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.