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 28 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter and the rhyme schemes are -ong and -i (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

口蜜腹劍

呼籲我恩保。莫向我作聾。爾若長默默。我將陷泥中。 主盍一垂顧。鑒我耿耿忠。向主發哀聲。舉手朝聖宮。 莫將我消滅。使與群兇同。彼輩口如蜜。心中含辛螫。 祈主按其行。報彼諸罪孽。自作應自受。處以所應得。 目中無眞宰。藐視靈異蹟。既為主所否。何由自建立。 可讚惟雅瑋。已聞吾歎息。 是我衛身干。是我生命力。一心惟賴主。賴主信有益。神樂湧心府。頌聲從中發。 祈保受命王。萬民食帝力。 拯救爾子民。福佑爾嗣業。長為元元牧。涵育靡有極。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

kǒu mì fù jiàn

hū xū wǒ ēn bǎo 。 mò xiàng wǒ zuò lóng 。 ěr ruò cháng mò mò 。 wǒ jiāng xiàn ní zhōng 。 zhǔ hé yī chuí gù 。 jiàn wǒ gěng gěng zhōng 。 xiàng zhǔ fā āi shēng 。 jǔ shǒu zhāo shèng gōng 。 mò jiāng wǒ xiāo miè 。 shǐ yǔ qún xiōng tóng 。 bǐ bèi kǒu rú mì 。 xīn zhōng hán xīn shì 。 qí zhǔ àn qí xíng 。 bào bǐ zhū zuì niè 。 zì zuò yīng zì shòu 。 chǔ yǐ suǒ yīng dé 。 mù zhōng wú zhēn zǎi 。 miǎo shì líng yì lì 。 jì wéi zhǔ suǒ fǒu 。 hé yóu zì jiàn lì 。 kě zàn wéi yǎ wěi 。 yǐ wén wú tàn xī 。 shì wǒ wèi shēn gān 。 shì wǒ shēng mìng lì 。 yī xīn wéi lài zhǔ 。 lài zhǔ xìn yǒu yì 。 shén lè yǒng xīn fǔ 。 sòng shēng cóng zhōng fā 。 qí bǎo shòu mìng wáng 。 wàn mín shí dì lì 。 zhěng jiù ěr zǐ mín 。 fú yòu ěr sì yè 。 cháng wéi yuán yuán mù 。 hán yù mí yǒu jí 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.

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 29 from the 1946 edition is in tetrameter and pentameter and the rhyme scheme is -ang (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either and underlined proper names):

雷音

告爾天神。齊頌主德。 聖名馥馥。稜威赫赫。肅雍拜主。被爾黼黻。 主音淵淵。在水中央。惟主作雷。自彼湯湯。 厥音隆隆。赫赫有響。 厥音霹靂。折彼香柏。 麗盆西連。躍躍如犢。 轟雷既行。電光閃鑠。 曠野聞音。戰戰慄慄。迦鐵之野。斯惕斯懾。 麀震厥音。遄產幼鹿。憬彼森林。木葉盡脫。凡在殿中。莫不祝福。 雅瑋御宇。溯自洪荒。振古如茲。王權無疆。 福哉天民。恃主日強。戢爾干戈。永享安康。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

léi yīn

gào ěr tiān shén 。 qí sòng zhǔ dé 。 shèng míng fù fù 。 léng wēi hè hè 。 sù yōng bài zhǔ 。 bèi ěr fǔ fú 。 zhǔ yīn yuān yuān 。 zài shuǐ zhōng yāng 。 wéi zhǔ zuò léi 。 zì bǐ tāng tāng 。 jué yīn lóng lóng 。 hè hè yǒu xiǎng 。 jué yīn pī lì 。 zhē bǐ xiāng bǎi 。 lì pén xī lián 。 yuè yuè rú dú 。 hōng léi jì xíng 。 diàn guāng shǎn shuò 。 kuàng yě wén yīn 。 zhàn zhàn lì lì 。 jiā tiě zhī yě 。 sī tì sī shè 。 hú zhèn jué yīn 。 chuán chǎn yòu lù 。 jǐng bǐ sēn lín 。 mù yè jìn tuō 。 fán zài diàn zhōng 。 mò bù zhù fú 。 yǎ wěi yù yǔ 。 sù zì hóng huāng 。 zhèn gǔ rú zī 。 wáng quán wú jiāng 。 fú zāi tiān mín 。 shì zhǔ rì qiáng 。 jí ěr gān gē 。 yǒng xiǎng ān kāng 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.

