Foochow Colloquial Bible——来自加州朋友的信

Hello, GnuDoyng

I collect books as a hobby, and I came across your web-site while researching an interesting and unusual old book: The Foochow Colloquial Bible, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1908. It has three colored maps which have Chinese characters exclusively. I found the Old Testament only; nicely bound in black leather with the title in gilt on the front cover, along with the initials MYH, or MYJ, maybe, I don't have it in front of me right now. It is in great condition.

You stated on your web-page that you are a bibliophile, so you can understand my curiosity about books, and why I would have a book that I cannot read!

Can you tell me anything about it? I've searched for it on the worldcat.com web-site, and have found only one copy, and I think that may be on microform only.

Thanks for your time and I hope to hear from you. Anything you could tell me about it would be appreciated.

Best regards from California,
XXX

Hello Wayne,

This Foochow Bible is written in the Romanized form of Fuzhou dialect, which is known as Foochow Romanized. For more information about the language and its writing system please refer to their Wikipedia entries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzhou_dialect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foochow_Romanized

If you have any specific questions please feel free to ask me. Also I'd appreciate it if you could send me some photos of this book, especially the three colored maps you mentioned.

Happy Chinese New Year,
George

Hello,  George,

Thank you for answering my e-mail, and for the helpful links you provided.

I've attached some pictures of the Bible, including a couple of the maps. I have discovered that there are actually four, not three, double-page maps, all in Chinese.  The other two are similar to the images I've attached. There are 1132 pages total, and it has been very well taken care of over the past 100 years.

You will also find images of a hand-written page which I found layed in the Bible. If you can translate it - even just enough to give me an idea of what it says - I would appreciate it.  Perhaps it might give a clue as to what the initials of the original owner,  "M.Y.H.", (located on the bottom right corner of the cover), stand for.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer my e-mail. I can send better images of all the maps, if you'd like.

Best regards,
XXX

谁知道封面右下角的Y.M.H.是什么意思呢？

Hi Wayne,

I have no clue what "M.Y.H." could stand for either, but I'll ask my friends about it. The hand-written page is translated as follows, it's a prayer actually:

[quote]You are our dwelling place. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. And we are thankful, because Jesus died for us, resurrected, and enabled us to live in the life full of abundance. He helps us conform to the image of the Lord, and be patient and serve Him with all our heart. He teaches us to willingly forgive people, as the Lord also has forgiven us. May God's kingdom come quickly, and may God's glory fill the earth, as the wine fills the ocean. In the name of our Lord.

Best regards,
George[/quote]

Hi:

Thank you so very much for the translation. That is really a beautiful prayer, whosoever may have composed it.

On the blank side of one of the maps, the map of the Dead Sea, I think, there is a poem hand-written in pencil, in English. I'll send it along in another e-mail: I don't have it handy right now.

I feel very lucky to have found somebody that could translate the note, and who has an interest in this unusual Bible;  let me say "Thank you", again.

My regards,
XXX

GnuDoyng replied:

Yes, thank you. I would like to see that handwritten poem very much.

HI -

I've attached a good image of the poem, which, like the note you translated for me, is also a prayer. Reading your translation does help me understand that "all languages are equal before God". I particularly liked the beautiful imagery of the line "...as wine fills the sea", words which probably would not be used in Western culture, but beautiful nonetheless.

I see you posted the hand-written note on Wikipedia. That is great! I am pleased to see it there! I'm so lucky to have found somebody with knowledge of the romanized language and an interest in this Bible.

I hope you enjoy the prayer-poem.

Best regards,

Wayne

我一直忘記和你講, 無論在戚林八音時代還是傳教士時代, 八音的名稱從來都是上平, 下入, 陰平陽入是後來人民中國才用到福州語身上的. 你寫的那篇介紹福州羅馬字的文章, 既用南方的調序, 又用北方的調名, 顯得不協調. 你要麼全用南方傳統的調名和調序; 要麼全用北方的調名和調序, 但不要用福州語羅馬字拼出調名, 我見覺, 調名用福州語表達的時候, 不該丟棄傳統的調名改用北方調名.

Corrected.

ABCFM = 美國公理會差會（American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions）全稱是美國公理宗海外傳道部，簡稱美部會，是第一個美國基督教海外傳教機構。