In the Chinese common religion and philosophical schools the idea of the universal

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

has been expressed in a variety of names and representations, most notably as (, "Heaven") and (, "Highest Deity" or "Highest Emperor"). These two and other concepts have been variously combined, in diverse contexts, to form titles such as: * (; , "Emperor" + ) or (; , "Deep" + ) * (, "Highest Heaven") * (, "Vault of Heaven"). The compounds ( + , meaning "heavenly god") and (, meaning "heavenly immortal") have been used for a deity, in a polytheistic sense. The word by itself has likewise been used for God. When

Abrahamic religions The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran. Jewish tradition ...

penetrated

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, they appropriated some of the traditional titles, or created new compound titles, to express their theology.

General uses

Outside of direct translations in religious books, the following are often-encountered translations of the Abrahamic God in general usage.

Nestorian Christianity

The earliest introduction of documented Christian religion appears to be (, literally, "bright teaching") around 635 AD, whose proponents were

Nestorian Christians Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian N ...

from Persia. Their term for God was (, literally "Veritable Majesty," "True Lord," or "Lord of Truth."). In a hymn supposed to be composed by

Lü Dongbin Lü Dongbin (796 CE – 1016 CE) is a legendary Chinese scholar and poet said to have lived during the Tang Dynasty. Whether he actually lived the two hundred and twenty years cannot be determined. Elevated to the status of an immortal in the C ...

, the Christian God is denominated by the term (, literally, "Lord of Heaven"), 800 years before Matteo Ricci and his companions.

Islam

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

has enjoyed a long history in China. For Chinese Muslims, the principal term for God is also () but transliterations of the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

also exist as (), and as (; , "Peace" + , "Help"). The term (), from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

term for God, , is seen more often in north-western China.

Catholicism

The earliest documented Chinese

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church was founded in China in about 1289. The Roman Catholic Church historically favored (, literally "Heavenly Lord" or "Lord of Heaven"), and so "Catholicism" is most commonly rendered (; + , "teach"), although among Chinese Catholics the literal translation of "catholic", (; , "universal" + ), is also used. Korean and Vietnamese Catholics also use cognates of the term for God. This appears to have been used by the Catholic Church to separate Confucian traditions, which were reported to worship spirits and therefore were incompatible with the exclusive biblical worship of God. Ironically, although versions of popular Confucianism became strongly associated with idol worship, traditionalists, notably the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

, did not believe that such idolization accurately reflected Confucius's intent;

Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...

also considered Confucius to be a philosopher rather than the founder of a religion.

Vincent Cronin Vincent Archibald Patrick Cronin FRSL (24 May 1924 – 25 January 2011) was a British historical, cultural, and biographical writer, best known for his biographies of Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, and Napoleon, ...

(1955/2015), ''The Wise Man from the West'', San Francisco: Ignatius, passim.

Protestantism

The earliest

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

missionary to China, Robert Morrison, arrived there in 1807. Before this time, Bibles were not printed for distribution. Protestantism is colloquially referred to as (, meaning "religion of Christ") but this term can sometimes refer to all Christians, so (, literally, "new religion") is also used to distinguish Protestants as a group separate from Roman Catholics. Their translators, coming to China later and separately, chose to use the older terminology , apparently believing was a valid or preferable representation of the "Most High God".

Translations

A number of terms for "God" exist in the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. For example, the first occurrence of a term for God in the Bible is in Genesis 1:1 and is rendered in the English as "God". However, many other titles (such as – usually capitalized, as a replacement for the

tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', ''he (l ...

– Almighty, etc.) are also used.

God

The term used commonly in Protestant Chinese bibles for God is (). This term is much more generic, meaning god, God, spirit, or soul. This probably appeals to groups who are not committed to interpreting the term as a historical or spiritual equivalent to the "God Most High" of the Bible. The issue has remained controversial for over a century and Protestant organizations have published two versions of the Bible, using the two different words.

Tetragrammaton

In addition, the

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', ''he (l ...

, a four letter pronunciation of the name of God from the original Hebrew, often rendered as "YHWH", is rendered in different ways. Catholics have translated this into (, literally "Elegant Powerful," cf. English "

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...

"). Protestants originally rendered it as (, literally "(old) Gentleman of Fiery Magnificence," cf. English "

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judais ...

"). A modern Protestant usage is (, a phonetic translation). Some versions translate this term as (, literally "Lord Above"), similar to the translation decision that uses a capitalized "" by both Catholics and traditional Protestants. Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans particularly use in prayers of the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

Lord

The term (, literally "Lord") is used by both Catholics and traditional Protestants in less formal prayers, and usually by contemporary Protestants. Other less formal terms are used, for example, (, literally "Heavenly Father").

References

External links

Example
- notice how ''Shen'' and ''Shangti'' (''shangdi'') alternatives are offered at the top of the page. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chinese Terms For God Names of God Christianity in China Chinese words and phrases