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 30 from the 1946 edition is in tetrameter and the rhyme schemes are -i and -u (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

先悲後喜

心感雅瑋。扶持小子。未令敵人。揚眉吐氣。 曩者有患。呼籲於爾。爾應我求。吾病以治。 肉我白骨。生我於死。 蒙主煦育。可不頌美。勗哉諸聖。讚主莫已。 聖怒一時。慈恩永世。長夜悲泣。拂曉乃喜。
昔處康樂。自謂安固。 主為磐石。寧用後顧。忽掩慈顏。心生憂怖。 哀哀求主。聽我仰訴。 小子之血。於主何補。倘轉溝壑。化為塵土。塵土何知。寧能讚主。 求主垂憐。加以神助。 主聞吾禱。化泣為舞。解我麻衣。被以歡緒。 感銘靈府。焉能默默。稱謝洪恩。永世不息。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

xiān bēi hòu xǐ

xīn gǎn yǎ wěi 。 fú chí xiǎo zǐ 。 wèi líng dí rén 。 yáng méi tǔ qì 。 nǎng zhě yǒu huàn 。 hū xū yú ěr 。 ěr yīng wǒ qiú 。 wú bìng yǐ zhì 。 ròu wǒ bái gǔ 。 shēng wǒ yú sǐ 。 mēng zhǔ xù yù 。 kě bù sòng měi 。 xù zāi zhū shèng 。 zàn zhǔ mò yǐ 。 shèng nù yī shí 。 cí ēn yǒng shì 。 cháng yè bēi qì 。 fú xiǎo nǎi xǐ 。
xī chǔ kāng lè 。 zì wèi ān gù 。 zhǔ wéi pán shí 。 níng yòng hòu gù 。 hū yǎn cí yán 。 xīn shēng yōu bù 。 āi āi qiú zhǔ 。 tīng wǒ yǎng sù 。 xiǎo zǐ zhī xuè 。 yú zhǔ hé bǔ 。 tǎng zhuǎn gōu hè 。 huà wéi chén tǔ 。 chén tǔ hé zhī 。 níng néng zàn zhǔ 。 qiú zhǔ chuí lián 。 jiā yǐ shén zhù 。 zhǔ wén wú dǎo 。 huà qì wéi wǔ 。 jiě wǒ má yī 。 bèi yǐ huān xù 。 gǎn míng líng fǔ 。 yān néng mò mò 。 chēng xiè hóng ēn 。 yǒng shì bù xī 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.

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 31 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter and the rhyme schemes are -u and -en (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

無窮之望

主乃我所恃。莫教我向隅。願主昭大信。 營救莫躊躇。願主作磐石。俾我無憂虞。 願主為安宅。俾我得常居。既是我保障。且為令名故。 應賜我指引。脫我於網罟。 敬將吾靈魂。托付於爾手。至誠惟吾主。已將我拯救。 迷惑邪妄者。為我所深惡。眞神豈有他。我惟爾是怙。 爾知我艱辛。爾識我心苦。雖苦亦自甘。悅懌爾仁恕。 昔曾承主恩。綽綽有餘裕。何曾將吾身。委為敵人俎。 今日復罹難。求主申舊恩。鬱悒腸欲斷。憂苦目已昏。 愁煎生意枯。悲嘆歲月新。精力日以衰。罪多氣消沈。 蒙辱因敵眾。無顏見比鄰。相知競迴避。有如眼中釘。 雖存已若亡。棄置如舊瓶。 所聞惟讒謗。恐怖充塵氛。群奸相聚議。欲害吾孑身。 伶仃惟恃主。惟主是吾神。 禍福托主手。脫我於仇人。 願爾開慈顏。照護爾微臣。 莫令我觖望。應使彼吞聲。惡計既受挫。默默歸幽冥。 截彼誇誕舌。緘彼誑訛唇。庶幾傲慢子。不復誣精誠。 樂哉諸君子。事主尊且親。主有無窮福。特為爾貯存。肉眼未曾見。俗耳未曾聞。 雍雍卵翼下。熙熙承煦溫。毒計無從害。讒舌不得侵。群小見擯絕。爾為入幕賓。 偉哉造物主。待我恩何深。捍衛無不至。置我於堅城。 情急方寸亂。遽出怨主聲。主實未棄我。心期蒙玉成。 告爾諸虔信。愛主務加勤。忠貞承拔擢。驕暴被嚴懲。 願凡恃主者。養勇壯其心。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

