John Wu Ching-hsiung (1899-1986) was a native of Ningbo, Zhejiang, a renowned jurist who studied in Europe and the United States, and served as a professor of law at Soochow University, as a judge and the Acting President of the Shanghai Provisional Court, and as the Vice President of the Commission for the Drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of China, before becoming the Minister of the Republic of China to the Holy See. Wu has written extensively, not only on law but also on Chinese philosophy, and has also written his autobiography, Beyond East and West, in English. Wu was a devout Catholic and had a personal relationship with Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975). Wu began translating the the Psalms in 1938, and was encouraged by Chiang to translate the entire New Testament, which he corrected in his own handwriting. (…) John Wu Ching-hsiung’s translation of the Psalms (first draft in 1946, revised in 1975) was translated into Literary Chinese in the form of poetic rhyme, with attention paid to the style of writing. According to the content and mood of the different chapters of the original psalm, Wu chose Chinese poetic forms such as tetrameter, pentameter, heptameter [4, 5 or 7 syllables/Chinese characters per stanza], and the [less formal] Sao style, and sometimes more than two poetic forms were used in a single poem. (Source: Simon Wong)
John Wu Ching-hsiung himself talks about his celebrated and much-admired (though difficult-to-understand) translation in his aforementioned autobiography: (Click or tap here to see)
“Nothing could have been farther from my mind than to translate the Bible or any parts of it with a view to publishing it as an authorized version. I had rendered some of the Psalms into Chinese verse, but that was done as a part of my private devotion and as a literary hobby. When I was in Hongkong in 1938, I had come to know Madame H. H. Kung [Soong Ai-ling], and as she was deeply interested in the Bible, I gave her about a dozen pieces of my amateurish work just for her own enjoyment. What was my surprise when, the next time I saw her, she told me, “My sister [Soong Mei-ling] has written to say that the Generalissimo [Chiang Kai-shek] likes your translation of the Psalms very much, especially the first, the fifteenth, and the twenty-third, the Psalm of the Good Shepherd!”
“In the Autumn of 1940, when I was in Chungking, the Generalissimo invited me several times to lunch with him and expressed his appreciation of the few pieces that he had read. So I sent him some more. A few days later I received a letter from Madame Chiang [Soong Mei-ling], dated September 21, 1940, in which she said that they both liked my translation of the few Psalms I had sent them. ‘For many years,’ she wrote, ‘the Generalissimo has been wanting to have a really adequate and readable Wen-li (literary) translation of the Bible. He has never been able to find anyone who could undertake the matter.’ The letter ends up by saying that I should take up the job and that ‘the Generalissimo would gladly finance the undertaking of this work.’
“After some preliminary study of the commentaries, I started my work with the Psalms on January 6, 1943, the Feast of the Epiphany.
“I had three thousand years of Chinese literature to draw upon. The Chinese vocabulary for describing the beauties of nature is so rich that I seldom failed to find a word, a phrase, and sometimes even a whole line to fit the scene. But what makes such Psalms so unique is that they bring an intimate knowledge of the Creator to bear upon a loving observation of things of nature. I think one of the reasons why my translation is so well received by the Chinese scholars is that I have made the Psalms read like native poems written by a Chinese, who happens to be a Christian. Thus to my countrymen they are at once familiar and new — not so familiar as to be jejune, and not so new as to be bizarre. I did not publish it as a literal translation, but only as a paraphrase.
“To my greatest surprise, [my translation of the Psalms] sold like hot dogs. The popularity of that work was beyond my fondest dreams. Numberless papers and periodicals, irrespective of religion, published reviews too good to be true. I was very much tickled when I saw the opening verse of the first Psalm used as a headline on the front page of one of the non-religious dailies.”
A contemporary researcher (Lindblom 2021) mentions this about Wu’s translation: “Wu created a unique and personal work of sacred art that bears the imprint of his own admitted love and devotion, a landmark achievement comparable to Antoni Gaudi’s Basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain. Although its use is still somewhat limited today, it continues to attract readers for the aforementioned qualities, and continues to be used in prayers and music by those who desire beauty and an authentic Chinese-sounding text that draws from China’s ancient traditions.”
