“A Practical Impossibility”

Over the objections of family and friends, British missionary Robert Morrison, single-minded in his desire to publish the complete Bible in Chinese, set sail for China in 1807. His task of translating was not easy. “The undertaking was a practical impossibility,” asserted Charles Grant, a director of the East India Company at the time.

Upon arrival, Morrison learned that under penalty of death, the Chinese were prohibited from teaching their language to foreigners. To protect himself and those who agreed to tutor him in the language, Morrison remained indoors for a while. One report says that “after two years’ study he could speak Mandarin and more than one dialect as well as read and write” the language. In the meantime, the emperor issued an edict making the printing of Christian books a crime punishable by death. Despite the threat, on November 25, 1819, Morrison completed his translation of the entire Bible into Chinese.

By 1836, about 2,000 complete Bibles, 10,000 copies of the Greek Scriptures, and 31,000 separate portions of Scripture in Chinese had been printed. Love for God’s Word had made “a practical impossibility” possible.

[Pictures on page 10]

Robert Morrison and his translation of the Bible in Chinese

[Credit Lines]

In the custody of the Asian Division of the Library of Congress

Robert Morrison, engraved by W. Holl, from The National Portrait Gallery Volume IV, published c.1820 (litho), Chinnery, George (1774-1852) (after)/​Private Collection/​Ken Welsh/​The Bridgeman Art Library International