圣夜静歌

Shengye qing, shengye jing

SHENG-YE JING

translated as:
Holy night, blessed night
Clear and calm the night
Clear, calm night

I. Origins

The story behind this hymn, often regarded as the “Chinese Silent Night,” was relayed via I-to Loh’s Hymnal Companion to Sound the Bamboo (2011):

According to Shenyin Wang, when Qigui Shi was young, he was under the guidance of the Reverend Weiyu Zhu at St. John’s Church in Suzhu. Shi naturally had very high respect for his mentor. While on the Zaneishi editorial committee in 1981, he requested Zhu to submit some of his hymn texts for consideration in the new hymnal. And to his surprise and joy, Zhu’s earlier hymns survived the Cultural Revolution. Shi was impressed by this Christmas hymn, and he was inspired to compose this beautiful carol. Zhu acknowledged that he had written this text in 1921 with Jingren Wu, so he had to share the credit.[1]

Weiyu Zhu [朱味腴] (1890–1986), co-author of the text, was a Methodist preacher in China. Jingren Wu [吴敬人] was an educator in high schools in Shanghai and Wuxi. The composer, Qigui Shi [史奇珪] (1929–), was the pastor of Moore Memorial Church in Shanghai (1953–1998) and was an executive member of the China Christian Council. Their carol was first published in 讚쳄詩 [Hymns of Praise, New Edition; or New Hymnal] (1983), at No. 79. For this hymnal, Shi crafted a homophonic harmonization in a Western style, but the chord progressions are non-Western. The hymn was given in three stanzas.

Of the text, I-to Loh said it was “full of beautiful images” and the “original description of the angel’s song in the third and fourth lines of the second stanza is fascinating.”[2] The melody is pentatonic, “through-composed with simplicity and melancholy.” The downward leaps of a minor seventh are characteristic of Chinese melodic progression, but they are also potentially an act of tone painting, because they “occur between the words tian (heaven), di (earth), and dansheng (being-born), which describe the acts of descending and hence imply the incarnation of Christ.”[3]

II. Translation by Moody

An English translation of the carol was produced for Sound the Bamboo (1990) by Kathleen Moody (1920–), longtime British missionary to Taiwan, mentor to I-to Loh, and founder of the church music program at Tianan Theological College and Seminary. Moody’s translation, “Holy night, blessed night,” was made with an eye for accuracy rather than artistry, thus it does not rhyme. Loh noted the difficulty of unpacking the Chinese symbolism. The aforementioned third and fourth lines in the second stanza are only seventeen syllables, but a literal English translation runs to thirty-one syllables. And yet, Moody’s version, in Loh’s estimation, retains the most important message: “the coming of Christ like a morning sun, shining his love, sacrifice, justice, and peace upon the world.”[4]

For this publication, a new arrangement was prepared by Pen-li Chen (a pseudonym for I-to Loh) in a more traditional Chinese style, offering a “free contrapuntal technique—imitating, echoing, and decorating the main melody, which enhances the beauty of this Chinese tune.”[5]

III. Translation by Price & Ball

Another translation of the carol was prepared by Brynmor Price and Michael Ball for World Praise Combined Music Edition (1995), beginning “Clear and calm the night.” This translation leans more toward English poetic artistry, where the second and third stanzas rhyme aabacdc. In order to allow for more interpretive syllables in English, some of the melismas in the original melody have been filled with syllables.

I-to Loh, in response to this version, described the pros and cons of this approach, and why he ultimately felt this version was unsuitable:

Translations sometimes are not literal translations; it could be a new creation, getting the cream of the work and rewriting it in a new format. I agree that we should have good English poems that fit the original music, but it is unfair to change both the text and music. For [this version], the first phrase actually is closer to the original meaning, a literal translation, but all the rest are different; they have good English and are almost a new creation, [but] lots of original ideas are gone. What annoyed me most is that the paraphraser has changed the meter and musical setting to fit the new translation, and the hymn has lost its natural beautiful flow of the melody. It has become a Western gospel-song style with strict syllabic four-part harmony (Even though the harmony was done by the composer himself, but not the same with this setting). The original feeling of the song is lost! The first phrase of the original translation by Kathleen Moody is not a literal translation; it has taken a more traditional way of describing the holy night and blessed night. Even though I feel this version of the first phrase is more poetic and closer to the original meaning, I don't appreciate the change of the contents of the text (no matter how good) and the setting (text-tune relations).[6]

IV. Composite Translation

In an attempt to bridge the gap between the two versions above, a new setting, which begins “Clear, calm night,” was prepared for Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship (2024), edited by Chris Fenner. The chief aim was to follow the sense of Moody’s translation, which is widely regarded as being faithful to the Chinese, while also offering a level of poetry suitable for English hymnody. The reception and success of this version remain to be determined.

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
16 July 2024

Footnotes:

1. I-to Loh, Hymnal Companion to Sound the Bamboo (Chicago: GIA, 2011), p. 65, citing Shenyin Wang (1993), pp. 142–143.

2. I-to Loh, Hymnal Companion to Sound the Bamboo (2011), p. 63.

3. I-to Loh, Hymnal Companion to Sound the Bamboo (2011), p. 64–65.

4. I-to Loh, Hymnal Companion to Sound the Bamboo (2011), p. 63.

5. I-to Loh, Hymnal Companion to Sound the Bamboo (2011), p. 65.

6. Email correspondance with I-to Loh, 7 Mar 2024.

Related Resources:

Shenyin Wang, Zanmei Shi (xinbian) Shihua [Companion to Hymns of Praise, new edition] (Shanghai: China Christian Council, 1993).