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The Protestant Missionaries As Bible Translators

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The Protestant Missionaries As Bible Translators THE PROTESTANT MISSIONARIES AS BIBLE TRANSLATORS: MISSION AND RIVALRY IN CHINA, 1807-1839 by Clement Tsz Ming Tong A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Religious Studies) UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2016 © Clement Tsz Ming Tong, 2016 ABSTRACT The first generation of Protestant missionaries sent to the China mission, such as Robert Morrison and William Milne, were mostly translators, committing most of their time and energy to language studies, Scripture translation, writing grammar books and compiling dictionaries, as well as printing and distributing bibles and other Christian materials. With little instruction, limited resources, and formidable tasks ahead, these individuals worked under very challenging and at times dangerous conditions, always seeking financial support and recognition from their societies, their denominations and other patrons. These missionaries were much more than literary and linguistic academics – they operated as facilitators of the whole translational process, from research to distribution; they were mission agents in China, representing the interests and visions of their societies and patrons back home. Using rare Chinese Bible manuscripts, including one that has never been examined before, plus a large number of personal correspondence, journals and committee reports, this study seeks to understand the first generation of Protestant missionaries in their own mission settings, to examine the social fabrics within which they operated as “translators”, and to determine what factors and priorities dictated their translation decisions and mission strategies. Although Morrison is often credited with being the first translator of the New Testament into Chinese, the truth of the matter is far more complex. The following study is designed to illustrate both the complexity of the historical process underlying the Protestant translations of the Bible, as well as the complexities attendant upon notions of translation and authorship. Recognizing how these translators interacted with one another and how they made use of their sources, and appreciating their continued struggle for support, recognition and patronage is the key to understanding their translation approaches and decision-making. ii PREFACE This dissertation is an original and independent work by the author, Clement Tong. A version of material from chapters 3 and 4 was presented in a paper titled “A Comparison between the Morrison Bible and the Chinese Union Version according to Yan Fu's translation principles of ‘Faithfulness, Accuracy, and Elegance’” at the 2012 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Chicago, and a paper titled “The Roman Connection – The Latin Vulgate Influence on the Chinese Bible” at the 2015 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Atlanta. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................. ii PREFACE ................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................ vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................... viii DEDICATION ................................................................................. ix 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 1.1 Translation Traditions in China ................................................... 13 1.2 Recent Trends in Biblical Translation Studies ................................ 23 1.3 The Complex World of Bible Translators ....................................... 29 1.4 Methodology ................................................................................ 33 2. SERAMPORE AND THE BAPTIST CHINA MISSION ........................ 40 2.1 The Armenian Translator ................................................................ 42 2.2 Textual Analysis of Lassar’s Matthew of 1807 .............................. 49 2.2.1 The Use of Buddhist Terminology ......................................... 50 2.2.2 A Quest for the Source Texts ................................................. 57 2.2.3 Phonetic Characters and Southern Chinese Characteristics ... 67 3. THE BEGINNING OF THE MISSION IN CHINA ................................... 85 3.1 The Years of Preparation ................................................................ 85 3.2 The Manuscript ............................................................................... 89 iv 3.3 Robert Morrison’s Arrival in Canton .............................................. 96 3.4 The Acts of the Apostles of 1810 .................................................. 100 3.5 Morrison’s use of the Basset Manuscript – Luke of 1811 ............ 105 3.6 Morrison’s use of the Basset Manuscript – other books ............... 124 4. PARTNERSHIP AND RIVALRY - THE COMPLEX WORLD OF THE FIRST PROTESTANT TRANSLATORS ................................................................ 151 4.1 The Clear Goal .............................................................................. 155 4.2 The Promoter .............................................................................. 161 4.3 The Competitor ............................................................................. 179 5. THE POWER OF PATRONAGE AND FAME ....................................... 202 5.1 Initial Reception of the First Chinese Bibles ................................ 203 5.2 The baptizô (βαπτίζω) Controversy .............................................. 208 5.3 Fame and Legacy .......................................................................... 222 5.3.1 Literal Style of Basset, Morrison, and Marshman ............ 224 5.3.2 Legacy Threatened ............................................................ 232 5.3.3 Improved Approach, Better Results .................................. 240 CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 244 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................. 253 APPENDIX Influence of the First Bible Translations on Later Versions ............... 278 v LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Use of Buddhist terminology in Lassar and Marshman ............... 54 Table 2.2 Translation of “Jehovah” in the early Chinese Bibles ................. 65 Table 2.3 Comparison of Chinese translated names in four versions .......... 77 Table 3.1 Comparison of Acts 1:1-15 in two versions ............................... 108 Table 3.2 Comparison of Acts 1:1-15 in two versions ............................... 110 Table 3.3 The morphology of Basset’s Harmony of Gospels .................... 116 Table 3.4 Comparison of Luke 1:1-15 in two versions .............................. 120 Table 3.5 Comparison of John 1:1-13 in two versions .............................. 124 Table 3.6 Morrison’s NT translation progress by the years ....................... 128 Table 3.7 Comparison of Luke 12:16-21 in two versions .......................... 130 Table 3.8 Comparison of Luke 24:3-9 in two versions .............................. 130 Table 3.9 Comparison of John 10:7-15 in two versions ............................ 133 Table 3.10 Comparison of John 21:17-22 in two versions .......................... 134 Table 3.11 Comparison of Matthew 13:1-8 in two versions ........................ 137 Table 3.12 Comparison of Romans 1:1-7 in two versions ........................... 140 Table 3.13 Comparison of Romans 13:1-7 in two versions ......................... 143 Table 4.1 The BFBS’s support for the Serampore China Mission and Robert Morrison over the years ................................................. 164 Table 4.2 A comparison of place and people names translated in four Chinese versions ........................................................................ 187 Table 4.3 Marshman’s analysis of Morrison’s reliance on the Basset Manuscript .............................................................................. 195 Table A.1 A comparison of place and people names translated in six Chinese versions ........................................................................ 281 vi LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 2.1 Johannes Lassar’s Matthew (1807) .................................................. 81 Fig. 2.2 Johannes Lassar’s Matthew (1807) .................................................. 82 Fig. 2.3 Marshman and Lassar’s Mark (1811) .............................................. 83 Fig. 2.4 Marshman and Lassar’s John (1813) ............................................... 84 Fig. 3.1 Robert Morrison’s “Chinese” Lord’s Prayer (1802) ...................... 146 Fig. 3.2 Jean Basset’s John (Biblioteca Casanantense, ~1700) ................. 147 Fig. 3.3 Jean Basset’s Harmony of Gospels (British Library, ~1700) ........ 148 Fig. 3.4 Jean Basset’s Harmony of Gospels (HKU, ~1700) ........................ 149 Fig. 3.5 Robert Morrison’s John (1813) ...................................................... 150 Fig. 4.1 Robert Morrison’s Letter to LMS on 21 Jun 1809 ......................... 198 Fig. 4.2 Joshua Marshman’s Letter to LMS on 13 Dec 1816 ...................... 199 Fig. 4.3 Marshman and Lassar’s Genesis
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