wú qióng zhī wàng

zhǔ nǎi wǒ suǒ shì 。 mò jiào wǒ xiàng yú 。 yuàn zhǔ zhāo dà xìn 。 yíng jiù mò chóu chú 。 yuàn zhǔ zuò pán shí 。 bǐ wǒ wú yōu yú 。 yuàn zhǔ wéi ān zhái 。 bǐ wǒ dé cháng jū 。 jì shì wǒ bǎo zhàng 。 qiě wéi líng míng gù 。 yīng cì wǒ zhǐ yǐn 。 tuō wǒ yú wǎng gǔ 。 jìng jiāng wú líng hún 。 tuō fù yú ěr shǒu 。 zhì chéng wéi wú zhǔ 。 yǐ jiāng wǒ zhěng jiù 。 mí huò xié wàng zhě 。 wéi wǒ suǒ shēn è 。 zhēn shén qǐ yǒu tā 。 wǒ wéi ěr shì hù 。 ěr zhī wǒ jiān xīn 。 ěr shí wǒ xīn kǔ 。 suī kǔ yì zì gān 。 yuè yì ěr rén shù 。 xī zēng chéng zhǔ ēn 。 chuò chuò yǒu yú yù 。 hé zēng jiāng wú shēn 。 wěi wéi dí rén zǔ 。 jīn rì fù lí nán 。 qiú zhǔ shēn jiù ēn 。 yù yì cháng yù duàn 。 yōu kǔ mù yǐ hūn 。 chóu jiān shēng yì kū 。 bēi tàn suì yuè xīn 。 jīng lì rì yǐ shuāi 。 zuì duō qì xiāo shěn 。 mēng rǔ yīn dí zhòng 。 wú yán jiàn bǐ lín 。 xiāng zhī jìng huí bì 。 yǒu rú yǎn zhōng dīng 。 suī cún yǐ ruò wáng 。 qì zhì rú jiù píng 。 suǒ wén wéi chán bàng 。 kǒng bù chōng chén fēn 。 qún jiān xiāng jù yì 。 yù hài wú jié shēn 。 líng dīng wéi shì zhǔ 。 wéi zhǔ shì wú shén 。 huò fú tuō zhǔ shǒu 。 tuō wǒ yú chóu rén 。 yuàn ěr kāi cí yán 。 zhào hù ěr wēi chén 。 mò líng wǒ jué wàng 。 yīng shǐ bǐ tūn shēng 。 è jì jì shòu cuò 。 mò mò guī yōu míng 。 jié bǐ kuā dàn shé 。 jiān bǐ kuáng é chún 。 shù jī ào màn zǐ 。 bù fù wū jīng chéng 。 lè zāi zhū jūn zǐ 。 shì zhǔ zūn qiě qīn 。 zhǔ yǒu wú qióng fú 。 tè wéi ěr zhù cún 。 ròu yǎn wèi zēng jiàn 。 sú ěr wèi zēng wén 。 yōng yōng luǎn yì xià 。 xī xī chéng xù wēn 。 dú jì wú cóng hài 。 chán shé bù dé qīn 。 qún xiǎo jiàn bìn jué 。 ěr wéi rù mù bīn 。 wěi zāi zào wù zhǔ 。 dài wǒ ēn hé shēn 。 hàn wèi wú bù zhì 。 zhì wǒ yú jiān chéng 。 qíng jí fāng cùn luàn 。 jù chū yuàn zhǔ shēng 。 zhǔ shí wèi qì wǒ 。 xīn qī mēng yù chéng 。 gào ěr zhū qián xìn 。 ài zhǔ wù jiā qín 。 zhōng zhēn chéng bá zhuó 。 jiāo bào bèi yán chěng 。 yuàn fán shì zhǔ zhě 。 yǎng yǒng zhuàng qí xīn 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.

