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 27 from the 1946 edition is in pentameter and the rhyme schemes are -i and -an(g) (the 1946 edition did not have verse numbers either and underlined proper names):

處困莫餒

主是我明德。何所用惕惕。主是我恩保。誰能褫我魄。 惡逆徒洶洶。但見其傾蹶。 大軍雖當前。吾亦無惴慄。中君既安泰。威武焉能屈。
求主惟一事。足以慰幽衷。終身居主宅。陶然醉春風。逍遙聖殿裏。瞻仰樂無窮。
我當患難日。必蒙藏其室。納我於幔角。置我於磐石。 從此得揚眉。克服周圍敵。宜在聖壇上。獻祭表歡悅。引吭吟詩歌。頌美主大德。
望主聽我音。俞允昭矜憐。 似聞良心語。爾當求主顏。 主顏固常求。但望主莫揜。求主勿峻拒。令僕心慘慘。除主無生路。莫將我棄捐。 父母縱相棄。知主必見涵。 仇敵正洶洶。頗感行路難。求主加指導。引我入平坦。 豈可容群逆。得我乃心甘。盍視彼梟獍。對我長抨擊。妄證且咒詛。無所不用極。所幸未絕望。尚得自支撐。 深信在人世。重得見春光。 告爾氣無餒。仰主圖自強。何以養爾勇。惟有信與望。

Transcription into Roman alphabet with the rhyme scheme highlighted:

chǔ kùn mò něi

zhǔ shì wǒ míng dé 。 hé suǒ yòng tì tì 。 zhǔ shì wǒ ēn bǎo 。 shuí néng chǐ wǒ pò 。 è nì tú xiōng xiōng 。 dàn jiàn qí qīng jué 。 dà jūn suī dāng qián 。 wú yì wú zhuì lì 。 zhōng jūn jì ān tài 。 wēi wǔ yān néng qū 。
qiú zhǔ wéi yī shì 。 zú yǐ wèi yōu zhōng 。 zhōng shēn jū zhǔ zhái 。 táo rán zuì chūn fēng 。 xiāo yáo shèng diàn lǐ 。 zhān yǎng lè wú qióng 。
wǒ dāng huàn nán rì 。 bì mēng cáng qí shì 。 nà wǒ yú màn jiǎo 。 zhì wǒ yú pán shí 。 cóng cǐ dé yáng méi 。 kè fú zhōu wéi dí 。 yí zài shèng tán shàng 。 xiàn jì biǎo huān yuè 。 yǐn háng yín shī gē 。 sòng měi zhǔ dà dé 。
wàng zhǔ tīng wǒ yīn 。 yú yǔn zhāo jīn lián 。 sì wén liáng xīn yǔ 。 ěr dāng qiú zhǔ yán 。 zhǔ yán gù cháng qiú 。 dàn wàng zhǔ mò yǎn 。 qiú zhǔ wù jùn jù 。 líng pū xīn cǎn cǎn 。 chú zhǔ wú shēng lù 。 mò jiāng wǒ qì juān 。 fù mǔ zòng xiāng qì 。 zhī zhǔ bì jiàn hán 。 chóu dí zhèng xiōng xiōng 。 pō gǎn xíng lù nán 。 qiú zhǔ jiā zhǐ dǎo 。 yǐn wǒ rù píng tǎn 。 qǐ kě róng qún nì 。 dé wǒ nǎi xīn gān 。 hé shì bǐ xiāo jìng 。 duì wǒ cháng pēng jī 。 wàng zhèng qiě zhòu zǔ 。 wú suǒ bù yòng jí 。 suǒ xìng wèi jué wàng 。 shàng dé zì zhī chēng 。 shēn xìn zài rén shì 。 zhòng dé jiàn chūn guāng 。 gào ěr qì wú něi 。 yǎng zhǔ tú zì qiáng 。 hé yǐ yǎng ěr yǒng 。 wéi yǒu xìn yǔ wàng 。

With thanks to Simon Wong.