The Discovery of Genesis (15 page)

The possibility of alterations in these Chinese words through a Christian influence is also negated since the characters were well established before Christians entered China. The earliest record of any Christian mission to China is found inscribed on the Nestorian monument in Sianfu, erected in A. D. 781. Sianfu was the capital of the Tang empire (A. D. 618–906) and the center of the then-greatest civilization in the world. This monument recorded the visit to the T’ang court of a band of Christians led by Alopen from Ta-chin (Syria). Alopen brought with him the “true scriptures.” They were given to Emperor T’ang T’ai-tsung who commanded that they be translated in the royal library. These Christians flourished under royal sponsorship until A.D. 845, when they suffered persecution, and soon afterward, neared extinction.

In 1908 other Christian documents were discovered in a rock cavern a thousand miles to the west of Sianfu in the desert. Sir Aurel Stein, a British archaeologist, purchased these ancient manuscripts, one of which was dated A.D. 641, and is thus the oldest Chinese translation of any gospel portion. It is thought that these documents were written by the same Christian group as those in Sianfu.
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In spite of these early visits to China by Christian missionaries, the Chinese written language containing the primitive words used in this book had already been disseminated to other Oriental countries. Thus it is not the Christian influence which brought a knowledge of the history of the Genesis account to China, but this information must have been known thousands of years earlier when the language was first invented.

A partial classification of the characters is here outlined in order to introduce the novice to the clever mechanics of the language. An acquaintance with this classification is also necessary to understand the thesis and claims of this book.

I.
Pictographs.
These are thought to be the most primitive symbols, of which there are about 600 in number. Examples are
the sun
, later modified to
; and
a horse.
The 214 radicals are largely from this pictographic group. As has been stated previously, the radicals are the building blocks; for one or more are used to compose every more complex character in the language.

II.
Ideographs.
Two or more simple characters are united to give a new idea. Ideographs form a very important step in the development of the language. As one linguist said, “Of the time when these characters were invented, we know nothing; but it is plain that their introduction must have given a very extended scope to the language, and they offer an interesting study, as,
in many instances, giving us an insight into the moral and social conditions of those who framed them.
[Italics supplied.] For example, if we analyze the character
, meaning
sincere
[
trustful
], we find that it is formed by the combination of the characters of
a man
and
words
, a collocation of ideas which speaks well for the honourable truthfulness of the ancient Chinese.” There are about 700 ideographs.

III.
Phonetic characters.
These are formed from radicals being brought together for their sound rather than meaning. There are about 20,000 of these, accounting for the greatest number of written words. When the Chinese began to apply phonetic principles, the written language expanded rapidly. Each character of this type consists of two parts, a signific radical and a phonetic portion. The former gives in a general way something of the meaning of the character, while the latter suggests its pronunciation.
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