The translation of Psalm 25 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter and the rhyme schemes are -i and -u (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either and underlined proper names):
安宅與正路
心魂所仰望。惟在主雅瑋。 平生無他恃。莫教我蒙恥。勿使我仇人。向我誇優美。 固知盼爾者。不致有所愧。惟彼奸詐徒。終須遭崩潰。
求主加指引。從容聖道裹。 求主賜教誨。俾我明眞理。爾乃我恩神。朝暮所佇俟。 爾心存慈愛。振古已如此。 忘我幼年過。宥我往日罪。求爾加眷顧。用昭爾慈惠。 依爾好生德。領回遊蕩子。示彼何所歸。指彼何所履。 佑彼謙誠者。克己而復禮。 守盟樂道者。當為主所喜。 為爾聖名故。寬免我罪戾。罪戾積如山。愧悔亦不已。
人能懷寅畏。必蒙主愛護。示爾以廣居。指爾以大路。 大路從容行。廣居宴然住。愛屋應及烏。後裔承此土。 主與虔者親。啟迪道中趣。 我目常仰主。賜我脫網罟。 望主加哀矜。恤我惸獨苦。 愁多心如結。罹難求主助。 憐我狼狽狀。赦我一切辜。求主保吾身。 身為眾怨府。 莫令我承羞。主是安身處。 鑒我一片誠。忠貞蘊臟腑。脫我於患難。莫孤我延佇。 求主救義塞。脫離諸恐怖。
Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:
ān zhái yǔ zhèng lù
xīn hún suǒ yǎng wàng 。 wéi zài zhǔ yǎ wěi 。 píng shēng wú tā shì 。 mò jiào wǒ mēng chǐ 。 wù shǐ wǒ chóu rén 。 xiàng wǒ kuā yōu měi 。 gù zhī pàn ěr zhě 。 bù zhì yǒu suǒ kuì 。 wéi bǐ jiān zhà tú 。 zhōng xū zāo bēng kuì 。
qiú zhǔ jiā zhǐ yǐn 。 cóng róng shèng dào guǒ 。 qiú zhǔ cì jiào huì 。 bǐ wǒ míng zhēn lǐ 。 ěr nǎi wǒ ēn shén 。 zhāo mù suǒ zhù sì 。 ěr xīn cún cí ài 。 zhèn gǔ yǐ rú cǐ 。 wàng wǒ yòu nián guò 。 yòu wǒ wǎng rì zuì 。 qiú ěr jiā juàn gù 。 yòng zhāo ěr cí huì 。 yī ěr hǎo shēng dé 。 lǐng huí yóu dàng zǐ 。 shì bǐ hé suǒ guī 。 zhǐ bǐ hé suǒ lǚ 。 yòu bǐ qiān chéng zhě 。 kè jǐ ér fù lǐ 。 shǒu méng lè dào zhě 。 dāng wéi zhǔ suǒ xǐ 。 wéi ěr shèng míng gù 。 kuān miǎn wǒ zuì lì 。 zuì lì jī rú shān 。 kuì huǐ yì bù yǐ 。
rén néng huái yín wèi 。 bì mēng zhǔ ài hù 。 shì ěr yǐ guǎng jū 。 zhǐ ěr yǐ dà lù 。 dà lù cóng róng xíng 。 guǎng jū yàn rán zhù 。 ài wū yīng jí wū 。 hòu yì chéng cǐ tǔ 。 zhǔ yǔ qián zhě qīn 。 qǐ dí dào zhōng qù 。 wǒ mù cháng yǎng zhǔ 。 cì wǒ tuō wǎng gǔ 。 wàng zhǔ jiā āi jīn 。 xù wǒ qióng dú kǔ 。 chóu duō xīn rú jié 。 lí nán qiú zhǔ zhù 。 lián wǒ láng bèi zhuàng 。 shè wǒ yī qiē gū 。 qiú zhǔ bǎo wú shēn 。 shēn wéi zhòng yuàn fǔ 。 mò líng wǒ chéng xiū 。 zhǔ shì ān shēn chǔ 。 jiàn wǒ yī piàn chéng 。 zhōng zhēn yùn zàng fǔ 。 tuō wǒ yú huàn nán 。 mò gū wǒ yán zhù 。 qiú zhǔ jiù yì sāi 。 tuō lí zhū kǒng bù 。
With thanks to Simon Wong.