Chinese Biblical Anthropology: Persons and Ideas in the Old Testament and in Modern Chinese Literature
Ebook
Overview
In this study that is largely intellectual history, Cao Jian observes how Old Testament motifs were introduced by Protestant missionaries and Bible translators, with the help of Chinese co-workers in the beginning, and how those motifs drew attention from local converts and led to discussions among them in light of the norms in Confucianism. Then, Cao demonstrates how Confucian reformists started reacting to missionary publications and showing interest in Old Testament motifs. After the defeat of China in 1894-1895 in the Sino-Japanese War, the response to the Old Testament became more active and influential among China’s population. The author shows new interests and tendencies in Old Testament interpretation among educated Chinese with various political ideals at a time of national crisis. He also demonstrates how the vernacular movement in Bible translating and missionary Old Testament education popularized and modernized Old Testament reading and studies in Chinese society. After that transitional period, discussions of Old Testament motifs became even more abundant and diverse. The author concentrates on those regarding the notion of God and monotheism. In China’s nationalism, the Old Testament proved no less stimulating. The author deals with Moses and the prophets to understand how they became valid to those active in both religious and secular realms.
“In the unsettling era of change and crisis covered by the book,
Chinese intellectuals have gained some insight and inspiration in
the reading of the Chinese Union Version translation of the Bible,
especially the Mandarin version of 1919, which is being celebrated
for its centennial this year. Their contextual readings have
contributed to the significant tradition of interpretation of a
foreign text in the multiple textual heritage of China, which this
present work sets out to critically engage. It is indicative to
find that monotheistic perspective of the Bible is one of the
challenging ideas not only in the Chinese cultural and religious
context, but also for the very quest for a China in its modern
setting.”
—Archie C. C. Lee, Professor of the Hebrew Bible, Divinity School
of Chung Chi College
“Cao Jian’s study of the translation and reception of the
Hebrew Scriptures in Chinese literary, political, and philosophical
writings offers an impressive new vision of the scope of
intellectual engagement with Scripture in the late Qing and early
twentieth centuries. From political readings of the Jewish nation
to poetic renditions of Lamentations, Cao’s book expands and
enriches our understanding of the Bible in Chinese history as
pedagogical text, literary inspiration, and intellectual
sounding-board.”
—Chloe Starr, Associate Professor of Asian Christianity and
Theology at Yale Divinity School
- Title: Chinese Biblical Anthropology: Persons and Ideas in the Old Testament and in Modern Chinese Literature
- Authors: Irene Eber, Jian Cao
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2019
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781532655685, 1532655681
- Resource ID: LLS:9781532655685
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-10-23T08:24:02Z
Cao Jian is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China. He completed his PhD in Biblical Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2009). His interests in research and teaching include the Hebrew Bible, Jewish thought, and the Bible in China. He has published widely in major scholarly journals such as The Bible Translator (USA), Monumenta Serica (Germany), Asian and African Studies (Slovakia), Logos & Pneuma (Hong Kong), and Sino-Christian Studies (Taiwan).