Chinese Union Version

The Chinese Union Version (CUV) (Chinese: 和合本; pinyin: héhé běn; literally "harmonized/united version") is the predominant Chinese language translation of the Bible used by Chinese Protestants.

The CUV was translated by a panel with members from many different Protestant denominations, using the English Revised Version as a basis and original manuscripts for crosschecking. Work on the CUV began in 1890 and originally, three versions of the CUV were planned—two classical Chinese versions and a vernacular Mandarin version. The CUV was completed in 1919, with one amalgamated classical Chinese translation and one vernacular Mandarin translation. With the onset of May Fourth Movement, and the associated New Culture Movement, the CUV is the first translated work to be published in Vernacular Chinese.

The CUV in use today is the vernacular Mandarin version, published in two slightly different editions—the Shen Edition (神版) and the Shangti Edition (上帝版)--differing in the way the word “God” is translated.

The vernacular Chinese language has changed a lot since 1919. Indeed, CUV’s language sounds stilted to modern readers. Furthermore, a lot of Chinese characters used in the CUV have fallen into disuse and cannot be found in commonly-available dictionaries today. As a result, work is underway to modernize the CUV.

The CUV is published in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Bible Society, a bible society affiliated with the United Bible Societies, in Taiwan by the Bible Society in Taiwan, also associated with the United Bible Societies, and in mainland China by Amity Printing Co., Ltd., of the Amity Foundation in Nanjing, related to the China Christian Council and also affiliated with the United Bible Societies. However, the text of the CUV has fallen into the public domain.

The CUV is currently available in both traditional and simplified Chinese.