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 32 from the 1946 edition is in tetrameter and the rhyme schemes are -ou, -ui, -ao, -u, and -uan (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

懺悔吟之二【承罪】

其罪獲赦。其過見宥。樂哉斯人。主恩寬厚。
主不見罪。眞心痛悔。樂哉斯人。主恩似海。
我昔有罪。不肯自招。呻吟不輟。生趣日消。 聖手所指。暮暮朝朝。夏日相逼。我體枯焦。 我既自承。求主寬饒。誓言直告。罪痕斯銷。
傳語虔信。及時祈主。洪水不犯。主實砥柱。 救爾於厄。脫爾於罟。轉泣為歌。錫爾多祜。 教爾小子。示爾以路。我目所視。毋失爾步。 勿效拗騾。不甘馴御。載鞭載勒。斯知去處。 哀哉不肖。自求撻楚。謙謙君子。惟主是怙。
賢人懷主。方寸常寬。清明在躬。云何不歡。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

chàn huǐ yín zhī èr 【chéng zuì】

qí zuì huò shè 。 qí guò jiàn yòu 。 lè zāi sī rén 。 zhǔ ēn kuān hòu 。
zhǔ bù jiàn zuì 。 zhēn xīn tòng huǐ 。 lè zāi sī rén 。 zhǔ ēn sì hǎi 。
wǒ xī yǒu zuì 。 bù kěn zì zhāo 。 shēn yín bù chuò 。 shēng qù rì xiāo 。 shèng shǒu suǒ zhǐ 。 mù mù zhāo zhāo 。 xià rì xiāng bī 。 wǒ tǐ kū jiāo 。 wǒ jì zì chéng 。 qiú zhǔ kuān ráo 。 shì yán zhí gào 。 zuì hén sī xiāo 。
chuán yǔ qián xìn 。 jí shí qí zhǔ 。 hóng shuǐ bù fàn 。 zhǔ shí dǐ zhù 。 jiù ěr yú è 。 tuō ěr yú gǔ 。 zhuǎn qì wéi gē 。 xī ěr duō hù 。 jiào ěr xiǎo zǐ 。 shì ěr yǐ lù 。 wǒ mù suǒ shì 。 wú shī ěr bù 。 wù xiào ǎo luó 。 bù gān xùn yù 。 zài biān zài lè 。 sī zhī qù chǔ 。 āi zāi bù xiāo 。 zì qiú tà chǔ 。 qiān qiān jūn zǐ 。 wéi zhǔ shì hù 。
xián rén huái zhǔ 。 fāng cùn cháng kuān 。 qīng míng zài gōng 。 yún hé bù huān 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.

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 33 from the 1946 edition is mostly in pentameter and heptameter (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

新歌一曲

我告諸善人。歡躍主懷裏。頌聲出諸口。盡善且盡美。 何以頌主德。鼓琴復鼓瑟。 何以咏主榮。新歌奏一闋。彈者盡其藝。歌聲務和協。 主言皆正直。主行皆篤實。 所樂惟仁義。慈愛被八極。 發號成諸天。噓氣生萬物。 海水壺中貯。諸淵庫中集。 眾生當畏主。宇宙亦震慄。 主乃造化宰。萬有應聲出。 列國與兆民千算亦何益。 何如主一算。萬古永不易。 奉主之國必發達。承恩之民安且逸。
主在天庭上。垂視眾生靈。 主自聖宮中。俯察萬國民。 既造人靈心。亦欲觀其行。
君王兵雖多。不能必制勝。 勇士力拔山。不能保其命。馬蕭蕭。車轔轔。窮兵黷武殃及身。 神目所青睞。惟在虔敬人。一心望主者。必得沐甘霖。 大難得不死。饑饉亦能生。 一切無足恃。可恃惟眞神。 心愛主之道。仰賴主之名。 鑒我耿耿望。賜我無窮恩。

