Emperor Kangxi – The Death of Christ
功成(十)字血成溪 “When the work of the cross is done, blood flowed like a river,”
(千)丈恩流分自西 “Grace from the west flowed a thousand yards deep,”
身列(四)衙半夜路 “On the midnight road he was subjected to four(4) trials,”
徒方(三)背兩番鸡 “Before the rooster crowed twice, three(2) times betrayed by a disciple.”
(五)(百)鞭达寸肌裂 “Five (5) hundred lashes tore every inch of skin,”
(六)尺悬垂(二)盜齐 “Two (2)thieves hung on either side, six (6) feet high,”
慘恸(八)垓惊(九)品 “Sadness greater than any had ever known,”
(七)言(一)毕万灵啼 “Seven (7) words, one (1) completed task, ten thousand spirits weep.”
The Chinese numeral of 一(1- yī) that is one, once. And the word of 毕 (bì) that is to complete, finish or to be done with.(3) And as for万灵啼 ‘wàn líng tí, although the Chinese numeral of万 (wàn), which means Ten Thousand, however, that’s an expression of a quantifying adjective here.
Finally, the word of ( 灵-líng) that is the Spirit, or the Soul and the word of (啼-tí), which means to weep, crying out loud or wailing. On Google search, there are commentaries with the title of “Seven Words Of Jesus On the Cross”(4) that could be a perfect add-on to Kangxi‘ 7-word-per-sentence poem with supporting scriptures that occur in the four gospels.
However, the Emperor didn’t incorporate them, otherwise, his poem ‘The Death of Christ’ would need more than 56 words. Evidently, the 7-word-per-sentence was the Emperor’s choice for the style of his poem. And the last 7-word-sentence would be the Emperor’s closing to conclude his emotional knowledge on the death of the Christ and the spiritual significance of Jesus’ finishing work on the Cross.
The first 7-word sentence was Emperor’s opening to spell out the symbolism of the finishing work on the Cross. We have a passage of scripture from 1 John 5:6, in the Bible to validate that the meaning of the Cross is Death. It is the death of both of the Son of men(the water) and the Son of God (the blood) and it is not about the simple blood shedding around like water.
Now we ask that is Emperor Kangxi a Christian? He was not a Christian as no record of him being baptized as one. In nature, with or without himself knowing it, his 7-word-per-sentence poem (七 言 诗 qi-yen-she) would have made a strong emotional appeal to people in the whole of China, as to be reverent to the deceased has long been the deeply rooted value system for the Chinese for thousands of years.
Supernaturally, the poem was the seed that was planted into the Chinese minds and into preparing them to be receptive to the good news that probably would lead them to adopt a new believing system for years yet to come then. As we examined of how the Emperor came to power from being a Manchurian to rule the majority of the ethnic Han Chinese.
Further to how he was able to accomplish so much and so great during his reign of 60-years; to order the compilation of the Chinese dictionary that was named after him, and his openness to befriend with the Catholic Jesuit priests from Europe and didn’t become a Catholic at the end(5). It is all about HIM, our dear Lord of God, Jesus.
As it is said that ‘ for without me you can do nothing – John 15:b KJV. Finally, I would like to believe the poem ‘ The Death of Christ,‘ is a revelation of Emperor Kangxi’ open ‘profession and processing’ of his Christian faith. And it proves that our dear Lord Jesus is above all things and HE raised a Christian ruler in China, back in 1600.
Kay
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_Emperor
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangxi_Dictionary Radical 149
- https://www.yala.com/Chinese-English-pnyin-ddictionary.pjp?=bi,
- http://www.jesuschristsavior.net/Words.html-
- http://en.wikipedi.org/wiki/kangxi.Emperor
The Light Of Faith 