Letter from Harriet to Father, July 1, 1868
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Harriet to Father, July 1, 1868
Subject
Bible; Chinese language--Translating; Missionaries; Homesickness; God
Description
In this letter to her father on his birthday, Hattie talks about how the weather and friends in China remind her of her sister, Em. She tells her father of the health of her friends; the Folsoms seem to be having a particularly difficult time. She concludes by discussing the translation of the New Testament. She talks about the disagreement regarding the translation of God.
Creator
Noyes, Harriet Newell
Source
Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection
Publisher
Unpublished
Date
1868-07-01
Contributor
Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant
Rights
Format
PDF
Language
eng (English)
Type
Text
Identifier
noyes_c_cor_936
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Canton China
July 1st 1868
My [u]dearly loved[/u] Father
This morning I sat
down pen in hand and was just about
commencing a letter to a friend when I
remembered what I have been thinking
of for several days that it is your birthday
and the first letter to-day must certainly
be for you. It is now the evening of a
dull rainy day it has rained almost
incessantly for five days. I often think
of Em these dark days (and bright ones [u]too[/u])
I remember she had no fancy for such
weather. Miss Radcliffe whom I have spoken
of before as being so much like Em has just
the same idea of gloomy days. She reminds
Henry and I both so much of Em in what
she says and the way she says it and
what she [u]dont[/u] for she is not much of a
talker. She is much better since her trip to
Hong Kong + I hope will continue so-
I mention our friends here freely so that you
may as much as possible feel as though
you know them. I have been alone this
week as Henry went to Macao on Monday.
The Folsoms have been down there two or
three weeks for the health of their little boy -
but since they have been there. Mrs Folsom
has had a fever, and Mr Preston had
such a sad letter from them Saturday
that Henry thought he had better go down
and see if they needed help. He found
them somewhat better but Mrs Folsom is
quite poorly and they are thinking some
of starting home in the Colorado the 15th
of this month if she gets strong enough.
Mrs Kerr is going down to Macao soon with
Josie poor little fellow the hot weather is very
trying for him + I am afraid they will not
be able to keep him long. They have already
buried three children. The Prestons are
all well and Henry + I the same so
[Note: page torn so there are sections missing]
that we shall not need to go to
not mention that Henry is coming
to-morrow. I was quite disappointed this evening
in being kept at home by the rain. The Turners
from Hong kong are spending a few days with
a Mr Davis here and their baby is to be
baptised this evening + so will have a short
service and afterwards a sort of social gathering
and I doubt not will have a very pleasant time
Mrs Turner spent the day with me yesterday
They have been very much afflicted with sickness
Mr + Mrs Turner both being very sick at once + the
only thing they could do was to send for Mr
Whitehead to come and take care of them.
But I fear my letter is taking the form of a
Doctor's report so I will change the subject.
Just as present there is a great deal of interest
here in the subject of translating the
New Testament into Canton Colloquial which
is very difficult from the book language in
which form it has only been published as yet.
The most of the Missionaries think it a wise
[Note: page torn so there are sections missing]
of course it would be very
men would all think just alike
points that arise. You know Paul
the first missionary set the example of differing
from his co laborers. Perhaps you remember that
when the Bible was first translated into Chinese
in the time of Walter Lowrie there was such a
long discussion about the term for God some
prefering Shun + some Sheung Ti. The question
has never been settled and now both terms
are used Shun almost universally by the
American missionaries and Sheung Ti by
the English. It seems unfortunate that
two terms should be used A great objection
to Sheung Ti is that the Chinese have an idol
by that name + I have heard of instances
where the ignorant class of people have
understood the missionaries as urging
them to worship that idol. It is often
difficult in a heathen language to find
words to express Christian ideas + often
necessary to coin new words and then teach
them their meaning. The controversy regarding
Shun + Sheung Ti will not come up however in
this work as [--all--] the missionaries will write in
translating + then each publish in their own way.
[Note: Letter concludes sideways on the top of page one]
July 6th-
I thought
I would
write more
than this sheet
for you but
am going
to Macao this
morning so
it will be
impossible.
With ever
so much
love for
all the
dear
ones from
your [u]own
loving
daughter[/u]
Harriet
July 1st 1868
My [u]dearly loved[/u] Father
This morning I sat
down pen in hand and was just about
commencing a letter to a friend when I
remembered what I have been thinking
of for several days that it is your birthday
and the first letter to-day must certainly
be for you. It is now the evening of a
dull rainy day it has rained almost
incessantly for five days. I often think
of Em these dark days (and bright ones [u]too[/u])
I remember she had no fancy for such
weather. Miss Radcliffe whom I have spoken
of before as being so much like Em has just
the same idea of gloomy days. She reminds
Henry and I both so much of Em in what
she says and the way she says it and
what she [u]dont[/u] for she is not much of a
talker. She is much better since her trip to
Hong Kong + I hope will continue so-
I mention our friends here freely so that you
may as much as possible feel as though
you know them. I have been alone this
week as Henry went to Macao on Monday.
The Folsoms have been down there two or
three weeks for the health of their little boy -
but since they have been there. Mrs Folsom
has had a fever, and Mr Preston had
such a sad letter from them Saturday
that Henry thought he had better go down
and see if they needed help. He found
them somewhat better but Mrs Folsom is
quite poorly and they are thinking some
of starting home in the Colorado the 15th
of this month if she gets strong enough.