Transcription into Roman alphabet:

xīn gē yī qū

wǒ gào zhū shàn rén 。 huān yuè zhǔ huái lǐ 。 sòng shēng chū zhū kǒu 。 jìn shàn qiě jìn měi 。 hé yǐ sòng zhǔ dé 。 gǔ qín fù gǔ sè 。 hé yǐ yǒng zhǔ róng 。 xīn gē zòu yī què 。 dàn zhě jìn qí yì 。 gē shēng wù hé xié 。 zhǔ yán jiē zhèng zhí 。 zhǔ xíng jiē dǔ shí 。 suǒ lè wéi rén yì 。 cí ài bèi bā jí 。 fā hào chéng zhū tiān 。 xū qì shēng wàn wù 。 hǎi shuǐ hú zhōng zhù 。 zhū yuān kù zhōng jí 。 zhòng shēng dāng wèi zhǔ 。 yǔ zhòu yì zhèn lì 。 zhǔ nǎi zào huà zǎi 。 wàn yǒu yīng shēng chū 。 liè guó yǔ zhào mín qiān suàn yì hé yì 。 hé rú zhǔ yī suàn 。 wàn gǔ yǒng bù yì 。 fèng zhǔ zhī guó bì fā dá 。 chéng ēn zhī mín ān qiě yì 。
zhǔ zài tiān tíng shàng 。 chuí shì zhòng shēng líng 。 zhǔ zì shèng gōng zhōng 。 fǔ chá wàn guó mín 。 jì zào rén líng xīn 。 yì yù guān qí xíng 。
jūn wáng bīng suī duō 。 bù néng bì zhì shèng 。 yǒng shì lì bá shān 。 bù néng bǎo qí mìng 。 mǎ xiāo xiāo 。 chē lín lín 。 qióng bīng dú wǔ yāng jí shēn 。 shén mù suǒ qīng lài 。 wéi zài qián jìng rén 。 yī xīn wàng zhǔ zhě 。 bì dé mù gān lín 。 dà nán dé bù sǐ 。 jī jǐn yì néng shēng 。 yī qiē wú zú shì 。 kě shì wéi zhēn shén 。 xīn ài zhǔ zhī dào 。 yǎng lài zhǔ zhī míng 。 jiàn wǒ gěng gěng wàng 。 cì wǒ wú qióng ēn 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.

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 34 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter and the rhyme schemes are -en, -ei, and -ang (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either):

知味

誦主願無間。美辭恆在脣。 中心弘玄德。謙者必樂聞。 我歌爾應和。相與崇眞神。 拯我出眾難。可不感洪恩。
懷主斯常樂。睟面盎於背。終身不承羞。俯仰無怍愧。 即如此區區。備受主之惠。昔日處困厄。今日慶歡慰。 寅畏邀主護。天神周身圍。 願我眾兄弟。一嘗主之味。其味實無窮。親嘗始知美。
敬主邀天休。所需百無缺。 壯獅有時飢。忠徒莫不適。 願將敬主道。諄諄誨子姪。 授爾立身法。傳爾壽康訣。 謹守爾之舌。莠言愼毋說。謹守爾之唇。詭詐愼毋出。 棄惡勉行善。和睦最可悅。 主目所樂視。賢者之行實。主耳所樂聽。賢者之陳述。 作惡激天怒。身死名亦滅。 賢者求見應。處困不終日。 傷心承溫燠。哀慟見矜恤。
君子固多難。恃主終致祥。 主必全其身。百骸渾無傷。 惡人死於惡。仇善祇速亡。 忠魂必見贖。托主終無殃。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

