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 22 from the 1946 edition is in the so-called Sao style (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either and underlined proper names):

受天下之垢

主兮主兮。胡為棄我如遺。發呻吟於危急兮。何惠音之遲遲。 朝籲主而不應兮。暮惆悵而無依。 夫主固吾族之所口碑兮。精靈夙彪炳乎歌詩。 稽先人之遐迹兮。孰不托聖澤而優游。 但聞籲主而見拯兮。焉有倚主而蒙羞。 謇予乃蚯蚓而非人兮。為萬民所唾棄而受天下之垢。 覩予者皆大施其嘲嗤兮。相與反其唇而搖其首。 曰彼既托命於天主兮。應蒙天主之援手。苟為天主之所寵兮。當見天主之營救。
信夫吾平生之所仰望兮。惟在天主之躬。主既出予於母胎兮。又教予仰聖恩於慈母之懷中。 溯自予之有生兮。向承吾主之恩撫。即予之尚在胎中兮。主亦未始非予之所怙。 今大難已臨而援手無人兮。吾主寧能捐棄而不顧。
健牡紛紛兮。圍我周匝。來自巴珊兮。洶洶相逼。 猛如餓獅兮。張口欲食。 體渙解兮骨脫。心消融兮如蠟。 喉焦如礫兮舌貼齶。身被委棄兮轉溝壑。 惡犬環縈兮。群小蜂聚。 手與足兮洞穿。骨嶙峋兮可數。眾人旁觀兮。舉瞪目而視予。 分我外衣兮。鬮我內服。 求主毋我遐棄兮。祈恩佑之神速。 保吾魂於刀劍兮。脫吾命於狂畜。 出我於獅口兮。拯我於兕角。 會當宣聖名於諸弟兮。誦大德於會中。 願凡虔敬之人兮。播揚仁風。願雅谷之苗裔兮。聖道是弘。願義塞之子孫兮。惟主是崇。 惟天主之慈憫兮。樂拯厄而濟窮。信乎其有求而必應兮。何曾掩其天容。 吾欲申讚歎於廣眾之中兮。還夙願於諸聖之前。上以報罔極之恩。下以踐平生之言。 必使謙謙君子。飲和飽德。懷主之徒。絃歌不絕。心靈日健。永生不滅。 行見普天率土兮。幡然憬悟而來歸。列國萬民兮。翕然致眷戀於庭闈。 蓋主乃天地之宰兮。又為萬國之君。 世之豐席厚履者固當飲水而思源兮。困苦瀕死者亦應俯伏而投誠。勗哉吾魂。為主而生。 來胤後嗣。事主惟勤。世代緜緜。恭聆福音。 父以傳子。子以傳孫。念念毋忘。主之經綸。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme and the particle xī, that is characteristic for the Sao style, highlighted:

