by Brian Godawa
But the Zhou dynasty of 1100 B.C. changed all that. Shang Di became removed, distant with the declaration of Prince Wu, “Heaven is the universal Father, and Earth the universal Mother.” It was a switch from an “intelligent, active, personal, moral and all-powerful Agent” to a materialistic dualism of “heaven and earth.” [67]
Taoism, Confucism and Buddhism developed out of this change and by the third century B.C., Emperor Qin rejected the worship of Shang Di outright, and outlawed the ancient religion of the supreme Creator. The altars of heaven were abandoned, as depicted in the novel, and he instituted sacrifices to the pantheon of lesser deities along with his idolatrous despotism. [68]
The Sovereign emperor was supposed to rule as vice regent to God, the highest authority on earth called “the Son of Heaven.” He was to carry out the “Mandate of Heaven,” that is, Shang Di’s decrees of justice. But now, the emperor had become a god. [69]
The Dragon had bitten the heel of Shang Di in China.
At least until Messiah came to crush his head.
Chapter 4:
The Gospel in Chinese
Words as Pictures
Chinese is one of the oldest known languages dating back to at least 2700 B.C. Like other ancient languages, its written form was originally pictographic rather than alphabetic. That means the words were like little pictures of what was being written about. But unlike other languages, Chinese retains some of its graphic history even today.
Here is an example of modern Chinese words along with their ancient precursors that researcher Dr. Thong, Chan Kei has used to illustrate the graphic nature of the language. Notice how the modern version on the left still maintains an iconic element of their origin on the right. [70]
Though the language has evolved through the millennia, and has become more symbolic, Chinese characters still carry embedded within them the stories and meanings of their original pictures.
As Dr Thong explains, pictographs are combined to create ideographs or ideograms, which are still graphic, but a bit more abstract or conceptual. Thus, a picture of a mouth over a tree would mean “wooden mouth” which is a colloquialism that refers to someone who is slow-witted or struck speechless. A single tree is a tree. Two trees would denote a group such as a grove. And three trees in a pictograph would represent a large gathering of trees such as a forest. [71]
Dr. Thong then chronicles many examples of words and phrases that he argues are reflections of biblical influence on the Chinese language. That is, they show concepts that are unique to the biblical worldview that seem to indicate a common origin. I recommend buying his book to learn the fascinating depth of this spiritual connection between China and the Bible. The book is Faith of Our Fathers: Finding God in Ancient China .
Another book from which I drew writing examples of this exchange of biblical ideas was The Discovery of Genesis by C.H. Kang. In my novel, all my examples of explanation of Chinese ideograms are real, drawn from this book. I use some of the following examples that reflect the ancient stories of Genesis:
Kang breaks out the various visual elements of the word for “tempter” to show the story from the Garden of Eden. I have reproduced my own image of his breakdown here:
Kang explains, “the devil is placed under the cover of protecting trees. The devil waited for Eve in the forbidden tree, which was located in the middle of the garden next to the tree of life—hence the two trees. Furthermore, he was under cover, being hidden in the tree and also camouflaged as a serpent.” [72]
The Chinese word for boat tells the story of Noah’s ark.
Kang explains the ideogram for “boat”: “There are three elements pictured: a vessel, eight, and mouth, meaning “people.” The word for boat, then, tells the story of this first great ark which, in spite of the years of warning and pleading by Noah to his compatriots, had just eight passengers.” [73]
The story of the Tower of Babel from the Bible also finds its way into the Chinese word for “tower.”
Kang explains the Babel story embedded in the word,
On the left side of the figure, artistically accommodating itself to the slope of the tower is the radical dirt, clay, of which the bricks were made. They had boasted, “‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar” (Genesis 11:3). Then they united, joined together in their rebellion against God. The Chinese placed upon the pinnacle of the tower the sign of Adam’s curse , recognizing the folly of this venture. (It would be unlikely that weeds would grow on top of a brick tower!) One other aspect of the character might also have importance. They were originally all of one speech: [men]; [one]; [speech]. Adding the grass on the top, means to undertake. The Chinese themselves built no towers or pagodas until the Buddhist era. This character for tower must surely, therefore, refer to the Tower of Babel. [74]
Because of the technical nature of the linguistics involved, I will refrain from any more examples, lest I become guilty of plagiarism for copying too many large portions of Kang’s text. I recommend getting the book to explore the issue more in depth: The Discovery of Genesis: how the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language by C.H. Kang.
Conclusion
I hope this booklet of research notes was enlightening for those who have read the novel Qin: Dragon Emperor of China . It is not exhaustive and is more a compendium of notes for the background of the novel than an attempt to make a sustained argument for the issues brought up in the text. If you want more, please check the footnotes for books and online articles that go into further detail.
If you have not read the novel Qin yet, you can get it here at Amazon (paid link) in ebook, paperback or audiobook.
