The classical Chinese version of the New Testament and Psalms (the WV) translated by the prominent Chinese scholar of law and Catholic convert Wu Jingxiong (John C. H. Wu, 1899-1986) and published in 1949, is often regarded as the best literary translation of the Bible ever made into Chinese. In this Asia Working Group session, John Lindlom will explore, through Wu’s translation of the Gospel of John, specific instances of his use of terms from the ancient Chinese classics, Chinese four-character set phrases, to render the words and concepts of the New Testament into classical (literary) Chinese, or wenli, and evaluates the effectiveness of these linguistic choices.
All are welcome.
Originally published at asia.nd.edu.