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List of Chinese Bible translations

This is a list of Bible translations into Chinese.

Bible translations into Chinese began with translations made by the Church of the East under the Tang dynasty into Old Chinese. However, no surviving manuscripts exist, and the only surviving evidence of this is the Nestorian Stele and the six other Chinese Christian texts of that period, named the Jingjiao Documents, and recently edited by Alexis Balmont in 2025.

The next instance of Bible translations into Chinese languages subsists in unpublished manuscripts by individual Roman Catholic priests in the sixteenth century and individual Protestant missionaries in the early nineteenth century. The first complete translation to be published was that of Joshua Marshman in 1813, followed by that of Robert Morrison in 1823. A group of Protestant missionaries in Hong Kong in 1843 started a collaborative translation. The New Testament of their so-called "Delegates Version" was published in 1850 and the Old Testament in 1853. A translation of the Old Testament by Karl Gutzlaff, first published in 1840, was widely distributed and was used by the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion as the basis of their theological study.

The second half of the century saw the publication of Chinese Bibles in regional languages using romanization rather than Chinese characters, the first works printed in the regional languages. The Classical Chinese of the Delegates Version could not be understood when read aloud, and towards the end of the century the national missionary body started a revision which used vernacular Chinese. The resulting Union Version, published in 1919, became the standard translation for Protestants and was adapted and published in different forms, including Braille. A Chinese New Version was published in 1992 and a Revised Chinese Union Version in the early twenty-first century.

The Studium Biblicum Version, now the standard Chinese Bible for Catholics, was started in the 1930s and published in 1968. Starting in the 1850s, there have been three Russian Orthodox translations.

Classical Chinese

The following lists translations in Classical Chinese:

Mandarin Chinese

The following lists translations in the Northern Mandarin, Southern Mandarin, Western Mandarin and Hankou dialects of Mandarin Chinese:

Northern Mandarin

Southern Mandarin

  • New Testament, 1856

Hankou dialect

  • Book of Mark, 1921 using the Wangchao phonetic system.

Wu Chinese

The following lists translations in the Suzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Jinhua, Wenzhou, and Taizhou (Zhejiang) dialects of Wu Chinese:

Suzhou dialect

  • New Testament, 1881

Shanghai dialect

Character colloquial versions

  • Isaiah-Daniel, 1886
  • New Testament, 1870

Romanized vernacular versions

  • New Testament, 1870

Ningbo dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

Hangzhou dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

  • New Testament (parts), 1877 by the English Bible Society.
  • Gospel of John, 1879 by the Anglican Missionary G. E. Moule
  • Gospel of Matthew, 1880 by the English Bible Society.

Jinhua dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

  • Gospel of John, 1866

Wenzhou dialect

  • Matthew-Acts, 1890
  • The Four Gospels and Acts, in Wenchow was published in 1894 under the title , literally , with the entire book in the Wenzhou dialect.

Taizhou dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

  • New Testament, . Taizhou, 1897

Northern Min

The following lists translations in the Jian'ou and Jianyang dialects of Northern Min:

Jian'ou dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

Jianyang dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

  • Gospel of Mark, 1898 by the English Bible Society.
  • Gospel of Matthew, 1900 by the Methodist Episcopal Mission Press. Translated by Hugh S. and Minnie Phillips of the American Bible Society.

Eastern Min

The following lists translations in the Fuzhou dialect of Eastern Min:

Fuzhou dialect

Character colloquial versions

Romanized vernacular versions

Southern Min

The following lists translations in the Amoy, Shantou, Teochew, and Hainan Junjiahua dialects of Southern Min:

Amoy dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

  • Old Testament, 1852–1884
  • New Testament, about 1853-1873
  • Gospel of Matthew, for Blind, 1888

Shantou dialect

Character colloquial versions

  • Genesis, 1879
  • Ruth, 1875
  • Matthew–1 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians–Titus, Hebrews, 1 2 3 John, 1880–1884

Romanized vernacular versions

  • Genesis, 1888
  • Jonah, 1888
  • Gospel of Matthew, 1889
  • Gospel of Mark, 1890
  • Gospel of Luke, 1876
  • Acts, 1889
  • James, 1888
  • . . 1892. (Printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society by Blackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow)

Teochew dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

  • . . 1898. (Printed for the British and Foreign Bible Society at the English Presbyterian Mission Press, Swatow)
  • New Testament, 1915 by English Presbyterian Missionary societies.

Hainan Junjiahua

Romanized vernacular versions

  • Gospel of Matthew, 1891
  • Gospel of John, 1893

Xinghua (Puxian) Min

The following lists translations in Xinghua (Puxian) Min: Romanized vernacular versions

  • Gospel of John, 1892 by the American Bible Society.
  • Gospel of Mark, 1893
  • Gospel of Matthew, 1894
  • Acts, 1894
  • Gospel of Luke, 1895

Gan Chinese

The following lists translations in the Shaowu and Jianning dialects of Gan Chinese:

Shaowu dialect

Romanized vernacular versions

  • Book of James, 1891 by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Jianning dialect

  • Gospel of Matthew, 1896 by the American Bible Society.
  • Gospel of John, 1897 by the Bible Society of Great Britain in London.

Hakka

The following lists translations in the Tingzhou, Wujingfu Hakka, Swatow Hakka, and Taiwan Siyen Hakka dialects:

Character colloquial versions

  • Genesis and Exodus, 1886
  • Psalms, 1890
  • New Testament, 1883
  • Old Testament and New Testament, 1930

Romanized vernacular versions

  • , 1860 by Rudolf Lechler
  • New Testament, 1860–1883
  • New Testament (Bible Society in Taiwan), 1993 (with the Psalms); Proverbs 1995.

Tingzhou dialect

  • Gospel of Matthew (Romanised), 1919

Wujingfu Hakka dialect ()

  • New Testament, 1916

Swatow Hakka dialect

  • New Testament, 1924

Taiwan Siyen Hakka dialect

  • , 2012

Yue Chinese (Cantonese)

The following lists translations in the Guangzhou, Lianzhou, and Yangcheng dialects of Yue Chinese:

Guangzhou dialect (Cantonese)

Translations into Cantonese include:

Character colloquial versions

  • Genesis-Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, 1873–1888
  • New Testament, 1872–1883

Romanized vernacular versions

  • Gosepel of Luke, 1867
  • Gospel of Mark, after 1890

Lianzhou dialect

  • Gospel of Matthew, 1904 by the American Bible Society. Translated by the missionary Eleanor Chesnut.
  • Gospel of Mark, 1905
  • Gospel of Luke, 1905
  • Gospel of John, 1905

Yangcheng dialect

  • Gospel of Matthew, 1862 by the American Presbyterian Church. Translated by Charles F. Preston.
  • Gospel of John, 1862
  • Gospel of Luke, 1867 by the English Bible Society. Translated by Wilhelm Lauis.

Notable translations

Notes

References