zhī wèi

sòng zhǔ yuàn wú jiān 。 měi cí héng zài chún 。 zhōng xīn hóng xuán dé 。 qiān zhě bì lè wén 。 wǒ gē ěr yīng hé 。 xiāng yǔ chóng zhēn shén 。 zhěng wǒ chū zhòng nán 。 kě bù gǎn hóng ēn 。
huái zhǔ sī cháng lè 。 suì miàn àng yú bèi 。 zhōng shēn bù chéng xiū 。 fǔ yǎng wú zuò kuì 。 jí rú cǐ qū qū 。 bèi shòu zhǔ zhī huì 。 xī rì chǔ kùn è 。 jīn rì qìng huān wèi 。 yín wèi yāo zhǔ hù 。 tiān shén zhōu shēn wéi 。 yuàn wǒ zhòng xiōng dì 。 yī cháng zhǔ zhī wèi 。 qí wèi shí wú qióng 。 qīn cháng shǐ zhī měi 。
jìng zhǔ yāo tiān xiū 。 suǒ xū bǎi wú quē 。 zhuàng shī yǒu shí jī 。 zhōng tú mò bù shì 。 yuàn jiāng jìng zhǔ dào 。 zhūn zhūn huì zǐ zhí 。 shòu ěr lì shēn fǎ 。 chuán ěr shòu kāng jué 。 jǐn shǒu ěr zhī shé 。 yǒu yán shèn wú shuō 。 jǐn shǒu ěr zhī chún 。 guǐ zhà shèn wú chū 。 qì è miǎn xíng shàn 。 hé mù zuì kě yuè 。 zhǔ mù suǒ lè shì 。 xián zhě zhī xíng shí 。 zhǔ ěr suǒ lè tīng 。 xián zhě zhī chén shù 。 zuò è jī tiān nù 。 shēn sǐ míng yì miè 。 xián zhě qiú jiàn yīng 。 chǔ kùn bù zhōng rì 。 shāng xīn chéng wēn yù 。 āi tòng jiàn jīn xù 。
jūn zǐ gù duō nán 。 shì zhǔ zhōng zhì xiáng 。 zhǔ bì quán qí shēn 。 bǎi hái hún wú shāng 。 è rén sǐ yú è 。 chóu shàn qí sù wáng 。 zhōng hún bì jiàn shú 。 tuō zhǔ zhōng wú yāng 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.

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 24 from the 1946 edition is in tetrameter and the rhyme scheme is -u (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either and underlined proper names):

迎駕

率土之濱。莫匪爾屬。普天之下。莫匪爾僕。 滄溟之上。肇建寰宇。狂瀾是鎮。中流砥柱。
陟彼靈山。登彼聖域。誰堪當此。 其惟純德。心跡雙清。無愧無怍。 必承天休。必蒙恩贖。 夙夜懷主。無忝雅谷。
嗟爾諸城。矗爾重闉。嗟爾古戶。高爾閈閎。殷勤迎納。光榮之君。
榮君伊誰。全能雅瑋。惟仁無敵。凱旋而歸。
嗟爾諸城。矗爾重闉。嗟爾古戶。高爾閈閎。殷勤迎納。光榮之君。
榮君伊誰。實維雅瑋。萬有之主。煥焉其輝。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

yíng jià

shuài tǔ zhī bīn 。 mò fěi ěr shǔ 。 pǔ tiān zhī xià 。 mò fěi ěr pū 。 cāng míng zhī shàng 。 zhào jiàn huán yǔ 。 kuáng lán shì zhèn 。 zhōng liú dǐ zhù 。
zhì bǐ líng shān 。 dēng bǐ shèng yù 。 shuí kān dāng cǐ 。 qí wéi chún dé 。 xīn jì shuāng qīng 。 wú kuì wú zuò 。 bì chéng tiān xiū 。 bì mēng ēn shú 。 sù yè huái zhǔ 。 wú tiǎn yǎ gǔ 。
jiē ěr zhū chéng 。 chù ěr zhòng lín 。 jiē ěr gǔ hù 。 gāo ěr lú hóng 。 yīn qín yíng nà 。 guāng róng zhī jūn 。
róng jūn yī shuí 。 quán néng yǎ wěi 。 wéi rén wú dí 。 kǎi xuán ér guī 。
jiē ěr zhū chéng 。 chù ěr zhòng lín 。 jiē ěr gǔ hù 。 gāo ěr lú hóng 。 yīn qín yíng nà 。 guāng róng zhī jūn 。
róng jūn yī shuí 。 shí wéi yǎ wěi 。 wàn yǒu zhī zhǔ 。 huàn yān qí huī 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.