How do you explain the Trinity in Chinese? If you're a Christian in Tang China, there's a few ways!

I'm @ChenHuailun, back for my last #Twittistorian thread, this time on translating the names of God in Chinese Christian documents. ~ahc #jingjiao 1/

There are two main writers/translators credited in the extant documents of the Christian (called 'Jingjiao' 景教 in Chinese) corpus of Tang China: Aluoben and Jingjing. ~ahc #jingjiao /2
Aluoben (阿蘿本) was said to have been the Persian missionary responsible for bringing Christianity to China, arriving in Chang'an in 635 and building a church there with 21 monks. ~ahc #jingjiao /3
'Observing the azure clouds, he [Aluoben] bore the true sacred books; beholding the direction of the winds, he braved difficulties and dangers.' - Xi'an stele ~ahc #jingjiao /4
Let's pause on this name, Aluoben (阿蘿本). Some translate it as 'Olopen.' Is it a Syriac name, perhaps a rendering of Yahballaha or Abraham? Or perhaps a Middle Persian name Anōš-ruwān (meaning immortal soul)? ~ahc #jingjiao /5
In Tang Chinese, these characters would be pronounced [a-la-pun]. I am inclined to believe the explanation of Kahar Barat, who suggests that it is simply a colloquial rendering of the Syriac title 'Rabban,' (ܪܒܢ) meaning 'our great one, or monk.' ~ahc #jingjiao /6
The other writer is Jingjing (景净), who is the author of the Xi'an stele erected in 781, more than 100 years after Aluoben brought Christianity to China. His Syriac name in the stele in Adam. ~ahc #jingjiao /7
Now that we have our two writers established, we divide the Jingjiao corpus between the two. Aluoben is credited in the Book of Hearing the Messiah (序聽迷詩所經) and the Discourse on One God (一神論). ~ahc #jingjiao /8
Jingjing is credited in the Book of Attaining Mysterious Rest and Joy (志玄安樂經), the Book of Proclamation of the Highest Origin of Origins (大秦景教宣元本經), the Hymn in Adoration of the Three Persons (景教三威蒙度贊), and the Book of Honour (尊經). ~ahc #jingjiao /9
They have markedly different ways of translating the names of God into Chinese. ~ahc #jingjiao /10
The first way is transliteration, as used by Jingjing in the Hymn in Adoration and Book of Honour.

For those who may be familiar with Syriac or even other Semitic languages, try to look at these Middle Chinese pronunciations and guess their meanings. ~ahc #jingjiao /11
阿羅訶 [Mandarin: a-luo-he; Middle Chn: ʔa-la-xa]
彌施訶 [Mandarin: mi-shi-he; Middle Chn: mji-ʂi-xa]
盧訶寧俱沙 [Mandarin: lu-he-ning-ju-sha; Middle Chn: lu-xa-niajn-ky-ʂa]
~ahc #jingjiao /12
These correspond to the three persons of the Trinity, namely God (Alaha ܐܠܗܐ), Christ (Mšiḥa ܡܔܝܚܐ), and the Holy Spirit (Ruḥa d-Qudša ܪܘܚܐ ܕܩܘܕܫܐ) ~ahc #jingjiao /13
The second way is using indigenous terms, as in Aluoben's Book of Hearing the Messiah. God is Tian-zun (天尊). Tian (天) means something like heaven or sky, but etymology dates back to the 9th cent BCE. Zun (尊) is a title of the Buddha as well as a deity in Daoism. ~ahc /14
Jesus Christ is Shi-zun (世尊), as used in the Discourse on One God. This is one of the ten epithets of the Buddha. However, there is no indigenous term for the Holy Spirit. ~ahc #jingjiao /15
The 3rd way of translating Christian terms into Chinese is neologism. We can see this in the use of the term One God (一神). God (神) refers to a kind of supernatural being, a god or a spirit, and is usually used in the plural sense. It also can refer to the souls of humans. /16
However the term 'One God' would imply a strong monotheistic emphasis of the Christian ‘god' (神). ~ahc #jingjiao /17
There are many titles/names for Christ, including Holy/Virtuous Son (聖子), Son of Light (明子), King of Eternal Life (常活命王), Universally-Honoured One (普尊), Merciful Joyous Lamb (慈喜羔), Great Master (大師). ~ahc #jingjiao /18
The titles with the epithet 'son' are notably similar to the emperor's title, 'the Son of Heaven' (天子). ~ahc #jingjiao /19
The word 'wind' (feng 風), attempts to incorporate the multiple meanings of the Syriac Ruḥa (ܪܘܚܐ), which not only means 'wind,' but also 'breath' and 'spirit.' It may also be influenced by Manichaean translations of Spirit in Chinese as 'wind' as well. ~ahc #jingjiao /20
Different ways of translating may imply different theological understandings or emphases between writers. For instance, the Cool Wind in Aluoben's docs have a sensory emphasis, while the Pure and Parisuddha Wind in Jingjing's docs have an emphasis on purity. ~ahc #jingjiao /21
Translation is never easy, especially between religious traditions that have few premises in common. Christians writing in Chinese had to be creative, and their translations may even give us insight into the theology of the church in China at the time. ~ahc #jingjiao /22
Overall, the Jingjiao corpus is small, but it is rich, and it can reveal to us a crucial part of the religious world of China and the medieval east.

