Tianzhu (Chinese name of God)
Catholic Chinese translation for God
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tianzhu (Chinese: 天主; Wade–Giles: Tʻien-chu), meaning 'Heavenly Master' or 'Lord of Heaven', is the Chinese word used for God in Catholicism, designated by the Jesuit China missions.[1]
| Tianzhu | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 天主 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Heaven Master | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
History
The word first appeared in Michele Ruggieri's Chinese translation of the Decalogo, or Ten Commandments.[1] In 1584, Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci published their first catechism, Tiānzhǔ shílù (天主實錄, The Veritable Record of the Lord of Heaven).[2] Matteo Ricci later wrote a catechism entitled Tiānzhŭ Shíyì (天主實義, The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven).[1][2]
Following the Chinese rites controversy, the term Tiānzhŭ was officially adopted by the Pope in 1715, who rejected alternative terms such as Tiān (天, "Heaven") and Shàngdì (上帝, "Supreme Emperor").[3] "Catholicism" is most commonly rendered as Tiānzhǔjiào (天主教, "Religion of the Lord of Heaven"). An individual Catholic is Tiānzhŭjiào tú;[4] tú includes the meanings "disciple" and "believer."[5] The same hanja characters are used in the Korean words for Catholicism and Catholic believer.