April 19, 2006
China Notes 17
Easter greetings!
I'm writing today about a special exhibition you may wish to
attend. From April to June this year, the China Christian Council
and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement is sponsoring an exhibition
in the United States that will travel to Los Angeles, Atlanta,
and New York City. The exhibition tells the story of Bible ministries
in China through an array of displays and through introductions
to the displays given by guests from the church in China.
While the Bible (or at least parts of it) first came to China
as early as the 781AD, the beginning of Protestant Bible ministries
in China can be dated to the Chinese Bible translation produced
by Robert Morrison and Liang A Fa in 1823. This was the first
of a long line of Bible translations into classical Chinese, Mandarin
Chinese, and even many Chinese dialects, a line that culminated
in the 1919 publication of the Mandarin Union Version, the Chinese
Bible still most widely known and used today. The success of the
MUV, however, did not bring the work of translation to an end,
and various other translations continued to be produced by both
Chinese and foreign Christians over the succeeding decades.
During China's Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Bible publication
in China ceased for over a decade, but when the churches began
to reopen in 1979, one of the first tasks they set to work on
was renewed publishing of the Bible. Efforts in the early 1980s
included a project to print several hundred thousand Bibles at
a factory belonging to the People's Liberation Army, and another
to produce a Bible printed with horizontal lines and simplified
Chinese characters so that younger readers would find the Bible
easier to read. (Older Bibles were printed in vertical lines,
using traditional Chinese characters.) However, the most dramatic
development was the opening in 1987 of the Amity Printing Company
in Nanjing, which is a joint venture between the Amity Foundation
and the United Bible Society. To date, the Amity Press has printed
over 40 million Bibles, as well as a large quantity of hymnbooks.
In 1995, the Ai Ji (Love Christ) Press was established in Shanghai
to print other kinds of Christian literature.
While most Bibles published in China today are still the MUV
translation that is used widely by Chinese Christians around the
world, there is also a growing range of Bibles available in China,
including annotated study Bibles, Chinese-English bilingual Bibles,
and even Bibles in braille for the blind. In addition to Bibles
in Chinese, Bibles are also published in a number of ethnic minority
languages such as Miao, Lisu, Korean, Yi, Wa, Jingpo, Lahu, and
Dai, and more ethnic minority translations are currently underway.
The exhibition tells the story not only of all the Bibles above,
but also how they are produced, distributed, and used by Christians
in China. Displays at the exhibition also include a range of Christian
artworks, and even special treasures ranging from a specially
printed edition of the New Testament given to the Empress Dowager
in 1894 to a handwritten copy of the entire Bible produced in
secret by a Chinese Christian during the Cultural Revolution.
The exhibition will be held at the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angles
from April 27 to May, at the Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church
in Atlanta from May 19 to May 24, and finally at the Cathedral
of St. John the Divine in New York from June 6 to June 15. Further
information about the exhibition can be found at the Bible
exhibition Web site and also on the English-language
Web site of the Amity Foundation under the "Amity News
Service" section.
Christ is risen!
Don and Wei Hong
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
246 |