• • • • •
If you liked this book, then please help me out by writing a positive review of it wherever you purchased it. That is one of the best ways to say thank you to me as an author. It really does help my sales and status. Thanks! – Brian Godawa
More Books by Brian Godawa
See www.Godawa.com for more information on other books by Brian Godawa. Check out his other series below:
Chronicles of the Nephilim
Chronicles of the Nephilim is a saga that charts the rise and fall of the Nephilim giants of Genesis 6 and their place in the evil plans of the fallen angelic Sons of God called, “The Watchers.” The story starts in the days of Enoch and continues on through the Bible until the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus. The prelude to Chronicles of the Apocalypse. ChroniclesOfTheNephilim .com. (paid link)
Chronicles of the Apocalypse
Chronicles of the Apocalypse is an origin story of the most controversial book of the Bible: Revelation. An historical conspiracy thriller trilogy in first century Rome set against the backdrop of explosive spiritual warfare of Satan and his demonic Watchers. ChroniclesOfTheApocalypse.com . (paid link )
Chronicles of the Watchers
Chronicles of the Watchers is a series that charts the influence of spiritual principalities and powers over the course of human history. The kingdoms of man in service to the gods of the nations at war. Completely based on ancient historical and mythological research. ChroniclesOfTheWatchers.com. (paid link)
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About the Au
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Brian Godawa is the screenwriter for the award-winning feature film, To End All Wars , starring Kiefer Sutherland. It was awarded the Commander in Chief Medal of Service, Honor and Pride by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, won the first Heartland Film Festival by storm, and showcased the Cannes Film Festival Cinema for Peace.
He previously adapted to film the best-selling supernatural thriller novel The Visitation by author Frank Peretti for Ralph Winter ( X-Men, Wolverine ), and wrote and directed Wall of Separation , a PBS documentary, and Lines That Divide , a documentary on stem cell research.
Mr. Godawa’s scripts have won multiple awards in respected screenplay competitions, and his articles on movies and philosophy have been published around the world. He has traveled around the United States teaching on movies, worldviews, and culture to colleges, churches and community groups.
His popular book Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment (InterVarsity Press) is used as a textbook in schools around the country. In the Top 10 of Biblical Fiction on Amazon, his first novel series, Chronicles of the Nephilim , is an imaginative retelling of Biblical stories of the Nephilim giants, the secret plan of the fallen Watchers, and the War of the Seed of the Serpent with the Seed of Eve. The sequel series, Chronicles of the Apocalypse , tells the story of the apostle John’s book of Revelation, and Chronicles of the Watchers recounts true history through the Watcher paradigm.
Find out more about his other books, lecture tapes and DVDs for sale at his website, www.godawa.com .
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[1] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible , First Edition (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 113–114.
[2] See also Deut 4:19 with Deut 32:8-9; 1 King 22:19-23.
[3] See also Psa 89:5-7; Heb 2:2.
[4] See also Psa 89:5-7.
[5] For more biblical details on Noah and the Nephilim of Genesis 6, see my book, When Giants Were Upon the Earth: The Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Biblical Cosmic War of the Seed (Embedded Pictures Publishing, 2014).
[6] Dan 10:12-13, 20-21; 2Kgs 6:17; Judges 5:19-20.
[7] See also 2 Kings 6:15-17 where Elisha’s servant has his spiritual eyes opened to see the myriad of heavenly warriors surrounding Israel preparing to battle Syria.
[8] Interestingly, this passage of Isaiah is not clear about what judgment in history it is referring to. But the language earlier in the text is similar to the Flood when it says, “For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. 19 The earth is utterly broken, the earth is split apart, the earth is violently shaken. 20 The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.” So this may be another passage that uses a Flood reference tied in with the Watchers and their punishment.
[9] 1 En. 89:59, 62-63; 67; Jubilees 15:31-32; Targum Jonathan Deut. 32, Sect. LIII; 3Enoch 48C:9, DSS War Scroll 1Q33 Col. xvii:7, Targum Jonathan, Genesis 11, Section II.
[10] See also 1 Enoch 89:59; 90:25, 3Enoch 48C:9, DSS War Scroll 1Q33 Col. xvii:7, Targum Jonathan, Genesis 11, Section II; Philo, On the Posterity of Cain and His Exile 25.89; Concerning Noah’s Work as a Planter 14.59; On the Migration of Abraham 36.202; 1 Clement 29; Origen, First Principles 1.5.1. Thanks to Don Enevoldsen for some of these passages. Walter Wink footnotes a plenitude of texts about the 70 angel “gods” over the 70 nations in the Targums in Walter Wink. Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament (The Powers : Volume One) (Kindle Locations 2235-2242). Kindle Edition.
[11] 1 Enoch 10:9, 15; 12:2-6; 13:10; 14:1-3; 15:9; 16:1-2.
[12] Leviathan: Job 3:8; 41; Psa 74:13-14; Psa 104:26; Isa 27:1. Leviathan is said to dwell in the Abyss in Job 41:24 (LXX). “[Leviathan] regards the netherworld [Tartauros] of the deep [Abyss] like a prisoner. He regards the deep [Abyss] as a walk.” Job 41:34, Tan, Randall, David A. deSilva, and Logos Bible Software. The Lexham Greek-English Interlinear Septuagint. Logos Bible Software, 2009.
