XIII
THE MANDARIN VERSION
“I am mortgaged to the Bible revision work.... It cost me a great effort to engage in it, but it will probably be the most important work of my life.”—LETTER TO SECRETARY BROWN, June 13, 1896.
To tell this part of the story of Dr. Mateer’s life satisfactorily, I must begin with the first general missionary conference, held at Shanghai in May, 1877. For two years previous he had served on a committee to prepare the way for the meeting, and in this capacity he had rendered much valuable assistance. At that conference he read a paper in which he elaborately discussed the subject of “The Relation of Protestant Missions to Education.” The meeting was regarded as successful, and a second was called, to assemble at Shanghai, in May, 1890. It was at this conference that the movement for a revision of the Bible in Chinese took actual measures toward realization.
For the sake of any readers not well informed as to the Chinese language, a few preliminary statements concerning it may be desirable here. In a very broad and general sense it may be said that as to elements, one tongue prevails throughout China proper; but that there is also much important variation in this general tongue. First of all, it needs lo be noted that the language takes on two principal forms,—the classic, or Wen-li, and the spoken, or Mandarin. The classic has come down through the centuries from the times of Confucius and Mencius, and remains comparatively the same as it is found in the writings of those sages. This is accepted as the model for all writing; and for that reason Chinese students have been required to spend the greater part of their time in memorizing those ancient books, so that they might not only absorb their teaching, but also especially that they might be able to reproduce their style. The classic Chinese is stilted and so condensed that in comparison with it a telegram would seem diffuse; and though many of the characters are the same as those used in writing the spoken language, yet the meaning and often the sound of characters is so different that an illiterate person would not understand it on hearing it read. The spoken language, on the other hand, may be compared with English as to its use. Good English is very much the same throughout the countries where it is the vernacular, and though it takes on local dialects, it remains everywhere intelligible. So, broadly speaking, is it also as to the spoken Chinese in a large part of the empire. From the Yangtse up into Manchuria, though the pronunciations differ very much, the colloquial if put into writing is understood. In other words, with differences of dialect and pronunciation it is the speech of perhaps three hundred millions of people. The regions excepted lie along the coast from Shanghai down, and inland south of the Yangtse, where the distinct tongues are numerous and are largely unintelligible except in their own localities.
It has been the rule in China that a mandarin must not be a native of the province where he holds office; and, of course, it is essential that he should be acquainted with the speech which constitutes the lingua franca. Perhaps for this reason it is called Mandarin. But down to the time when missionary publications rendered it common in print, it was not employed in that mode. All books, business or government documents, the one newspaper of the country, which was the court gazette, and all letters were in the higher or, as it is called, the Wen-li form, the only exception being some novels, and even these were streaked with Wen-li. This, however, ran through gradations,—from the highest, which is so condensed and so bristles with erudite allusions that only a trained scholar can understand it, down to a modification which is so easy that with a slight alteration of particles it is almost the same as the Mandarin.
During the long period of the nineteenth century preceding the meeting of the second general missionary conference, a number of translations of the Scriptures, some of them of the whole, and some of parts, had been made, and had come more or less into use. The men who did this pioneer work deserve to be held in perpetual esteem, especially in view of the difficulties under which they labored. Among the missionaries who sat in that conference there was no disposition to withhold this honor, or to disparage the value of these early translations; but there was so widely prevalent among them and their associates at that time on the field a conviction that no existing version was satisfactory, that they recognized it as a duty to take up the subject, and to initiate steps looking to the production of a better. An informal consultation as to this was held by a few men, a couple of days before the conference assembled; but inasmuch as Dr. Mateer had not been invited, he did not attend. Another consultation was held the following day, and because of his great interest in the subject of a Bible revision, he attended without an invitation. The views expressed clearly indicated that there was a general agreement that a revision was desirable, but it also was made very plain that beyond this there was a wide divergence of opinion. We will allow one of his letters to a representative of the American Bible Society, under date of May 26, 1890, to tell the next step in this great undertaking:
As I walked home from the meeting, and revolved in my mind the difficulty of the situation, the idea of an executive committee, to whom the whole work should be intrusted, came across my mind. When I reached my room I sat down, and in a few minutes and without consultation with anyone, wrote out the plan, which without essential modification was subsequently adopted. It seemed to strike all parties very favorably. On the second day of the conference two large, representative committees were appointed by the conference, one on Mandarin and one on Wen-li. I was a member of both these committees. Each committee had a number of meetings, in which the subject was freely and fully discussed in all its bearings. It was evident that there was a general desire for a version in simple Wen-li, and, the difficulties being less in regard to the work already done, a conclusion was first reached in regard to this version. In Mandarin the difficulties were greater.
An agreement, however, was reached. The version in the higher classic style then gave the most trouble, but a satisfactory basis for this also was agreed upon; and the reports as to all three versions were adopted unanimously by the conference. In the same letter he says: “I worked hard for these results, and felt no small satisfaction in seeing such perfect unanimity in the adoption of the plan proposed. I have never done anything in which I felt more the guiding hand of God than in drawing up and carrying through this plan.”
The selection of translators for each of the projected new versions was handed over respectively to executive committees; and Dr. Mateer was appointed on that having charge of the Mandarin, and made chairman of it. He heard that he was talked of as one of the revisers for that version, but as yet he had not decided what was his duty, if chosen. It will again be best here to take up from one of his letters the thread of the narrative. Under date of December 13, 1890, he writes to Dr. Nevius: