왕타오, 중국어 성경 번역과 그의 해석학 전략

Abstract

The history of Chinese Bible translation is an important part of Sino-foreign cultural communication of Modern China. The versions of the different Chinese Bible were usually named after the western missionaries in China, and the Chinese native literati assistants who played very important roles in the translation generally went into oblivion. This article is to analyze the famous reformer, journalist, and writer, Wang Tao, who contributed greatly to the success of Delegates’ Version under his missionary instructor, W. Medhurst. Drawing from a number of first hand materials, the author believes Wang Tao was one of the de facto translators, though himself tried to conceal it because of the heavy social pressure in the late Qing dynasty. Under his assistance, the Delegates’ Version could be regarded as “a Chinese literature”, being welcomed by the contemporary Chinese literati. Some translation passages are analyzed, with comparison to the original Biblical text and other Chinese translations. Furthermore, its translation was a deep hermeneutics which aimed to contextualize Christianity into Chinese culture.