorial Reviews

"Ann Cui'an Peng offers us the remarkable history of Chinese Bible translation, the debates around creating the authoritative Chinese Union Version, and the challenges this tenacious version continues to pose to its readers today, a century after its first publication. An incredibly important book about the most important book of Chinese Christianity." Alexander Chow, Senior Lecturer in Theology and World Christianity, University of Edinburgh "This well-timed volume, coinciding with the hundredth anniversary of the Chinese Union Version Bible, offers a highly readable and accessible study of the translation history and reception of China's most widely read Bible edition. Peng's study is particularly helpful in updating the story of the Union Version to the present day as it contends with new translations and online reading aids." Chloe Starr, Associate Professor of Chinese Christianity and Theology, Yale University Divinity School "With the paucity of scholarship about the Bible in Earth's most populous nation, Ann Peng's book is of inestimable value: it fills a lacuna in an accessible yet robust way, revealing the curious journey of the Scriptures in China and brilliantly explaining its current form. She does not avoid controversies, but addresses headlong the often-bumpy road behind the transmission of God's Word. Monumental for its scope, this work helps us to see the modern-day Chinese Bible aright." Allen Yeh, Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies, Biola University

From the Publisher