Vol.8 No.6

Genesis In China
Is the biblical Creation story imbedded in the ancient Chinese language?
by dr. Ethel nelson

The Genesis account of Creation is not unique.

Many ancient peoples, such as the Sumerians, the Karens in Burma, and the Miao tribes of Southern China, possess fragments of this story.

Yet incredibly, China has perhaps the most detailed record of earth’s beginnings. Portions of the story are found in ancient Chinese myths. But the most detailed Genesis Creation narrative can be found in the pictographic character writing of the Chinese language itself!

Evidently the Chinese relied on generally-known historical facts in constructing their ancient writing system. They ingeniously incorporated concepts of God, and the relationship of the first human couple to God, into their picture writing system.

Today’s Chinese writing has remained essentially unchanged for more than 2,000 years. Modern Chinese characters are shorthand renditions of earlier, more pictographic script. The two most ancient known forms are the “bronzeware” characters dating back to the Shang Dynasty

(C. 1766 - C. 1122 B.C.E., Before Common Era). This was found embossed inside many ceremonial bronze vessels. The “oracle bone” characters were a “divination” script etched on flat animal bones or tortoise shells.

About 200 B.C.E., because of multiplied variations in the writing of single characters, the emperor had the writing standardized, producing “lesser seal characters,” a modification of their older bronzeware and oracle bone forms. Seal calligraphy is the forerunner of today’s writing.

These three early character forms—bronzeware, oracle bone, and seal—are more pictographic, authentic, and closer to the original than today’s writing. In analyzing these ancient forms in the light of Genesis, an amazing agreement of the Chinese picture writing with the Hebrew Scriptures has been found.

CHINESE HEAVENLY RULER

The Chinese originally worshiped Shang Ti, the “Heavenly Ruler,” whom they recognized as the Creator. In the Cantonese dialect this name is pronounced shangdai, phonetically close to the Hebrew name El Shaddai, meaning “God, the Almighty.”

Shang Ti literally means “emperor above.” God was often addressed by the ancient Chinese as Ti (), “the Ruler,” in the oracle bone writing. Like the Hebrews, the Chinese also had additional names for their god: T’ien (“heaven”) and Shen (“God, a Spirit”).

Although today, T’ien () usually refers to the atmospheric heavens, it is obvious from the earlier pictographic seal writing that T’ien () referred to a person who lived in heaven.

The head of this figure () has two separate meanings: the sun or

a person (). The dot seen within the figure () is a Chinese designation for a “flame of fire,” and therefore is an artistic rendition for God’s “glory” or “sunlike” appearance. “For the Lord God is like a sun and a shield.” Psalm 84:11. “O Lord my God…Thou are clothed with glory and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with

a garment.” Psalm 104:1, 2.

In the bronzeware writing for “heaven” () we find a person represented. His “head” (drawn as a in Chinese) means “a person.”

It seems that objects “blackened” in the bronzeware indicate “something pertaining to God” or “holiness.”

We learn from both Shang Ti () and T’ien () that the Chinese originally recognized their Ruler-God as dwelling in heaven, as did the ancient Hebrews.

Another commonly used name for God anciently was Shen (). This name appears to depict the creatorship of God. It consists of two descriptive portions: () and ().             The oracle bone writing for “God” () can be seen embedded in the seal form “God” radical (), which by itself means “to proclaim”; while () means “to state.” Both pictographs are expressing God’s method of creation by fiat, which means “Let it be done.” He merely spoke (“proclaimed” or  “stated”) things into existence.

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host by the breath of His mouth…. For He spoke and it was; He commanded, and it stood.” Psalm 33:6-9.

CREATION OF ADAM AND EVE?

But let us examine () more closely, for here we find a pictograph for “hands” () with the simple designation for “man, person” () placed between them. Could this character actually be portraying God’s creation of Adam?

Viewing this same figure for “to state” in the bronzeware writing (), we find more detail. Note that the “fingers” of this Chinese character for “hands” () are blackened, indicating holiness, as suggested above. In addition, the “man” () is further identified by (), indicating not only a “person” but a second meaning of “adult male!” Furthermore, he was holy (because he’s “blackened”) or without sin. “God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31. Adam had been made in God’s holy image. “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Verse 26. Here, we find the first “adult male” () made in the image of T’ien (), again in harmony with the Hebrew Genesis.

We might also compare () with () which means “beginning, source, derivation.” In () we again see God “holding in both hands” () the first “man” (), who is to become the “beginning” and “source” of all humanity.

Let us momentarily return to another seal writing of the Chinese name for their god, Shen (). We find pictographically drawn in the second figure () the representation of a great “Person” () bending over “two” () “sunlike” persons (). Put a “head” on () if you can thereby more easily identify Him. It would seem that this ideogram is depicting God’s act of creating the first human couple, Adam and Eve.

“And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him.” Genesis 2:20.

When Adam desired a partner, after viewing all the animals and their mates, God answered the need by putting Adam to sleep and forming a woman from one of his ribs. Verses 21, 22.

We can find God providing a spouse for the first man in the character () with the diverse meanings of “to marry” and “dusk.” Compare ()with () above. This time God, the great “person” (), is bending over the glorious “person” (), Adam, to create a “marriage” partner.

Eve must have been created from Adam at “dusk” (), for we find another explicit character also meaning “evening, late” ().

Here God’s creative “hands” () are again depicted, as well as the glorious “person” (), Adam, from whom the Chinese radical for “woman” () emerges.

A character meaning both “to prepare” and “satisfactory” () once again reveals Eve’s creation.

In () we find the “woman” () kneeling before God’s creative “hand” (). Adam surely found the mate God had “prepared” () for him “satisfactory” (), as he exclaimed: “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Verse 23, KJV.

WHY THE CONNECTION?

These are only a few of the many examples that one may find in the ancient Chinese ideographic writing. Thus, we find that the Chinese may have had a word-of-mouth-knowledge of earth’s beginnings, which they portrayed by their hieroglyphic writing. But how would the Chinese, so far removed geographically from the Hebrews, have obtained a knowledge of the same Creator-God? Chinese history, where there are accurate records going back to the First Dynasty of China (C. 2205 - C. 1766 B.C.E.) could help give an answer.

If we compare this date with the Hebrew Scripture genealogy recorded in Genesis, Chapters 5, 10, and 11, we find that 2205 B.C.E. is within half a century after the Tower of Babel incident (C. 2247 B.C.E). At this time, only 101 years after the universal Flood, the races of men, including probably the great Chinese family, dispersed over the face of the earth. At least two of the Flood survivors, Noah and his son Shem, were still alive then. Genesis 9:28; 11:10, 11. Perhaps, through word-of-mouth dissemination, the story of Creation was spread to the area known today as China.

Even before the First Dynasty, China had a legendary period of five rulers. This corresponds well with the five generations in the Hebrew genealogy from Noah to Peleg (whose name means “division”): Noah, Shem, Arphaxad, Salah and Eber (father of Peleg and progenitor of the Hebrews).

Exactly how the story was transmitted, we don’t know. What does seem apparent is that traces of the biblical Creation story are embedded in the Chinese language.

* Dr. Ethel R. Nelson, a physician and former missionary to Southeast Asia, has authored several books presenting fascinating insights about the ancient Chinese, God, and the Bible.

* Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text: A New Translation (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1917).