My Journal

I've done it before in brief (against 遠志明's ministry nonsense on this matter) but after coming across this (someone did a good job in debunking some of the falsehood in this, I wish there are more of such), I shall thoroughly expose this falsehood 中國基督徒荒謬的拆字傳教遊戲。The earliest known work on this is by C.H.康（Kang）和埃塞尔·尼尔森（Ethel Nelson）in 1979 work: The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language. Nelson's other book being "God's Promise To The Chinese". Sometimes the claims though cannot be sourced, but the truth behind them is remarkably mysterious and so we must tread carefully with this kind of allegorical method to not make truth what is not certain, even though it is interesting to point them out.

And here are the research critiquing/debunking (most of my contrasting sources would be 说文, 字, and 文言文翻白话) but in a fair manner, the above 2009 video by the famous Singaporean Charismatic preacher Kong Hee 康希 whose father named him after the famous "Christian" emperor 康熙 (name was not exact to avoid being laughing stock):
(PS: I just learned that the clip above may have been a redacted version and hence unfortunately the basis of my notes below. There's also a part two dealing not with characters but with Chinese history in astronomy, etc. I will not deal with this part 2 version (or a fuller single version of both parts here) here but may look into it in some future, hence I'll leave this in Project category.)

The point of this methodology is usually in reaction to Chinese thinking that Christianity is a white people religion, to prove that a false conception among Chinese. But is it true?

@5:00 上帝 = Most High God. Allegedly the concept before Taoism (6th century B.C.) = 至上神. So before 600 BC, monotheistic, after that, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism. Not bad, I don't know enough to dispute nor support that at the moment.

@7:34 司马迁 (145BC)《史记》（卷28，封禅书第六）：上帝者，天之别名也。神无二主。Thus this shows that monotheism is not unique to the Hebrew culture. [If this is true, the fact that monotheism is of special revelation is debunked. Apparently some had made used of Sima Qian's book for more references to Christianity (i.e. Genesis comparison).]:

于昔洪荒之初兮。混蒙。五行未运兮。两曜未明。其中挺立兮。有无容声。神皇出御兮。始判浊清。立天地人兮。群物生生。

译文：太初时期，一切都是洪大而荒芜啊，蒙蔽混沌的，五行还未运行啊，两大星（太阳和月亮）也未发光。其中所挺立的啊，无声无形。但你这全能的神明，在你的大能中出现啊，首先将混浊与清洁分开。你立定了地，创造了人啊。群生万物开始生生不息。

Kong Hee's translation: Of old in the beginning, there was the great chaos, without form and dark. The five planets had not begun to revolve, nor the two lights to shine. In the midst of it there existed neither form nor sound. You, O spiritual Sovereign, came forth in Your sovereignty, and first did separate the impure from the pure. You made heaven; You made earth; You made man. All things became alive with reproducing power.

So far I can find nothing to debunk that. I mean it's a possibility. Basically he claimed that 孔子的五經 和 司馬遷 的 史記 recognized the worship of 上帝 God.

@13:00 Chinese's writing predates Egyptian pyramids in 2500BC. This will show how the Chinese remembered not only Creation where Adam would possibly still be alive in Methuselah's time, but also the flood (especially if global), and the tower of Babel incident.

@15:49 "Create man in Our Image" - 造 - decree (announce) then WALK. I think it's fine to connect it to decree and arrival, but it's a stretch to go all the way to mean God spoke and living things began to move.

@16:43 福 Blessed. God together One with the a soul (one mouth) in the garden (田). That is true prosperity in original Chinese culture. The allegory of the character's right (畐) is definitely a stretch for this comes from the concept of full, 满也 (畐 in 甲骨文 it's 6 squares 六切 together, it's a stretch to connect this to the origin of 田), and not "in unison with a soul in the garden of Eden".

@18:45 Garden 園: God took 土 and breathed （口）into two people, man （人) and woman (く). Another ridiculous stretch. 説文: 所以樹果也...the "people" is not man and woman, it's evolved from grass to 艸. So literally means garden of trees and fruits and grasses.

@19:57 to forbid 禁: Two trees in garden given, revelation of the command to not eat one. 説文: 吉凶之忌也。吉凶，《周易》中的名词。泛指自然界的变化。"天垂象，见吉凶" simply means all of nature is revealed, not two trees above revelation. Though I must admit, there's just too much speculation on either sources that I must ask: Where did you get that other than your own creativity?

@21:11 Tempter, 魔: There was a garden (田), then there's movement, to men (儿), secretly（私), 鬼 means devil, came among the trees （林), undercover. 说文: 人所歸爲鬼。从人，象鬼頭。鬼陰气賊害，从厶。凡鬼之屬皆从鬼。That means that it's a ghostly head that indicates man turns into ghost, not "movement in the garden." 厶 is private and bad, so this is close enough to explanation of Kong Hee (and his kinds').

@22:21...greed/lusted 婪: 说文：貪也。从女林聲。Debatable - Eve's decision between two trees. But I must ask if this is a creative invention or not.

