Interpretations of the term Shangdi in the translations of the ancient Chinese Shujing by N.Ya. Bichurin and D.P. Sivillov

Abstract

Shangdi is one of the versions of the concept of God in missionary translations of Christian literature into Chinese. This choice of translation is determined by the presence of the term shangdi in ancient Chinese Confucian canonical works, and especially in the Shujing (Canon of Records). The interpretations of shangdi in the Russian translations of the Shujing by archimandrite, and later just a monk, Iakinf (Nikita Yakovlevich Bichurin, 1777–1853) and archimandrite Daniil (Dmitry Petrovich Sivillov, 1798–1877) are considered indicative of their religious and scholarly worldviews. In the 18^th century, among Catholic missionaries, and in the 19^th century, among Protestants, there were terminological disputes that are believed to have not affected Orthodox missionaries. A comparison of the interpretations of shangdi by Frs. Iakinf and Daniil is used to clarify this thesis. A review of unpublished translations and other materials from Russian archives reveals that, in practical terms, the translations of the Shujing by Frs. Iakinf and Daniil served as a kind of precursor to this debate. Father Iakinf used the term only in transcription, deliberately avoiding semantic translations of shangdi to prevent connotations of the Chinese term with the Christian concept of God. Father Daniil, by contrast, provides numerous translations of this term, alluding to epithets within the Christian concept of God. His concept of Chinese shangdi is close to the ideas of Catholic Jesuit missionaries of the 17^th and 18^th centuries, which may have influenced Fr. Daniil when stationed in Beijing. Contrary to popular belief, Fr. Iakinf appears to be a stricter adherent of Orthodox religious interpretations, while Fr. Daniil, without delving into the essence of the theological matter, preferred a more practical approach to preaching Christianity in China.

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