1850.
Tract upon Nourishing the Spirit.
467
That a version with the word shia used for gods would be, as Dr. M. and his coadjutors ussert, unclassical, depends upou the literary taste of a people- They, as well as the rest of the Committee of Delegates and all persons interest- ed in the revision, no doubt wish to make the Bible as much a classic in Chinese as it is in English, and as much as a translation can be in any language; but the use or misuse of one word can not stamp it as unclassical, especially when that word itself has a great diversity of meanings Dr Medhurst has here given the translation of a piece in which skin is no doubt used for spirit, but this surely does not prove that it is never used for anything else, much less that it would be unclassical to use it for god," or for the highest object of worship. Shin proba- bly never was used for God proprie by any Chinese writer, for the people of this empire are yet ignorant of Him; but, just as surely as we who use the word god in English apply it correctly as the common term for all objects of worship among heathen nations, as can be abundantly shown from the English Bible, so is the term shin used for objects of worship in Chinese from Shangtí down to the lowest. We will make a few quotations to show this from a living writer, who is quite as well acquainted with his own language as the author of the tract introduced above.
..
In a Geography lately published, speaking of the Persians, he says, "As the source of life they carefully respect and sacrifice to the sun as (ho shin) the god of Fire." Also, speaking of ruins at Orinuz, “ There is an old temple there where the sun, the god of Fire, was honored." And again, “The Africans worship trees, birds, and beasts as gods (shin), and whoever kills an cuemy offers him in sacrifice to them The people of Guinea also worship birds and beasts es (shin) gods." Now shin is rightly translated gods in these extracts, or else the author did not know how to use his own language, or else objects of worship are not properly called gods in English, as in Isaiah xliv. It is impertinent to our coininon sense and usages of speech as Englishmen to tell us the latter; and if the governor of Fuhkien means anything else than god or gods by the word shin in these places, he is still alive, and his ideas can be ascertained. The Persians had but one object of worship, was it not a god? The Africans had many, were they not gods? What spirit or spiritual essence did His Excellency suppose existed in trees, birds, and beasts, when he called them shin? We al low shin means spirit in some places, but if Dr. Medhurst will permit us to apply his own quotation, “There are writings in Chinese in which shin is so employed up and down, that a man must be a fool to suppose that it means any- thing else than god." We also introduce another extract from the same work which we think "fortifies" this application of shin to god; but previously beg to call Dr. Medhurst's attention to the meaning given to the words tien shin in his translation of Kánghi's Dictionary," the celestial gods who draw foiti or develop all things.”
“In ancient times, the Indians and Persians all served (32') the god of Fire ; in Judea and west of it all served (tien shin) the God of Heaven. Those who served the god of Fire worshiped the rising sun, with burning faggots turned towards it, and bowing down. The people [believed] that without the influence of fire they would die, and that if there was no sunlight, the whole world could not see; therefore the people of these two coun- tries from of old had this custom, considering that in so doing they requited their origin, and that this was not a (si shin) false god. The worship of the God of Heaven (tien shi:) began with Moscs, about the rise of the Sháng dynasty in the reign of Wuliting, Ac- cording to his words, the God of Heaven descended upon Mt. Sinai (in Arabia), deliver.ng ten laws to instruct mankind; the observance of a seventh day of rest began at this fine. Jesus was born a thousand and several hundred years after this. The (lien-chú Kiau) religion of the Lord of Heaven originated at this time, but it was not that we now call the Tienchú kiau (or Romish religion).
“The sect of Fuh sprang from India, thus altering the custom of worshiping fire; but the custom of worshiping fire is still maintained in two countries in the west, Kondooz
* Not Gad propriè as Dr. M. incorrectly writes above; for the word god and God differ in E4- glisk as much as max and Man (1. 8. Mr Man) do. The absence of a capital letter is a hindranes to the easy understanding of many words in Chinese, but Dr. Medhurst must know that by leay- ing a blank space before the character shin when used for God, and none when used for god, tuo phrases ** My Glod, my God," " the God of Abraham,' "the gods of the nations,” &c., will to au attentive reader of the Bible be far more intelligible thin he represents them as likely to be.
**
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