@23:00 difficulty/worry 困: Don't touch this tree, forbidden in square. 說文：故廬也。廬者二畞半一家之居。居必有木。樹牆下以桑是也。故字從囗木。謂之困者、疏廣所謂自有舊田廬令子孫勤力其中也。困之本義爲止而不過。Meaning being stuck in the same old place, nothing about a forbidden tree for sure.

@23:28 sin 罪: originally from another form 辠 (man with nose on top of 辛, labor) later changed by 秦始皇 to be 罪: four against/oppositions/contradictions. 4 contradictions in Genesis: 1. Has God indeed said...any tree... 2. Eve: nor shall you touch it...3. You will not surely die...4. you will be like God. [bad hermeneutics] Even though emperor Qin was not a Christian.
罪 说文：捕魚竹网。从网、非。秦以罪爲辠字.
辠 说文：犯法也。从辛从自，言辠人蹙鼻苦辛之憂。秦以辠似皇字，改爲罪。Nose (自) + Punish instrument (辛) -> Crime (罪).
So he got the 辠->罪 by Qin correct, but like Dan Brown in his Da Vinci's Code, he used truth establish a basis to twist truth.

@27:42 naked 裸: clothing related, covering is gone when you eat the fruit 果. 说文: 或从果。果聲也。Other than no cloth, there's no indication of this being some fruit of the Eden tree. 果 was used for pronunciation. Although I will give him some credit here since there's no clear trace of the origin. But it doesn't justify in equating creative invention with uncertain truth.

@28:27 hiding 躲 同躱。: Adam (body) is (乃) hiding behind the tree. He is the tree. There's not much resources except that 朶 is 朵 as in leafy trees. So this may be his closest accuracy so far, but hide and seek is common with trees anyway.

@29:05 guilt 愧: Devil got into your heart. Devil got a foothold of man's life. 說文：媿或从恥省。We have shown that 鬼 is not Satan in the origin of the word but originally man. But this is too general handle because 愧 guilt is always a matter of the heart.

@30:10 murder 兇: looks like 兄 brother. From Cain and Abel. 説文：擾恐也。从人在凶下。凶: 惡也。象地穿交陷其中也。凡凶之屬皆从凶。Rotated man (匕 dian) fall into Pitfall (凵) -> Unlucky. Basically means man under horrific trap. Nothing to do with brothers.

@31:07 凶. Already dealt with this above. Now it's just funny when he said this meant God made a mark on Cain's forehead. This word has nothing to do with mark but trap.

@31:47 Big boat 船: 8 people in a boat. First time boat is used, already 8 people inside. Other source indicate that this is not 八口 but 而是“公”的远古字形。就标明“船”是一种多人共用的大型水上工具，比“舟”要大得多。説文 only goes as far as: 舟也。二篆爲轉注。古言舟、今言船。如古言屨、今言鞋。舟之言周旋也。船之言？沿也。㕣 說文：山閒陷泥地。从口。从水敗皃。沿 說文: 緣水而下也。从水。㕣聲。《说文》提出了另一种起源解释。《说文》认为“船”的右边是取了“铅”的右半边，因为它的韵母。所以“船”是一个形声字。考虑到其他几个同样作为水上交通工具的汉字：舰、艇、舤等，这种说法也颇有道理。无论如何，“船”这个字和其他舟字边的汉字一样，并没有出现在甲骨文中，而是在金文中才有。金文的形成大约是商周时期 (1600BC - 256BC)。船字乃始於戰國早期 475BC.

@34:03 Tower 塔: From Unity 合 = one people one speech (but according to 合 説文：亼口也...三口相同是爲合，十口相傳是爲古，引伸爲几會合之偁。) But they did evil by taking "grass" and "clay" to build the tower, 塔. 説文: 西域浮屠也。从土荅聲。Buddhist (Western) building. So closest meaning being western Buddhist structures that made of grass and clay together or could be in full human unison. So it's possible. But this is quite a common thing so it's simply too general to be seriously considered uniquely a "Christian" thing.

@35:25 Confusion 亂：乱 Now he's using simplified version instead. Tongue and right leg scattering. 说文 亂：不治也。从乙亂字左部（Claw (爪) and Hand (手) sorting out Silk (幺) on a stroke -> Manage）。乙、治之也。文理不可通。今更正。亂本訓不治，不治則欲其治，故其字从乙。So it's a stretch here.

@36:27 Scatter 分散: 分(divide) - 8 cuts = 8 generations leading to tower of Babel. 8 cuts are not bad interpretation but the addition of generation is just too much of a stretch. Dispel 散 = all （共） flesh （肉） followed （fu）. 散《漢多》：甲骨文從「林」從「攴」，裘錫圭認為甲骨文「林攵-的二字合拼一字」是「散」的初文，本義是芟殺、清除草木. It seems that 散 has more to do with grass clearing.

@38:04 Migrate 遷：Big division at the West (Babel is West of China), walking away, scattered as a result. 説文：登也。从辵。䙴聲。More to do with climb, rising. Perhaps like crossing mountains. There is no indication of West 西 in official sources, though that would be cool if it were to of Babel being the West.

