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.