『勸世良言』 管見: 梁發의 傳道書 이해의 一端

Abstract

This study aims to investigate into the publication, distribution, printing, organization and contents of The Benevolent Words to Advise the World (K'euén Shé Lëang Yên), which is a representative booklet for evangelism authored by Liang-fa, the first Protestant pastor in China. The following are the findings of the study. The Benevolent Words to Advise the World was published in Guangzhou in 1832, and it was reprinted in Malacca the same year and reissued & reorganized several times in Singapore. The title of the book means 'good words edifying the people of the world' and it indicates that the book has religious, Chinese and mundane world oriented contents. The Benevolent Words to Advise the World is composed of a total of 9 volumes, 71 chapters, 470 items and about 90,000 words. The pages of The Benevolent Words to Advise the World include abstracts and/or excerpts from Chinese Bible, citations and expatiations of Bible verses, examples from Chinese Bible, mostly abstracts of Bible verses with some brief explanations and/or exposition of them, and no quotations from the Bible. The Benevolent Words to Advise the World has the following characteristics. First, the book is a evangelistic pamphlet. Second, the book is a confession of the Christian faith. Third, the book stresses that Jehovah is the highest real God. Fourth, the book emphasizes that idolatry should be stopped and the real God worshiped instead. Consequently, the book criticizes that China's conventional religions like Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are causes for the nation's underdevelopment and scantiness and recommends to accept the real religion or Christianity. Fifth, Liang-fa is very careful to criticize Confucianism, which is the basis of traditional cultures of Chinese intellectuals. Sixth, the book makes much of the order of this world and longs for a peaceful world. Seventh, the book quotes phrases from Morrison and Milne's Version of the Holy Scriptures but they are exposited in an everyday language. Eighth, the book is valued as a material for researches into contemporary politics, sociology and thoughts. In brief, The Benevolent Words to Advise the World is a Chinese digest of the Bible, a guide to the Christianity and a confession of the Christian faith of the author himself.