For Rahab, see: Isa 51:9; Job 9:13; 26:12-13; Ps 87:4; Psalm 89:9-10.
[13] For Chaoskampf in the Bible, see: Psalm 89:9-10; Isaiah 51:9-10; Job 26:12-13. Psalms 18, 29, 24, 29, 65, 74, 77, 89, 93, and 104. Also, Exodus 15, Job 9, 26, 38, and Isaiah 51:14-16; 2 Samuel 22.
[14] Enuma Elish , Tablet IV, lines 104-105, 137-138, 144.
[15] See KTU 1.3:3.38-41.
[16] For 2 nd Temple examples of the feast of Leviathan and Behemoth, see 4Ezra 6:47-52; 2Apoc. Bar. 29:4; 1 Enoch 60: 7-9, 24.
[17] See Rev 12:3-13:4; 16:13-16; 20:2-3.
[18] KTU 1.5:1:30
[19] Isaiah 51:9. "Serpent, dragon, sea-monster" Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexico n (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 1072.
[20] In Job 41, God’s questions to Job about being able to make Leviathan a servant or “play with him as with a bird” are obvious implications that God does so with Leviathan as a domesticated pet. See also Psalm 104:26. See also “sea creatures” (tannim: dragons) Psalm 148:7; Psalm 74:13; Isa 51:9.
[21] Michael Taylor. Antiochus the Great . Pen and Sword. Kindle Edition. Location 654 of 4228.
[22] W. W. Buehler, “Wise Men (NT),” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 1084.
[23] Francesca Rochberg, In the Path of the Moon: Babylonian Celestial Divination and Its Legacy (Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2010), 22.
[24] Rochberg, In the Path of the Moon , 189.
[25] Denis Twitchett and John K. Fairbank, eds., The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1: The China and Han Empires, 221 B.C. — A.D. 220 (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 20.
[26] Dr. Thong, Faith Of Our Fathers , Kindle edition, Location 236 of 344.
[27] Jonathan Clements, The First Emperor of China (Albert Bridge Books, 2006, 2015), 45.
[28] Dr. Thong, Faith Of Our Fathers , Kindle edition, Location 240 and 244 of 344.
[29] John Man, The Terra Cotta Army: China’s First Emperor and the Birth of a Nation (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2008), 74.
[30] Man, Terra Cotta Army , 102.
[31] Man, Terra Cotta Army , 102.
[32] Sima Qian, (2011-02-10). Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty (p. 49). Columbia University Press. Kindle Edition.
[33] Clements, The First Emperor , 156.
[34] Clements, The First Emperor of China (Kindle Locations 1903-1907). Kindle Edition.
[35] Dr. Thong, Faith Of Our Fathers , Kindle edition, Location 292-293 of 344.
On the burning of scholars: Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty, (Columbia University Press, 2011), Kindle Edition, 55.
[36] Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty, (Columbia University Press, 2011), Kindle Edition, footnote 77, page 245.
[37] For giants discovery see: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/graveyard-giants-found-china-180963976/
[38] See http://zoroastrianheritage.blogspot.com/2013/03/cyrus-edict-chinese-cuneiform-bones.html
[39] Anne Habermehl, "Where in the World Is the Tower of Babel?", Answers Research Journal 4 (2011):30. www.answersingenesis.org/contents/379/arj/v4/Tower_Babel.pdf
[40] See: https://www.touropia.com/step-pyramids-of-the-world/
[41] Dr. Thong, Chan Kei, Faith Of Our Fathers: Finding God In Ancient China (Singapore: Cru Asia Limited, 2018), Kindle edition, Location 24 of 344.
[42] C.H. Kang, The Discovery of Genesis: how the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language (St. Louis, MO: Concordia House, 1979), 2-3.
[43] See the artistic rendering of the tomb: https://www.uchinavisa.com/qin-shi-huang.html
[44] Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian: Qin Dynasty, (Columbia University Press, 2011), Kindle Edition, footnote 77, page 64.
[45] Clara Moskowitz, "The Secret Tomb of China's 1st Emperor: Will We Ever See
Inside?" https://www.livescience.com/22454-ancient-chinese-tomb-terracotta-warriors.html
[46] Jonathan Clements, The First Emperor of China (Kindle Locations 2901-2903). Kindle Edition.
[47] Marinus Willem de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan (Ithica, NY; Cornell University Library, 1913), 38.
[48] Dr. Thong, Faith Of Our Fathers , Kindle edition, Location 200 of 344.
[49] Dr. Thong, Faith Of Our Fathers , Kindle edition, Location 280 of 344.
Visser, The Dragon in China, 122.
[50] Dr. Thong, Faith Of Our Fathers , Kindle edition, Location 290 of 344.
[51] Visser, The Dragon in China, 62-65.
[52] Visser, The Dragon in China, 109-115.
[53] Adrienne Mayor, The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times , (Princeton University Press), Kindle Edition. (Kindle Locations 1220-1223).
[54] Dr. Thong, Faith Of Our Fathers , Kindle edition, Location 96 of 344.