shòu tiān xià zhī gòu

zhǔ xī zhǔ xī 。 hú wéi qì wǒ rú yí 。 fā shēn yín yú wēi jí xī 。 hé huì yīn zhī chí chí 。 zhāo xū zhǔ ér bù yīng xī 。 mù chóu chàng ér wú yī 。 fū zhǔ gù wú zú zhī suǒ kǒu bēi xī 。 jīng líng sù biāo bǐng hū gē shī 。 jī xiān rén zhī xiá jì xī 。 shú bù tuō shèng zé ér yōu yóu 。 dàn wén xū zhǔ ér jiàn zhěng xī 。 yān yǒu yǐ zhǔ ér mēng xiū 。 jiǎn yú nǎi qiū yǐn ér fēi rén xī 。 wéi wàn mín suǒ tuò qì ér shòu tiān xià zhī gòu 。 yì yú zhě jiē dà shī qí cháo chī xī 。 xiāng yǔ fǎn qí chún ér yáo qí shǒu 。 yuē bǐ jì tuō mìng yú tiān zhǔ xī 。 yīng mēng tiān zhǔ zhī yuán shǒu 。 gǒu wéi tiān zhǔ zhī suǒ chǒng xī 。 dāng jiàn tiān zhǔ zhī yíng jiù 。
xìn fū wú píng shēng zhī suǒ yǎng wàng xī 。 wéi zài tiān zhǔ zhī gōng 。 zhǔ jì chū yú yú mǔ tāi xī 。 yòu jiào yú yǎng shèng ēn yú cí mǔ zhī huái zhōng 。 sù zì yú zhī yǒu shēng xī 。 xiàng chéng wú zhǔ zhī ēn fǔ 。 jí yú zhī shàng zài tāi zhōng xī 。 zhǔ yì wèi shǐ fēi yú zhī suǒ hù 。 jīn dà nán yǐ lín ér yuán shǒu wú rén xī 。 wú zhǔ níng néng juān qì ér bù gù 。
jiàn mǔ fēn fēn xī 。 wéi wǒ zhōu zā 。 lái zì bā shān xī 。 xiōng xiōng xiāng bī 。 měng rú è shī xī 。 zhāng kǒu yù shí 。 tǐ huàn jiě xī gǔ tuō 。 xīn xiāo róng xī rú là 。 hóu jiāo rú lì xī shé tiē è 。 shēn bèi wěi qì xī zhuǎn gōu hè 。 è quǎn huán yíng xī 。 qún xiǎo fēng jù 。 shǒu yǔ zú xī dòng chuān 。 gǔ lín xún xī kě shù 。 zhòng rén páng guān xī 。 jǔ dèng mù ér shì yú 。 fēn wǒ wài yī xī 。 jiū wǒ nèi fú 。 qiú zhǔ wú wǒ xiá qì xī 。 qí ēn yòu zhī shén sù 。 bǎo wú hún yú dāo jiàn xī 。 tuō wú mìng yú kuáng xù 。 chū wǒ yú shī kǒu xī 。 zhěng wǒ yú sì jiǎo 。 huì dāng xuān shèng míng yú zhū dì xī 。 sòng dà dé yú huì zhōng 。 yuàn fán qián jìng zhī rén xī 。 bō yáng rén fēng 。 yuàn yǎ gǔ zhī miáo yì xī 。 shèng dào shì hóng 。 yuàn yì sāi zhī zǐ sūn xī 。 wéi zhǔ shì chóng 。 wéi tiān zhǔ zhī cí mǐn xī 。 lè zhěng è ér jì qióng 。 xìn hū qí yǒu qiú ér bì yīng xī 。 hé zēng yǎn qí tiān róng 。 wú yù shēn zàn tàn yú guǎng zhòng zhī zhōng xī 。 huán sù yuàn yú zhū shèng zhī qián 。 shàng yǐ bào wǎng jí zhī ēn 。 xià yǐ jiàn píng shēng zhī yán 。 bì shǐ qiān qiān jūn zǐ 。 yǐn hé bǎo dé 。 huái zhǔ zhī tú 。 xián gē bù jué 。 xīn líng rì jiàn 。 yǒng shēng bù miè 。 xíng jiàn pǔ tiān shuài tǔ xī 。 fān rán jǐng wù ér lái guī 。 liè guó wàn mín xī 。 xī rán zhì juàn liàn yú tíng wéi 。 gài zhǔ nǎi tiān dì zhī zǎi xī 。 yòu wéi wàn guó zhī jūn 。 shì zhī fēng xí hòu hòu lǚ zhě gù dāng yǐn shuǐ ér sī yuán xī 。 kùn kǔ bīn sǐ zhě yì yīng fǔ fú ér tóu chéng 。 xù zāi wú hún 。 wéi zhǔ ér shēng 。 lái yìn hòu sì 。 shì zhǔ wéi qín 。 shì dài mián mián 。 gōng líng fú yīn 。 fù yǐ chuán zǐ 。 zǐ yǐ chuán sūn 。 niàn niàn wú wàng 。 zhǔ zhī jīng lún 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.