"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
UNKNOWN to many Chinese people, the foundational truths of Christianity can be found in the most ancient forms of pictographic Chinese writing. The original religion of the ancient Chinese was a belief in the Creator God of the Bible. These findings, as detailed in the book God's Promise to the Chinese,1 can be used to help break through the Chinese misconception that Christianity is a western religion.
In each issue of our publication, 'China Aware', we include a Chinese character with an explanation of its meaning in relation to the Bible. These can be used as a tool to help show Chinese friends that from the beginning of Chinese civilization, God has sought to reveal Himself to the Chinese people.
RIGHTEOUSNESS (pronounced 'yi')
The traditional character for 'righteousness' is 'a lamb over me'. In the Bible, lambs were sacrificed in order 'to cover the sins' of the people until the time when Jesus Himself died and became 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!' (John 1:29). The bottom half of the character which means 'me' is composed of a hand and a lance, a weapon, which tells the story that I am ultimately responsible for the death of the Lamb, for my hand is holding the killing instrument. Traditional Simplified script
COVET OR DESIRE (pronounced 'lan')
The Chinese character for 'covet' or 'desire' shows a woman and two trees. In the ancient pictograph, we find the woman facing one tree, coveting the fruit, with her back to the second tree (tree of life). This is in line with the biblical record of mankind's sin in the Garden of Eden, where the woman stood before the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and took of the forbidden fruit (see Genesis 3). A similar character (pronounced 'jin') meaning 'prohibit' or 'forbid', also contains two trees above a character ('shi') which means 'instruct'.
'Covet'/'Desire' = A woman & two trees
1 God's Promise to the Chinese by Nelson, Broadberry & Chock is available in both English and Mandarin.
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RIGHTEOUSNESS (pronounced 'yi')
The Chinese character for 'covet' or 'desire' shows a woman and two trees. In the ancient pictograph, we find the woman facing one tree, coveting the fruit, with her back to the second tree (tree of life). This is in line with the biblical record of mankind's sin in the Garden of Eden, where the woman stood before the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and took of the forbidden fruit (see Genesis 3). A similar character (pronounced 'jin') meaning 'prohibit' or 'forbid', also contains two trees above a character ('shi') which means 'instruct'.