Shengyu Xia

Summary of My Research

My doctoral research investigates messianic motifs in Exodus through a comparative study of Chinese Bible translations, focusing particularly on the Schereschewsky Peking Mandarin Version, an important predecessor to the Chinese Union Version. The project asks how interpretations of messianic themes in Exodus have been shaped and transmitted through the process of translation into modern Chinese. 

Schereschewsky was a Jewish convert to Christianity whose knowledge of Hebrew and Jewish interpretive traditions offers an important perspective for examining his approach to the Hebrew Bible. By studying his Peking Mandarin Version alongside the Hebrew text and relevant textual and interpretive traditions, my research explores how his linguistic choices and exegetical decisions shaped the representation of messianic themes in Chinese. The project also considers how these interpretive features were subsequently reflected in the development of Chinese Bible translation. 

The project therefore brings together Hebrew Bible studies, translation studies, and the study of Chinese Christianity. It seeks to contribute to the history of biblical interpretation and to a better understanding of how biblical concepts were negotiated through translation in Chinese Christian contexts.