Armenian origins of the first Chinese Bible
Posted on December. 21. 2019
By Asa Butcher | GBTIMES.COM
The literary fraternity keeps abreast of an extraordinary fact: the Bible was translated into Chinese for the first time by an Armenian.
At the start of the 19th century, Fort William College, based in Calcutta, established a department dedicated to translating the Scriptures into Asian languages. This Biblical Brotherhood did not limit their educational and scientific work to the Indian languages, aiming to also translate the Holy Book into Chinese.
Their search for a skilled person to not only translate, but also teach Chinese in the college, led them to Professor Hovhannes Ghazarian, also known as Johannes Lassar.
China to Serampore
According to Elijah Coleman Bridgman and Samuel Wells Williams’ book “The Chinese Repository, Volume 4”, Ghazarian was the son of a rich Armenian merchant and was probably born in Macao.
Further speculation suggests that his parents had two Chinese servants, who taught him to speak Chinese during his childhood, and that his father later hired a teacher from Guangzhou, known historically as Canton.
Not much is known of Ghazarian until he began working in an official capacity in Guangzhou, editing notes sent by the Portuguese to the Court of Beijing – Guangzhou was a strong Portuguese trading base before Macau.
He was also fluent in English and Portuguese – Armenians are generally a polylingual nation.
In 1802, 24-year-old Ghazarian moved to Calcutta for business reasons but ran into some difficulties. However, upon learning of his knowledge of Chinese, the English authorities invited him to work as an interpreter.
The college administration and the commission of the Biblical Brotherhood warmly welcomed Ghazarian, commenting that China had come to Serampore. He agreed to quit his business and began translating the Bible.
His own head and hand
With both the Armenian and English editions of the Bible at hand, Ghazarian began by translating The Gospel According to St. John. By 1805, The Book of Jubilees, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, and some chapters from both books were published.
In September 1806, Rev. Dr. Brown, the rector of the Fort William College, wrote in a letter sent to England:
“Mr. Professor Lassar has sent me three Chinese specimens, with a letter in the same language, the work of his own head and hand. As the above little specimens are hasty productions of this morning, I do not recommend them to severe criticism; but Mr. Lassar is a thorough Chinese, and will do great work of translating the Scriptures into that language, if it pleases God to spare his life five or six years. He reads everything in the language as readily as you do English, and writes it as rapidly.”
In 1807, a copy of The Gospel of St. Matthew in the Chinese Language, translated by Lassar (Ghazarian) and beautifully written by himself, was transmitted to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the Lambeth Library, as an example of the first fruits from the Chinese Institution in Bengal.
Both Old and New Testaments, translated by Lassar, were published between 1815 and 1822 in Serampore and had “metallic, movable characters.” This is the earliest Chinese edition of the Bible, finished a year before the more well-known translations entitled “Shen-tian Sheng-shu” by Reverend Robert Morrison and William Milne.
The Unsung Translator
Armenian researchers of ties between their country and the Far East believe that the lack of recognition for Johannes Lassar/Hovhannes Ghazarian and his work is unfair but natural in terms of the Armenian national mentality, since at least half the population has lived outside the country for hundreds of years.
Historically, interpreting was the most common form of employment for Armenians, and the country has even celebrated Translators Day since the 5th century. In addition, the Armenian Kingdom was the first country that accepted Christianity as its official religion in 301 CE and has always had its special place in the Christian world.
In this context, neither Hovhannes Ghazarian nor his colleagues, who called him “Perfect Chinese,” thought he was doing something extraordinary. The upcoming Armenian Christmas on 6 January which coincides with the Epiphany offers an occasion to delve into the little-known history of the first Chinese Bible.