Translating Wor(l)ds Collana di studi sulla traduzione e traduzioni delle lingue asiatiche e nordafricane

Series | Translating Wor(l)ds
Review | Between Texts, Beyond Words
Chapter | Translating the Bible into Chinese

Translating the Bible into Chinese

Characteristics and Features of the Sigao Shengjing

Abstract

TThe translation project of the Sigao Shengjing 思高聖經 was developed by Gabriele Allegra, given the absence of a complete Catholic Bible in the Chinese language. Allegra started to translate in 1935, and in 1945 assembled a team of Chinese Friars to revise the Old Testament and translate the New one. Subsequently, a biblical research centre was founded, and from 1946 to 1961 it published the first Catholic Bible in Chinese in eleven volumes. The single-volume version was issued in 1968. This paper will present the translation process and the features of the Sigao Shengjing. A brief presentation of the translations of the Chinese Bible will precede a description of the general characteristics of the biblical text. Moreover, the phases of the translation and the publication of the Sigao Shengjing will be examined through the analysis of archival material and the main characteristics and features of the first Chinese Catholic Bible will be outlined.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: July 30, 2018 | Accepted: Aug. 27, 2018 | Published Dec. 31, 2018 | Language: en

Keywords Bible translationMissionary linguisticsFranciscans in ChinaChinese Bible


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