Mrs Kerr is going down to Macao soon with
Josie poor little fellow the hot weather is very
trying for him + I am afraid they will not
be able to keep him long. They have already
buried three children. The Prestons are
all well and Henry + I the same so
[Note: page torn so there are sections missing]
that we shall not need to go to
not mention that Henry is coming
to-morrow. I was quite disappointed this evening
in being kept at home by the rain. The Turners
from Hong kong are spending a few days with
a Mr Davis here and their baby is to be
baptised this evening + so will have a short
service and afterwards a sort of social gathering
and I doubt not will have a very pleasant time
Mrs Turner spent the day with me yesterday
They have been very much afflicted with sickness
Mr + Mrs Turner both being very sick at once + the
only thing they could do was to send for Mr
Whitehead to come and take care of them.
But I fear my letter is taking the form of a
Doctor's report so I will change the subject.
Just as present there is a great deal of interest
here in the subject of translating the
New Testament into Canton Colloquial which
is very difficult from the book language in
which form it has only been published as yet.
The most of the Missionaries think it a wise
[Note: page torn so there are sections missing]
of course it would be very
men would all think just alike
points that arise. You know Paul
the first missionary set the example of differing
from his co laborers. Perhaps you remember that
when the Bible was first translated into Chinese
in the time of Walter Lowrie there was such a
long discussion about the term for God some
prefering Shun + some Sheung Ti. The question
has never been settled and now both terms
are used Shun almost universally by the
American missionaries and Sheung Ti by
the English. It seems unfortunate that
two terms should be used A great objection
to Sheung Ti is that the Chinese have an idol
by that name + I have heard of instances
where the ignorant class of people have
understood the missionaries as urging
them to worship that idol. It is often
difficult in a heathen language to find
words to express Christian ideas + often
necessary to coin new words and then teach
them their meaning. The controversy regarding
Shun + Sheung Ti will not come up however in
this work as [--all--] the missionaries will write in
translating + then each publish in their own way.
[Note: Letter concludes sideways on the top of page one]
July 6th-
I thought
I would
write more
than this sheet
for you but
am going
to Macao this
morning so
it will be
impossible.
With ever
so much
love for
all the
dear
ones from
your [u]own
loving
daughter[/u]
Harriet
中国广东
1868年7月1日
亲爱的父亲
今天早上
我坐下来拿起笔
要给一个朋友写第一封信
当我记起几天前
是您的生日
然后今天的第一封信必须写给您。
现在已经是一个破雨夜里了
雨已经连续下了五天了。
我经常在想
Em这些黑漆漆的日子
我记起她对这样的天气很不满。
之前和我说过话的Radcliffe小姐
在这种潮湿的日子里
有着和Em一样的经历。
她提醒Henry和我
有关于她说的方法
还有她不爱说话。
她去香港以后变得比以前更好了
而且我希望可以持续这个状态
所以我很容易注意到我们的朋友
以至于您可以更多的注意到他们。
我这周自己过
因为Henry周一去澳门了。
Folsoms去澳门两周到三周
因为那个小男孩的健康
但是自从他们到了那儿
Folsom太太发烧了，Preston先生
在周六，从他们那儿收到了如此悲伤的信
Henry认为她最好去
并且如果需要去帮助他们。
他发现他们一家好一些了
但是Folsom太太相当一般
而且他们想，如果她恢复健康，
这个月15号在科罗拉多开始生活。
Kerr太太准备和Josie去澳门
因为这炎热的天气对他是很大的挑战
而且我害怕他们不能和他坚持很久。
他们一家埋了三个孩子。
Prestons夫妇都好
还有Henry 和我也一样
【页面撕毁，部分内容缺失】
以至于我们不需要提出
Henry明天到。
今天晚上我想当失望
因为外面下雨要在家里待着。
来自香港的Turners和Davis先生度过了几天
而且他们的孩子今晚要洗礼
所有会有很短的礼拜
随后会有一系列的社交活动
我相信我们会很快乐
Turner太太昨天和我一起
他们被疾病折磨不轻
Turner夫妇同时都很难受
他们唯一能做的事就是
请Whitehead先生过来照顾他们。
但是我害怕我的信会带跑医生的处方
所以我要换一下主语。
就像现在一样
有个让我很感兴趣的事，
把新约翻译成广东话
这本书的语言很难
刚刚被出版。
大部分的传教士认为那很有智慧
【页面撕毁，部分内容缺失】
当然人们会认为
新的想法被点亮。
您知道第一个传教士Paul
给他的同事们设计了不同的例子。
也许您记得
当Walter Lowrie第一次把圣经翻译成中文的时候
对于“God”的术语叫“神”还是“上帝”
引起了很大的讨论。
这个问题从来没有被解决
现在这两个术语都在用
“神”被所有的美国的传教士用
“上帝”被英国的传教士用。看起来很不幸，‘
两个术语应该被客观地叫做“上帝”
因为中国有一个神像被这么叫
我听过一些例子
人们忽视去理解传教士
因为鼓励他们崇拜神像。
经常很难
在语言方面表达基督教的意义
而且经常
很有必要去造新词
之后告诉他们意义。对呀神和上帝的辩论
永远不会有结果
但是在这本书里，传教士们会写下翻译
并且按照他们自己的方式去出版。
【信件结尾边缘书写】
7月6日
我认为
我会
给您
写得比这张纸更多
但是
今天早上
我要去澳门
所以
那不太可能
满满的爱
送给
你们
来自
爱你们的
女儿Harriet
Original Format
Letter
Collection
Citation
Noyes, Harriet Newell, “Letter from Harriet to Father, July 1, 1868,” Letters from Harriet Noyes: Missionaries and Women's Education in Nineteenth Century China, accessed April 16, 2024, https://noyesletters.org/items/show/1047.