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The Chinese New Hymnal (simplified Chinese :赞美诗（新编）; traditional Chinese :讚美詩（新編）; pinyin :Zànměishī (Xīnbiān)) was published in the early 1980s and is the main hymnal used by the Protestant churches registered through the TSPM in present-day China.
The Chinese New Hymnal was begun being edited in the 1980s when persecution against religion, especially against Christianity, during the Cultural Revolution subsided and churches were reopened, with the intention to collect both domestic and overseas hymns. Its "Simple notation (in simplified Chinese :简谱; traditional Chinese :簡譜; pinyin :jianpu) version", using the numbered musical notation system, was published in 1983 and "staff musical notation version" in 1985. The former version is predominantly used in the present-day China. Editors include Lin Shengben, a renowned Chinese hymn composer.
The Chinese New Hymnal includes 400 hymns, with the addendum of 40 "Short Songs". In addition to the songs from Europe and the Americas, special effort was made to collect the songs written by the Chinese people, such as those from Wang Weifan, T. C. Chao, and Lin Shengben. It was printed by Amity Printing Co. and published by China Christian Council. "The English-Chinese Bilingual New Hymnal" was later published in 1998. [1]
This hymnal features two indexes. The first one arranges hymns according to the first notes in the melody and the second one to the first line of text.
The Protestant churches in the present-day China almost exclusively select the worship songs from this hymn book. A new printing of the Chinese Union Version Bible by the Amity Foundation in 2004 also incorporates this hymnal under the same volume. Some of the Chinese-written songs have been adopted by the hymnals of other countries.
An additional collection of 200 songs used in worship have been compiled and published as a separate volume in October 2009. This addition contains some much-needed titles suited for various occasions as well as newly written pieces. About a quarter of the titles are locally made and the remainder are imported and Chinese lyrics set. The songs are indexed twice in the same fashion as its predecessor. Versions both in numerical and staff notation versions are available. Most of the titles were copyrighted at time of publication.
Songs in other hymnals are simpler and thus illiterate and under-educated people prefer hymnals like the Canaan Hymns , used widely in the Chinese house churches. [2]
The Chinese Union Version of the Bible, the Chinese New Hymnal, the Lord's Prayer as it is written in the Chinese Union Version and the Apostles' Creed are usually used in the Three-Self churches in China.
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος (hymnos), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment.
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is a Protestant organization in the People's Republic of China, and one of the largest Protestant bodies in the world. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church.
The China Christian Council was founded in 1980 as an umbrella organization for all Protestant churches in the People's Republic of China with Bishop K. H. Ting as its president. It works to provide theological education and the publication of Bibles, hymnals, and other religious literature. It encourages the exchange of information among local churches in evangelism, pastoral work and administration. It has formulated a church order for local churches, and seeks to continue to develop friendly relations with churches overseas.
A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a metrical translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or even harmonizations. The composition of metrical psalters was a large enterprise of the Protestant Reformation, especially in its Calvinist manifestation.
Protestant Christianity entered China in the early 19th century, taking root in a significant way during the Qing dynasty. Some historians consider the Taiping Rebellion to have been influenced by Protestant teachings. Since the mid-20th century, there has been an increase in the number of Christian practitioners in China. According to a survey published in 2010 there are approximately 40 million Protestants in China.
The English Hymnal is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams, and was a significant publication in the history of Anglican church music.
Kingdom songs are the hymns sung by Jehovah's Witnesses at their religious meetings. Since 1879, the Watch Tower Society has published hymnal lyrics; by the 1920s they had published hundreds of adapted and original songs, and by the 1930s they referred to these as "Kingdom songs" in reference to God's Kingdom.
The Chinese Union Version (CUV) is the predominant translation of the Bible into Chinese used by Chinese Protestants, first published in 1919. The text is now available online.
Hymns are an important part of the history and worship of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm, and no refrain or chorus.
"Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" is a 1744 Advent and Christmas carol common in Protestant hymnals. The text was written by Charles Wesley. It is performed to one of several tunes, including "Stuttgart" and "Hyfrydol". It is hymn number 66 in the Episcopal Church hymnal ; hymn number 196 in the United Methodist Hymnal ; hymns 1 and 2 in the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal; and hymn 254 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, among others. The hymn is considered an enduring classic in Christian hymnody.
"What Wondrous Love Is This" is a Christian folk hymn, sometimes described as a "white spiritual", from the American South. Its text was first published in 1811, during the Second Great Awakening, and its melody derived from a popular English ballad. Today it is a widely known hymn included in hymnals of many Christian denominations.
Canaan Hymns or Songs of Canaan is a collection of Chinese hymns composed by Lü Xiaomin, a Christian convert peasant woman with no musical education, beginning in 1990. Lü's theological background is in Pentecostalism and the local churches movement, and the hymns reflect themes of Christology, pneumatology and eschatology against the backdrop of Chinese political realities.
Hymns of Universal Praise, a Chinese hymnal published in 1936, is considered to be an ecumenical attempt at Chinese hymnology from the early twentieth century. According to the Hong Kong hymnologist Andrew Leung, the first edition, HUP1936, established the foundation of Chinese hymnody and is now set as a model of Chinese hymnology.
Hymnody in continental Europe developed from early liturgical music, especially Gregorian chant. Music became more complicated as embellishments and variations were added, along with influences from secular music. Although vernacular leisen and vernacular or mixed-language Carol (music) were sung in the Middle Ages, more vernacular hymnody emerged during the Protestant Reformation, although ecclesiastical Latin continued to be used after the Reformation. Since then, developments have shifted between isorhythmic, homorhythmic, and more rounded musical forms with some lilting. Theological underpinnings influenced the narrative point of view used, with Pietism especially encouraging the use of the first person singular. In the last several centuries, many songs from Evangelicalism have been translated from English into German.
Lin Shengben is a Chinese hymn composer, known for his songs composed with Chinese traditional tunes.
Church music during the Reformation developed during the Protestant Reformation in two schools of thought, the regulative and normative principles of worship, based on reformers John Calvin and Martin Luther. They derived their concepts in response to the Catholic church music, which they found distracting and too ornate. Both principles also pursued use of the native tongue, either alongside or in place of liturgical Latin.
Lü Xiaomin or Ruth Lu is the author of over 1,800 Canaan Hymns, popular among churches in China today.
