A believer in Liaoning Province spent three years copying the entire Bible with a Chinese brush pen. The scan has been completed for printing and publication.
Before Chinese Bible Day 2023, which fell on December 9, a Christian man named Wang Mianli of Liaozhong District Church in Shenyang City completed the transcription of the Old and New Testaments in Chinese calligraphy. On November 19, last year, he was awarded an honorary certificate during a celebration held for him at the church. Rev. Ren Chuanyu, chairman of the Liaozhong District TSPM and head of the Liaozhong District Church, presented him with a bonus of 10,000 yuan out of his pocket.
For over a thousand days, he copied eight chapters of the Bible every day, totaling more than 3,100 pages. Over these three years, he lived in the church, leaving his home and business. He experienced three sudden strokes and cerebral hemorrhages, healed by the Lord each time. He canceled his original phone number and cut off contact with the outside world to improve concentration.
He has been practicing calligraphy since his youth, and since his baptism in 2011, he intended to write the Bible on large rice paper rather than using pens or pencils like others to spread the gospel in this form.
He received rice paper, ink, and a room from the church for scribes, thanks to Reverend Ren's support. Originally planning to finish writing the Bible in five years, he completed it two years ahead of schedule.
At the same time, he also wrote calligraphic scrolls of biblical verses for those in need. An entrepreneur from Shandong was impressed by a copy of the Chinese character "神," which means God. Wang told him that he had practiced writing this word over ten thousand times.
Before the Spring Festival of 2024, he expressed his desire to spend a few more years re-copying the Old and New Testaments with regular script in small characters to facilitate others' reading.
(The Gospel Times was the original publication of the article.)
- Translated by Abigail Wu
