The parable of "The prodigal son" - illustrated Chinese version

In our collection A-1141 from Josef Laurentius Sten Bugge, NMS missionary to China 1916-1934, there is a scroll illustrating the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. As the title page is partly damaged, only fragments of the information about the publisher and date are visible. A note coming together with the scroll as it was transferred to the Mission Archives in 1993 states, however, that the publisher was "Froese & Co., Basel", i.e. Buch- und Kunstdruckerei Froese & Co. in Switzerland.

The scroll is entitled in Chinese as 浪子之喻 "Langzi zhi yu", i.e. the parable about the prodigal [son].

It is most likely that Bugge acquired the scroll during his years in China from 1916-1934, as a tool for communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ in a Chinese cultural context

Due to the fragile condition of the original, the scanned versions here have been made from available paper copies produced earlier by the Mission Archives.

Remaining section of the title page.
Published: 2009‑07‑29