The origins of Chinese writing stretch back more than 3,000 years to the Shang dynasty, with oracle bone inscriptions from around 1200 BCE being the earliest known examples. This makes Chinese one of the oldest continuously used writing systems in existence. Unlike other ancient scripts, such as Egyptian hieroglyphs or Sumerian cuneiform, which eventually faded from use, Chinese characters have endured and adapted. Because the writing system is not directly tied to pronunciation, it has served as a unifying force among speakers of many different dialects, acting as both a cultural and linguistic bond through the centuries.
Scholars and missionaries have noticed that some of the oldest Chinese characters seem to preserve themes found in the book of Genesis. For instance, the character for "temptation," merges the symbols for a WOMAN and TWO TREES, echoing the story of Eve and the serpent. Similarly, the character for “boat” joins the symbols for EIGHT, PEOPLE, and SHIP, which parallels the eight persons saved in Noah’s ark during the flood.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. — Genesis 3:6
...but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the unglodly; — 2 Peter 2:5
These striking similarities have led some to suggest that early Chinese writing preserves fragments of a shared primeval history that predates the divisions at the Tower of Babel. If the ancestors of the Chinese people carried with them knowledge of creation, the fall, and the flood, it is possible that such memories became embedded in the symbols of their written language. While the deeper meanings may have grown obscure over time, the structure of the characters still seems to point back to these ancient accounts.
From this perspective, Chinese characters can be seen not only as a brilliant logographic system but also as a possible witness to humanity’s earliest history. The echoes of Genesis within the script suggest that the stories of the world’s beginning, humanity’s fall, and God’s judgment in the flood were once widely known, passed down from the earliest generations, and preserved in unexpected ways across cultures. Hundreds of Chinese characters appear to testify that the ancient Chinese knew the core truths of the Genesis record, including the promise of a coming Savior.
God in the Chinese Language
Several different words in the Chinese language are used to describe God and heaven, and each one reveals something about the divine Sovereign that is shared between ancient Chinese thought and the Hebrew Scriptures. Here’s a simplified version of your sentence:
One Chinese character for God is Shén, which can be written in two different ways. The first character shows aspects of God’s work in creation. In the Bible, we often read, “God said…” thus revealing His word. The second character (below) combines two images: MAN and GARDEN. Man, the pinnacle of God’s creation, was placed in the Garden of Eden.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. — Genesis 2:8
Ling is another word for God and is used in Chinese Bibles to refer to the Holy Spirit. The word’s origin shows that the ancient Chinese understood the heavenly trio of the Godhead. The top part of the character depicts ONE who COVERS the WATERS, as described in the creation story.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. — Genesis 1:2
The Creation Account
The Chinese word for CREATE, zào, clearly shows the creation of man. It combines the symbols for WALK and TALK, reflecting that Adam was created as a fully grown man, able to walk and speak. The word for TALK (gào) can be broken down further, revealing details that clearly point to Adam as the LIVING MAN made from DUST, just as Genesis describes.
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. — Genesis 2:7
Besides the character used in CREATE, other images can represent a MAN. One appears in xian, the Chinese word for FIRST, and it depicts Adam as the first man. Like gào, the origin of the word shows a LIVING MAN made from DUST.
The Garden of Eden
Jìn is the Chinese word for FORBIDDEN. It shows a COMMAND about the FOREST of trees in the Garden of Eden. The character for forest depicts TWO TREES. The tree of life was allowed, but God specifically commanded that they must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. — Genesis 2:16-17
God made the punishment clear if Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The word zhu means TO EXECUTE or PUT TO DEATH. Its origin clearly reflects God’s WORD that if they ate the fruit of the forbidden TREE, their LIFE would return to the DUST from which they were made (Genesis 3:19).
Adam and Eve were not alone in the garden; it was also home to the animals God had made. Satan used one of these creatures, the serpent, to tempt Eve (Genesis 3; Revelation 12:9). In Chinese, the word for DEVIL is gui, showing a SECRET LIFE with MAN in the GARDEN. When the devil is placed under a COVER and TWO TREES, it forms mó, meaning meaning TEMPTER. Under the cover of using the serpent, the Devil successfully tempted Eve to eat from the one tree of the "forest" she was not to eat.
The Gospel in a Nutshell
A Chinese word for RIGHTEOUSNESS is yì. It shows a SHEEP covering ME. The word ME includes a HAND holding a KNIFE, showing that righteousness depends on sacrifice.
“When God looks from Heaven, He does not see me;
He sees His Son, the Lamb of God who died for me.”
There are hundred more examples of Bible Truth illustrated in traditional Chinese characters. Check out the YouTube playlist Ancient Chinese Gospel for more in depth presentations on Bible truth embedded into the Chinese language.