Thanks for reading, and I will follow up with a round-up of all my threads this week! ~ahc #jingjiao /23

More from Tweeting Historians

More from World

Watch the entire discussion if you have the time to do so. But if not, please make sure to watch Edhem Eldem summarizing ~150 years of democracy in Turkey in 6 minutes (starting on 57'). And if you can't watch it, fear not; I've transcribed it for you (as public service). Thread:


"Let me start by saying that I am a historian, I see dead people. But more seriously, I am constantly torn between the temptation to see patterns developing over time, and the fear of hasty generalizations and anachronistic comparisons. 1/n

"Nevertheless, the present situation forces me to explore the possible historical dimensions of the problem we're facing today. 2/n

"(...)I intend to go further back in time and widen the angle in order to focus on the confusion I  believe exists between the notions of 'state', 'government', and 'public institutions' in Turkey. 3/n

"In the summer of 1876, that's a historical quote, as Midhat Pasa was trying to draft a constitution, Edhem Pasa wrote to Saffet Pasa, and I quote in Turkish, 'Bize Konstitusyon degil enstitusyon lazim' ('It is not a constitution we need but institutions'). 4/n
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time! https://t.co/xPMGL36VGy


So today, I am going to quickly talk about 4 or 5 countries where you can get residence visas.

Why residence visas?

For starters, they are cheaper, FAR CHEAPER than passports, and offer almost all the benefits, not not, but a large swathe of them.

Second, residencies can be...

a pathway to citizenship.

In one or two of the countries I will talk about tonight, if you renew your residencies long enough, and fulfill all requirements, according to their law, which differs from country to country, you become eligible to apply for full citizenship.

So...

you can see why they are good enough?

Cool. Alright, let's begin.

The first country is

1. Barbados

Yes, @Rihanna's country.

The first thing I love about it is it's fully black, majority descendants of ex-slaves of Igbo extraction.

That's why they refer to their country...

Barbados last year officially launched its 12-month Barbados Welcome Stamp, a new visa that allows remote workers to live and work from the Caribbean country for up to a year.

Applicants must electronically submit documents, such as a copy of their international passport and...

You May Also Like

कुंडली में 12 भाव होते हैं। कैसे ज्योतिष द्वारा रोग के आंकलन करते समय कुंडली के विभिन्न भावों से गणना करते हैं आज इस पर चर्चा करेंगे।
कुण्डली को कालपुरुष की संज्ञा देकर इसमें शरीर के अंगों को स्थापित कर उनसे रोग, रोगेश, रोग को बढ़ाने घटाने वाले ग्रह


रोग की स्थिति में उत्प्रेरक का कार्य करने वाले ग्रह, आयुर्वेदिक/ऐलोपैथी/होमियोपैथी में से कौन कारगर होगा इसका आँकलन, रक्त विकार, रक्त और आपरेशन की स्थिति, कौन सा आंतरिक या बाहरी अंग प्रभावित होगा इत्यादि गणना करने में कुंडली का प्रयोग किया जाता है।


मेडिकल ज्योतिष में आज के समय में Dr. K. S. Charak का नाम निर्विवाद रूप से प्रथम स्थान रखता है। उनकी लिखी कई पुस्तकें आज इस क्षेत्र में नए ज्योतिषों का मार्गदर्शन कर रही हैं।
प्रथम भाव -
इस भाव से हम व्यक्ति की रोगप्रतिरोधक क्षमता, सिर, मष्तिस्क का विचार करते हैं।


द्वितीय भाव-
दाहिना नेत्र, मुख, वाणी, नाक, गर्दन व गले के ऊपरी भाग का विचार होता है।
तृतीय भाव-
अस्थि, गला,कान, हाथ, कंधे व छाती के आंतरिक अंगों का शुरुआती भाग इत्यादि।

चतुर्थ भाव- छाती व इसके आंतरिक अंग, जातक की मानसिक स्थिति/प्रकृति, स्तन आदि की गणना की जाती है


पंचम भाव-
जातक की बुद्धि व उसकी तीव्रता,पीठ, पसलियां,पेट, हृदय की स्थिति आंकलन में प्रयोग होता है।

षष्ठ भाव-
रोग भाव कहा जाता है। कुंडली मे इसके तत्कालिक भाव स्वामी, कालपुरुष कुंडली के स्वामी, दृष्टि संबंध, रोगेश की स्थिति, रोगेश के नक्षत्र औऱ रोगेश व भाव की डिग्री इत्यादि।