Triple combination online in traditional Chinese characters
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
HONG KONG
Church members throughout Asia whose native language is Chinese have received the news of the availability of the Chinese language triple combination of the scriptures online with great excitement and anticipation. Even though it was announced only a few weeks ago, they are beginning in earnest to utilize it in both daily scripture study and to prepare talks and lessons, according to Church leaders in the Church's Asia Area.
"We would expect that as our members become aware of the availability of the online version of the triple combination [in traditional characters], they will utilize it more and more in their scripture study," said George Mak, president of the Discovery Bay Branch in Hong Kong. "They will find it very convenient to search the scriptures from their computers, whether in their home or office, or even on their portable hand-held devices."
The Church announced the publication of the Chinese translation of the triple combination (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) in traditional Chinese characters in the fall of 2007, followed approximately one year later by the publication of the same set of scriptures in simplified Chinese characters. However, until now, none of these books of scripture has been available online at the Church's official Web site, LDS.org. This historic step forward is particularly important in Asia where the population of Internet users is greater than any other region of the world.
According to Bryan Yeung, Young Men president in the Hong Kong Stake, "Latter-day Saint youth here in Asia are very net-savvy, and the younger generation particularly will use this resource more and more as time passes. It will be especially useful when they want to share a quote from the scriptures on Facebook or in an e-mail message. Now they can copy and paste or even just forward the link, rather than typing it word-by-word from the written scriptures."
Elder Sam Wong, Area Seventy assigned to the Hong Kong stakes, said, "Chinese members of the Church in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and many other countries will greatly appreciate having these sacred scriptures available to them on-line, and they will increasingly use them to learn and grow spiritually."
Ashley Chan of the Victoria 1st Branch in Hong Kong said, "This is absolutely great! I think it will be terrific to now have all of the scriptures available electronically wherever I can access the Internet. Most of my friends are on the Internet frequently, and now we will all be able to add another important use of the Worldwide Web virtually any time we need to."
"Having the Latter-day scriptures online will be a great help to many who want to use their word processor to prepare talks and lessons," said Nicole Hui of the Tseung Kwan O Ward, Hong Kong China Stake, and the newly-married materials management area production manager in Hong Kong. "I will be more likely to search the scriptures with the help of having them provided on my computer and in my native language."
Steve Tsai, president of the Tao Yuan Taiwan Stake, expressed his optimism that the members of his stake will increasingly appreciate being able to access the scriptures found in the triple combination via the Internet. "I hope and expect that the members of our stake will become even more aware of the truths and promises contained in these sacred books than they ever have been before."
Plans are in place for local priesthood leaders in all parts of Asia where there are Chinese speaking members, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and portions of mainland China, to provide guidance and encouragement in utilizing this powerful new capability to "feast upon the word of the Lord" in their native language, at long last.