@40:33 Sacrifice 犧: Take the cow, take the lamb, must be perfect 秀, kill them with a spear 戈. 《毛傳》：犧，純也。秀 《漢多》: Grain (禾) + Extract (引) -> Blossom -> Pretty. Not too far fetched but too general to guess wrong.

@41:32 Baby lamb 羔: Sacrificial object. Lamb over/through fire. This is not too special for it's common.
《說文》：羊子也。从羊。照省聲。On this track, there's nothing related to fire.
《漢多》：金文從「羊」從「火」，象以火烤炙羊肉之形。Barbeque Sheep (羊) with Fire (火) -> Tender sheep.

@42:25 blood 血：Kong Hee claimed this was originally from what looked like 义 drop of blood in a bowl/vessel (no supporting source found).
《說文》：祭所薦牲血也。从皿、一象血形。凡血之屬皆从血。
《字源》：象形 是“皿”形中有一个小圆圈，圆圈直接像血
《漢多》：「血」字象器皿中有血液。Plate (皿) with dot above -> Blood.
Thus far, it would seem that ancient Chinese practiced blood sacrifices. So the likes of Kong Hee do introduced us to ask this question.

@44:08 Righteousness 義: Chinese already prophesied thousands of years before Jesus came that the lamb would be speared (戈) by hand (手) and thus is the righteousness for us (我). Even in simplified form: 义 it means drop of blood on the cross or as mentioned above: drop of blood in a vessel.
《說文》己之威儀也。从我羊。羛，《墨翟書》義从弗。魏郡有羛陽鄉，讀若錡。今屬鄴，本内黃北二十里。宜寄切〖注〗臣鉉等曰：此與善同意，故从羊。...从羊者、與善美同意。
《字源》：形声
There's no connection of hand 手 with 我 (施身自謂也。或說我、頃頓也。从戈 absent character chui2: Composition: Top: 丿, bottom: 才。meaning kill) 我 Could come from originally meaning butcher with a knife, the one doing the slaughter, I don't know.
And if anything, 義 could mean the kind lamb that kills. Which I'm sure the allegorical folks would go for Revelation where Christ is the judge and the victorious lamb-king that destroyed all His enemies.
That said, I'm do not completely object to this allegorical approach, for indeed, Chinese do come from Adam and with it, there's mysterious historical correlation that must be asked. Just don't make it an absolute truth with mere creativity and no backing.

@47:05 Apparently this clip was cut: Where he also showed characters of 神 and 祥. (they were suddenly on his blackboard) I could only image that he was speaking of something related to blessings from the God-lamb, revelation 示, clothed by the lamb, etc.

@47:45 eternal 永: Claimed to be originally from composite of (top: 羊 bottom: 川) or I would say: 羕. Lamb = Christ comes to wash away all your sins like water (川). 永 = when the blood comes He will wash you like water.
《說文》：水長也。象水巠理之長永也。Long flowing stream. Nothing to do with blood.
後來又曾有人以「羊」注「永」而得「羕」字，以顯示「永久」的美善，參見「羕」。
Nothing to do with lamb originally. Even later, 羕 was introduced in correlation to beauty, kind lamb, which is a stretch to call that lamb Christ the eternal life giver. Although, what the Chinese know of the significance of 羊 is an interesting one. But since allegorical method is on shaky ground, I am not jumping into water with these folks.

@48:35 Faith 信: When a man uses his mouth to confess that will lead to faith that will lead to salvation. [I will ignore the error in ordo salutis here]

@49:25 Tell those Chinese off who claimed that Christianity is American faith. No, I'm going back to my roots! I learned since little in Chinese characters from Genesis, to the flood, to Babel, to the sacrificial system, to the coming of Christ dying on the cross, to the way I can be blessed (祥) [This is formidable but must tread carefully because the likes of Kong Hee would ruin it - one falsehood and intentional foolishness revealed and your witness is jeopardized]

Conclusion, this is educational in a sense that one would appreciate how Chinese characters come about and even learn some vocabulary. For example, it motivated me to look into topics like: 月字旁和肉字旁: 月字和肉字为什么会搞到一起, and increase my appreciation to Chinese culture and heritage. But it can also be argued that when dealing with Chinese who thinks Christianity is not a Chinese thing but Western, white people religion, it certainly is admirable to provoke their sense of loyalty with the origin of man, yet it may not be harmful as well, provided with careful treatment of accurate historical knowledge without submitting to allegorical method of Kong Hee and the likes, to challenge the Chinese their knowledge of their heritage in connection to Adam and Christianity.

That being said, to give folks like Kong Hee some credit, after all he did his "due diligence" in reading, as ill-informed as it may be, that as Christians, we should submit all, even Chinese characters, under God, as if what was shown above was true, not regardless the truth, but in spite of the truth. It is one thing to claim history that which is not, but it is entirely another to submit something that is not, to be under something that is. This is what I can settle with and underlined and bolded some characters above to be the ones worth challenging Chinese with.

For continuation of the 2nd half of the fuller version of the video, here is the video tagged with the starting time frame in the middle where we last left of from above: