鲍默《东方教会：亚述基督教图史》第八章：向东方的传教（中英文对照版）

The Mission to the East VIII

Nestorians along the

Silk Road of Central Asia of Talas was converted into a mosque in 893. The conversion of these Qarluq Turks occured between 780 and 783.4a Additional metropolitan sees were located in Samarkand which was established in the sixth or seventh century, and in Herat.5 No architectural evidence of Christian structures has been preserved in Samarqand, but the Iranian historian al-Juzjani reported that a fight between Christians and Muslims led to the destruction of a church around 1256/1259.6 Marco Polo’s description of a magnificent church dedicated to John the Baptist, which roused the ire of the Muslims, most likely refers to the event recounted by al-Juzjani.7

Sogdia and the Land of Seven Rivers

Early in its history the Church of the East oriented itself towards Asia.1 Already at the beginning of the third century there were East Syrian communities on the Caspian Sea and in Transoxania. In the fourth and fifth centuries East Syrian Christianity reached Khorassan and, farther east, some Hephtalites may have come into contact with Christianity towards the end of the fifth century. About half a century later, around 550, the Hephtalites asked for a bishop.2 When some Turks from the First Turkic Empire forced the Hephtalites out of the region that is today southern Uzbekistan and northern Afghanistan, the Nestorian metropolitan of Merv, Elijah, converted them in 644 by outdoing the magic of their shamans.3 That Christianity fell on fertile ground among the Turkic peoples is also indicated by a letter from Patriarch Timothy written in 792/93: ‘The king of the Turks [a Turkic people] abandoned idol worship and, together with nearly his entire people, became Christian. He asked us to create a metropolitan see, and this we have done.’4 As Mark Dickens established, these converted Turks were the Qarluqs and the new see was probably located in Talas, their capital. The Nestorian cathedral

However, 30 kilometres south of Samarqand, near Sufyon, south of Urgut, more than one hundred and sixty brief inscriptions in East Syriac Estrangela and chiselled crosses found on a cliff and in three caves testify to a medieval Christian presence. That a Christian establishment was located near these epigrams was already indicated by the tenth-century Muslim geographer Ibn Hawqal. He described a [Nestorian?] monastery near Samarqand, which he visited in 970. ‘Al-Sawadar is a mountain south of Samarqand. Near Samarqand one sees a monastery of the Christians, where they gather and have their cells. I encountered many Christians from Iraq, who moved here on account of the good and remote location and the healthy climate. Many Christians have retreated

here, for the place towers above Sogdia; it is called Warkudah (Wazkarda).’9 The fortuitous discoveries in 1916 in the region of Urgut of a locally made bronze censer from the eleventh century, decorated with scenes from the New Testament, and later of a small cross made of local slate underline Sufyon’s Christian past.10 The excavation conducted under the auspices of the Swiss Society for the Exploration of EurAsia from 2004 to 2007 revealed a double-naved church oriented east-west. Standing at about 1.5 km to the east of the church was the cliff with the ancient Syriac inscriptions. The main entrance to the church was an arched doorway leading to the northern nave, which was probably the main chapel. In front of this main entrance stood a rectangular narthex and at the eastern end of this chapel stood the shqaqona (narrow passage), leading to the cross-shaped chancel. The nave was paved with ceramic tiles and niches were identified in the right, southern wall. Oil lamps were probably placed here, as suggested by the several oil lamps that were found during the excavations. The southern nave, which was slightly longer and wider, had the same layout as the northern one, but no western entrance. The southern chapel could only be accessed through a narrow entrance from the northern chapel. No indication of a bema was found in either nave. Tiny painting fragments of emerald green, ochre, carmine, white and cobalt colours were found in both chancels, indicating decorative paintings of unknown patterns and contents. The architectural concept of such a double-nave

The double-naved church of Urgut in 2007. The photo is oriented from the west to the east.

Syriac inscription removed from the stone wall of Kutirbulak in 1936. The word baxt to the left of a cross in Syriac script and Persian language means ‘(good) luck, fortune’.44a

(Historical Museum of Samarqand. Nr. A-308-1.)

church is similar to those of Nestorian churches in Mesopotamia, where there are also triple- nave churches. One example is the church at Deir Bazyan in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, which resembles the triple-nave church of Ak-Beshim in Kyrgyzstan (see p.174 and chapt. xiii). To the north of the northern chapel and parallel to it, there was another long rectangular room that can be identified as the refectory. At the western end of this room, there was a kitchen with several ovens and a cesspit. A wine vault was found to the west of the southern chapel. Finally, two small metal crosses and clay tiles imprinted with crosses were found in an exact stratigraphic context. The analysis of all structural material such as coins, tiles, ceramics, bricks, and glass objects showed that the monastery was in use from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries. Radio carbon analysis, though, indicated that it was founded in the late seventh century. From the nearby inscriptions on the cliff and in the caves, two bear dates: 752/53 ce and 1241/42 (or 1247/48, 1261/62 or 1267/68 ce), which is in line with the archaeological data.11

Plan of the double-nave church of Urgut at the end of the excavations in 2007.

Numerous other small discoveries indicate that Christian communities flourished in Transoxania. Among the most important of these finds are the coins from the seventh/eighth centuries found near Tashkent, Samarqand, Varachsha north of Bukhara, Paikent and Penjikent, which show on the reverse a cross or on the obverse a ruler with a cross adorning his crown. These discoveries are significant because only cities or rulers could mint coins. There are

(above) Ruins of the ancient city of Gyaur Kala, Mizdachkhan, Uzbekistan. The discovery of Christian ossuaries in the nearby necropolis suggests that, besides Zoroastrians, Christians of the Church of the East lived in the city of Gyaur Kala, the City of the Infidels.

Khunak, the khuda (ruler) of Vardana who extended in 689 his authority over Bukhara. He and his family might have been Christians, but the majority of his kingdom certainly not. Likewise from Penjikent are an eighth-century ceramic shard bearing psalms from the Peshitta written in the Estrangela script and a bronze cross; from Samarqand comes a golden cross, as well as a flask decorated with crosses and a saint, and from Quba in Ferghana a silver pectoral dating from the tenth or eleventh century.12 In southern Sogdia, at the right bank of the Amu Darya (Oxus), a complex of eighteen caves located south-west of the Tajik town of Aywaj close to the Uzbek border, probably testifies to a former Nestorian presence. The site was investigated by Soviet archaeologists

(left) In the necropolis of Mizdachkhan at least eight ossuaries decorated with black crosses were found, analogous to the discoveries of Dreswanskaya in Merv. The upper part of the cross is missing on the lid; the latter belonged probably to another ossuary. at least 14 known coins with a lion on the obverse and a cross on the reverse, minted between the late seventh and early eighth centuries by

The southern church of the church complex of Ak-Beshim, Kyrgyzstan. The Nestorian triple church was in use from the eighth to the eleventh centuries. The church complex was situated inside the ‘shahristan’, the fortified centre of the town, in contrast to the Buddhist and Zoroastrian shrines that were located outside. in 1968-70 who found one of the cave domes decorated with a large Maltese cross. The two archaeologists and later Albaum believed that this complex east of Termez was for a certain time occupied by Nestorian monks, while other archaeological characteristics point to a Buddhist cave monastery. [^13] the Nestorians, of a cross whose arms taper inwards. Professor V. N. Jagodin thinks that there were additional ossuaries with crosses that are no longer visible today. He dates them to the seventh/eighth centuries and believes that in the pre-Islamic period a small Nestorian community lived here in a predominantly Zoroastrian region and adapted itself to popular Zoroastrian customs. [^14]

Nestorians also lived in Choresm, to the west of Bukhara, and Russian archaeologists found here, at the base of the ruins of the city of Gyaur Kala – the so-called ‘City of the Infidels’, which corresponds to ancient Mizdachkhan – a huge burial chamber containing some 200 ossuaries. At least eight of these clay vessels for the preserv- ation of human bones were decorated on the front, side or on the lid with black crosses; a few of them display the form, often found among

Like the Zoroastrians, Buddhists and Manichaeans who lived in Sogdia, the Nestorians, beginning in the eighth decade of the seventh century, came under pressure from the attacking Arabs. Although the Sogdians were able to hold back the plundering Arabs every time for nearly 40 years, between 709 and 714 Kutaiba Ibn- Muslim conquered Bukhara, Samarqand and

Floorplan and elevation of the triple church of Ak-Beshim.

Khan’s youngest son, Tului (†1232).18

Silver platter found in 1999 on the lower course of the River Ob in Russia. The platter from the ninth/ tenth centuries, crafted in the post- Sassanian style and measuring 24 centimetres in diameter, presumably came from the Talas valley in Kyrgyzstan, which was famous for its silver mines and silversmithing and was settled by Nestorians. In the centre King David sits enthroned, playing a stringed instrument. His winged crown is a common attribute of rulers in Sassanian art. Two winged lions stand before his throne. To his right stands Crown Prince Solomon, to his left presumably David’s wife and Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba. Two angels hover above. The rim of the plate is decorated with 20 animals; they are connected with the signs of the zodiac or with Solomon’s ability to understand the languages of all animals. Markus Mode however believes that the central figure in the platter represents Athbag-hurmazd, the Sogdian counterpart of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. 46 (Museum of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences of Siberia, Novosibirsk.)

Another Nestorian stronghold in Central Asia was the Land of Seven Rivers lying in modern Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan. The region was under Chinese authority, with interruptions, from 657 to 751, and was soon conquered by the Turkic Qarluqs, whose upper class, in part, adopted Nestorian Christianity. As has been explained by W. Klein, two periods of Nestorian communities may be identified. First, the urban phase of the Sogdians, which lasted from the seventh/eighth centuries to the eleventh century, after which followed the second period, lasting from the early thirteenth century until about 1350, of Turkic agriculture and livestock raising.19

Russian archaeologists have excavated two Nestorian churches, used from the eighth to the eleventh centuries and thus dating from the first period, in Ak-Beshim, the ancient city of Suyab, important in its day. The smaller church shows similarities to the Mesopotamian clay brick churches of al-Hira, and the larger was an entire church complex, with three large churches and a chapel. The walls of the triple church, discovered in 1998, are made of tamped clay, and the vault of fired clay tiles. Several stucco panels decorated with crosses were found, as well as traces of gold leaf, a nephrite cross, a bronze cross with a Sogdian inscription and a mould for the production of clay crosses, which also bears a Sogdian inscription on its reverse.20 In a room beside the southern church, the archaeologists came upon fragments of a mural, whose rosette motif is also found in the paintings of Dunhuang in north-western China, and there in caves 150, 157, 302 and 440–442 from the tenth to eleventh centuries, which is not unexpected, since Dunhuang and Suyab both lay on the Silk Road.21 They also found in room 24 of the northern church ten fragments of a not yet deciphered manuscript. It is the oldest paper find in Kyrgyzstan.22 In a wall niche in the neighbouring room 23 the archaeologists

Tashkent. Kutaiba spared only the Christians, because they belonged to the People of the Book, and had adherents of other religions – and above all the cultural leaders – killed or driven out.15 When the tyrant was murdered in 715 the cities of Transoxania rose up,16 and the region became a battlezone between the rebellious cities, the Arabs, the Türgesh and China, which occupied Tashkent in 750. Then the tribal alliance of the Turkic Qarluqs joined the side of the Arabs, and their united forces destroyed the Chinese army at Talas in 751.17 And so Transoxania came under Muslim instead of Chinese rule; the victorious Qarluqs, some of whom later became Nestorians, occupied the Land of Seven Rivers around 766. But Samarqand remained an important Nestorian centre and maintained its status as metropolitan see; it also produced significant Nestorian personalities. The most famous Nestorian son of Samarqand was the vice-governor of the central Chinese district of Zhenjiang, Mar Sargis, who was mentioned by Marco Polo and who held office from 1277 to 1280 or 1282 and founded seven monasteries. His father and both his grandfathers, who likewise came from Samarqand, were renowned doctors, and his maternal grandfather cured Genghis

A Sogdian inscription and a Nestorian cross from the year 825/826 on a free-standing stone near Tanktse in eastern Ladakh, northern India. At least eleven crosses are to be found here. The inscription reports that a Sogdian messenger from Samarqand accompanied a likely Christian, presumably Nestorian, monk to Tibet. found in southern Siberia but were presumably produced in the valley of the Talas. found human bones, most likely those of a saint; presumably the room was used for incubation.23 The triple church was in use from the eighth/ ninth centuries to the tenth/eleventh centuries, and was in the end misused as a storeroom. In Krasnaja Retschak, ancient Navakat, 15 kilometres farther east, the discovery of five pectoral crosses from the eighth to the tenth centuries, as well as a Sogdian inscription on a large ceramic vessel, suggests that a Nestorian community lived in Navakat as well.24

Tibet

In a letter written in 795/798 to his good friend Sergius of Elam, Patriarch Timothy referred not only to the Turks but also to Tibet: ‘The Holy Spirit has in these days consecrated a metropolitan for the Turks, and we are preparing for the consecration of another metropolitan for the land of the Tibetans.’26 Assuming that the patriarch could carry out his intention, it remained unclear where the Tibetan metropolitan see would be located. Presumably not in Lhasa but rather in Dunhuang, which in those days lay on the Silk Road and today is located in the Chinese province of Gansu. In the religious cave complex of Dunhuang, which belonged to the Tibetan Empire from 781/787 to 848, European explorers found in cave 17, which had been sealed since 1036, tens of thousands of manuscripts. Although the vast majority were

Additionally, we know that the great church of Taraz (Talas, Dzambul) in Kazakhstan was converted into a mosque in 893, at the same time as the one in Mirki, Kazakhstan.25 Finally, a silver wearable cross excavated in Kostobe, ancient Jamukhat near Taraz, and a fragment of a clay pot engraved with three crosses found in 1999 in south-eastern Kazakhstan at Kayalik, Rubruk’s Caialic, testify to a former Christian presence. The most important Christian artefacts from the Land of Seven Rivers are the five gold-plated silver bowls, mentioned earlier, which were

Buddhist, there were also Nestorian documents, among them eight fragments written in Chinese. The Tibetan document Pelliot tibétain 351 mentioning ‘the God called Jesus Messiah,[…] the judge at the right of God’, however, is a syncretistic divination and not strictly speaking Christian. The same applies to Pelliot tibétain 1182 and 1676 which feature crosses.27 According to a Chinese chronicle, Nestorian Christians lived in Gansu prior to the establishment of the metropolitan see, as they tell of the great family of one Mar Sargis, who settled in 578 in Lintao on the Silk Road.28 During the Mongol period the metropolitan see of Tibet was assimilated into that of Tangut, whose centre was in what is today Ningxia. Three fragments of Nestorian writings, two in Syriac and one in Turkic, were also discovered in the city of Kara Khoto on the northern border of Tangut.29

The location of these discoveries is not surprising in that Tanktse lay on a branch of the Silk Road linking Sogdia and Bactria with central Tibet. At that time Sogdian merchants controlled the long-distance trade and maintained trading settlements in all the large cities, presumably including Lhasa. The Sogdians were of eastern Iranian – that is, Indo-European – origin and inhabited the region north-east of the River Oxus, today’s Amu Darya. Thanks to their extensive trading and travelling capabilities through Central Asia to China, Tibet, Nepal, Kashmir, India, Bactria and Iran, the Sogdians – who believed in a pantheon of Iranian deities represented under Iranian, Buddhist and Hindu traits – acted rather like cultural bees, pollinating the peoples they visited with their own ideas and religions. Since the office of priest did not rule out the possibility of marriage, Sogdian traders could also carry out missionary work and prepare the way for the subsequent monastic missionaries.

Fragment of a mural from a Christian sacred building, Kocho, Xinjiang, China. The painting, measuring 61x67 centimetres and dating from the seventh/eighth centuries, shows a man of Near Eastern descent, presumably a priest, holding a vessel in his right hand. Before him stand three people with slightly bowed heads, holding boughs in their hands. The hoof visible above has led to the interpretation that the scene portrays a Palm Sunday rite.47 More likely, the painting depicts a greeting scene widespread in Turkistan, or the motif was adopted from a Buddhist context. There the faithful carry a flowering branch, often a lotus bud, symbolizing the desire to be reborn in the paradise of Amitabha.48 In this case, among Christians the bough would express the hope for resurrection. (Museum of Indian Art, Prussian cultural property. Inv. III 6911.)

Another fascinating hypothetical Nestorian witness is found in Tanktse, in eastern Ladakh, which belonged to the Tibetan Empire from c.644 to 842 and then to western Tibetan principalities. Three large and eight smaller Maltese crosses, as well as a bird – perhaps a dove – and inscriptions in Tokharian, Sogdian, Chinese, Arabic and Tibetan are carved into a massive free-standing rock and a couple of smaller rocks. A longer Sogdian inscription reads, ‘In the year 210 [of the Arabs – i.e. 825/826] we sent Caitra of Samarqand, together with the monk Nosfarn, as messengers to the Tibetan king.’ Another short Sogdian inscription, placed above a cross, may mean Yisaw – that is, Jesus. Finally, a Tibetan inscription dates to 774 or 834. If one assumes that the two Sogdian inscriptions and the three large crosses are connected, we can conclude that a Sogdian trader accompanied a monk in 825/826 to the king of Tibet.30 The large rock was considered sacred even in the pre-Christian period, and the upper side, facing the sky, is decorated with many Bronze Age motifs, such as hunting scenes, yaks, deer, spirals and swastikas.

Eastern Turkistan

It is not surprising that Christianity and Manichaeism spread along the main access of the

Silk Road, which ran from Afrasiab (Samarqand) to Kashgar in the modern province of Xinjiang. From there traders travelled either on the northern Silk Road through Turfan and Hami to Dunhuang or along the southern route via Yarkand and Khotan likewise to Dunhuang and then farther through Gansu to the capital of Chang’an.31 Presumably, Nestorian Sogdians spread Christianity from Kashgar along the southern route to Yarkand, Khotan, and perhaps also Miran to Dunhuang, while Christian communities emerged in Aksu, the oasis of Turfan, and Hami on the northern Silk Road.32

Bulayiq and in Qurutqa, German archaeologists found in the earlier monastery library about 500 Christian-Sogdian text fragments and numerous manuscripts in Turkic and Syriac, as well as bilingual documents in Syriac and Sogdian and Syriac and New Persian.34 In total, slightly more than 1100 Christian manuscripts and fragments have been found in the oasis of Turfan. Since the bilingual documents alternate between the Syriac original and the translation sentence by sentence, it may be assumed that the liturgy was celebrated bilingually in both the liturgical and the vernacular languages.

Aerial photography of Kocho, the former capital of the Uigur Empire, Xinjiang province, China.

A large Nestorian community lived in the oasis of Turfan, and it was here that A. von Le Coq discovered Nestorian murals in a chapel in Kocho, the capital of the western empire of the Uigurs (c.850–1209/1250).33 Between 1904 and 1907, in the nearby monastery ruins of

The great number of Sogdian text fragments may be explained by the fact that the Sogdian language was at that time the lingua franca of Central Asia. This discovery of Sogdian texts not only proved highly significant for Nestorian church history but also laid the groundwork for

the deciphering of Sogdian. In 1912 the philologist F. W. Müller stated, ‘With this translation of texts of familiar Christian content [for example, the Peshitta], we now have the key to Sogdian.’35 In the Turfan oasis and in Dunhuang, fragments of Nestorian documents have been found written in at least six different languages: Syriac, Sogdian, Middle Persian, New Persian, Uigur Turkic and Chinese.36 The multiplicity of languages in Nestorian texts, which were mostly translations of Syriac originals, reflects the strategy of the Church of the East: to maintain Syriac as the liturgical language and a source of unity but to make the writings available to the local believers in their native languages.

The monastery library held manuscripts of various types: in addition to the Pahlavi Nestorian psalter of Turfan, including the canons of Mar Aba, and dating from the 9th century 36a, there were fragments of the Peshitta, the Psalms, apocryphal works, books of pericopes, hymnals and liturgical texts for baptism and Eucharist, as well as the Nicene Creed written in Sogdian, from the ninth/tenth centuries. There were also legends, such as those of the adoration of the magi, St George, the discovery of the True Cross by the emperor’s mother Helena and of Bishop Bar Shaba of Merv, and the history of the city of Nisibis. As would be expected in a monastery library, it also contained several monastic biographies, the Acts of the Persian Martyrs under Shapur II, works of famous ascetics, and texts on monastic themes such as renunciation of the world, fasting, solitude and meditation.37 Some manuscripts suggest that the Nestorians of the Turfan oasis were in regular contact not only with the mother Church in Mesopotamia but also with Central Asian Melkites and private citizens in the Byzantine Empire.38 It is also noted that the Nestorians were not the only Christians at that time along the Silk Road of Central Asia. Melkites lived in the Crimea and in Choresm on the Oxus, and the Jacobites had established dioceses in Khorassan and Herat; Jacobites also lived in Tashkent and Yarkand.39

Christian Sogdian manuscript in Nestorian script from the Nestorian monastery of Bulayiq, Xinjiang, China. 20x13.5 centimetres, around eighth/nineth centuries. The manuscript deals with the Legend of the semi-historical Mar Bar Shaba, first bishop of Merv. (Depositum of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences in the State Library of Berlin, Prussian cultural collection, Oriental department, n180 recto.)

In terms of content, it is striking to see the extent to which the legends of George and Bar Shaba emphasize the resurrection of the human body. They accord with the typical Nestorian stress on the resurrection of Christ and its consequences for the faithful, and place the resurrection at the centre of the missionary message. With this emphasis on the reawakening of the whole person, including his body, and the implicit approval of corporeality and the materiality of the world, Sogdian Nestorianism placed itself in diametric opposition to its rivals, Buddhism and Manichaeism. For both these religions, the body is considered not something to spiritualize and perfect but rather a burden, which impedes development and should be cast off and left behind. For Buddhism and

Manichaeism, samsara and cosmos are places of suffering and corruption, while for Nestorian thought they are the gateway to return to the perfect original state before Adam’s fall into sin. As H.-J. Klimkeit has demonstrated, these fragments attack Buddhism head-on by portraying the important tutelary deity Mahakala as a ‘helper of the devil’ because he denies the resurrection of the dead.40

Manichaeism was spread in eastern Turkistan first by Iranian refugees and Sogdian traders; however, it owed its powerful position to the conversion of the Uigur prince Muyu Khan and his family around 762. At that time, the capital of the steppe empire was in central Mongolia at Karabalgasun, but the Kyrgyz destroyed the first Uigur Empire in 840, whereupon the Uigurs settled in Gansu and in eastern Turkistan, founding a Manichaean kingdom there about ten years later. Although the princely family soon turned to Buddhism, the three religions lived here peacefully side-by-side until the fall of the Islamic empire of Mogulistan at the end of the fourteenth century.43

While the Sogdian fragments avoid syncretism, the later Uigur Turkic (Yuan Dynasty) and earlier Chinese (Tang Dynasty) texts enter into a dialogue with their environment and conform to it in parts. A clear example is offered by the legend of the magi, who brought Jesus three gifts, which had a special symbolic meaning in the Central Asian context. With regard to Jesus, the magi thought, ‘If he is the son of heaven [God’s son], he will accept myrrh and frankincense; if he is a khan [ruler], then gold; and, if he is a physician and healer, then medicine.’ Jesus guessed their thoughts and said, ‘I am a son of heaven, I am a ruler, and I am a physician and healer too.’41 The descriptions take into account ideas of the Central Asian Turks, who worshipped the sky as the invisible, highest god and called their rulers ‘son of heaven’ and khan. The Buddhist Turks, however, worshipped Buddha as a healing physician as well. This aspect corresponds to the Nestorian understanding of the role of Christ, who as the saviour also cured people of their physical suffering. The Manichaeans, who predominated in the realm of Uigurs, Kochos, adopted this function of Jesus and called him a ‘noble doctor’ and ‘the physician of the wounded’.42

Bishop Alopen brings the radiant religion to China

The Tao has no eternal name; the way has no eternal body. The suitable religion will be adapted to the regions and put into effect in such a way that all people will be saved.

From the edict of Emperor Taizong, 638CE.44

The Tang Dynasty (618–907) was the golden age of China. The Middle Kingdom was united and had trade relations with the entire known world: with Korea and Japan to the east, with Indochina and Indonesia to the south, with Tibet, Nepal and India to the south-west, and with Sogdia, the Islamic caliphate and far Byzantium to the west. The preconditions for China’s renewed prosperity were established by Emperor Taizong (ruled 627–649) when he defeated the bordering kingdoms of the Eastern and Western Turks and brought the Silk Road, which ran through Turkistan, under Chinese control.45 The cosmopolitan capital of Chang’an, modern Xian, had over a million inhabitants and was of incomparable magnificence. Here representatives of the various nations maintained trading

That the Manichaeans in eastern Turkistan comprised a community several times larger than that of the Nestorians is evident from the fact that well over 10,000 Manichaean manuscript fragments, some embellished with wonderful miniatures, were found in Turfan and Dunhuang at the beginning of the twentieth century.

of the world order. The front bears a total of 1800 Chinese characters, and at the bottom, in 23 vertical lines written in Syriac Estrangela and Chinese script, are carved the full colophon, dating the dedication of the inscription to February 781. Both the smaller sides of the stele are likewise decorated with Estrangela and Chinese characters, listing the names of the 70 donors. [^46] On the upper section of the front one can see three pairs of dragons, twisted around each other, grasping in their claws a pearl surrounded by flames – a symbol of the sun. Beneath them, nine large Chinese characters proclaim: Stele for the spread of the radiant religion of Ta Qin in the Middle Kingdom. A Nestorian cross, placed on a lotus blossom between clouds and two tree branches, is engraved between the sun and the three upper symbols. Thus, Nestorian Christianity is represented visually in connection to Taoism and Buddhism and claims the elevated, central position. In this context, the clouds and the pearl symbolize the Taoist principles of yin and yang, and the lotus blossom, for its part, is a classic Buddhist symbol, representing how the purity of the spirit towers over the gloomy swamp of earthly existence. This motif, also found on Nestorian gravestones, suggests the fulfilment of Chinese religiosity in the cross of the resurrection. settlements, which also included religious institutions. In the China of that time various religions coexisted, and the multiplicity of gods was perceived as enriching the state. However, new religions were first examined by the office of rites, which also acted as the foreign ministry, to see whether they included any ideas dangerous to the state or society. The authorities then determined whether the new faith would be permitted in the whole empire, limited to communities of foreign merchants or generally forbidden. And so there reigned in China a balance between heaven and earth, which only periods of political instability and xenophobic nationalism could upset. Like other religions, the Church of the East benefited for two centuries from this cosmopolitan spirit, until it fell victim to a xenophobic initiative.

The discovery of the stele was a sensation both for Chinese scholars and in Europe, as it proved that Christianity had reached China almost a millennium before the Jesuit Ricci, who lived there from 1583 to 1610, and seven centuries before the Catholic archbishop John of Montecorvino, who carried out missionary work, with modest success, in the Middle Kingdom from 1294/1295 to 1328. As far as Marco Polo’s references to Nestorian communities – he lived in China from 1274 to 1291 – are concerned, they were often dismissed as products of mere fantasy. And now it was official: Christianity had flourished in China as early as the seventh

In 1623 or 1625 a two-ton stone stele, 2.79 metres tall and 99 centimetres wide, was unearthed near Xian. Like other steles, it stands on the back of a huge stone tortoise, symbolizing the stability

On the upper section of the Nestorian stone stele from 781, the nine Chinese characters announce: ‘Stele for the spread of the enlightening religion of Ta Qin in the Middle Kingdom.’ The cross above clouds, branches and a lotus blossom symbolize the fulfilment of Chinese religiosity in the cross of the Christian resurrection. (Bei Lin Museum [Forest of Stelae] in Xian, Shaanxi province, China.)

century and had enjoyed imperial protection. The historical section of the stele reads: ‘When Emperor Taizong began his brilliant reign with glory and farsightedness, there lived in the land of Ta Qin a man of exceptional virtue named Alopen. He observed the heavenly signs, took the true scriptures and reached Chang’an in 635. The emperor sent the state minister, Count Fang Xüanling, with an honour guard to the western edge of the city to receive the guest and lead him to the palace. The emperor had the sacred books translated in the imperial library and examined them. He recognized that the teaching was right and true, and he permitted its dissemination.’ In 638 the following edict was issued: ‘The Tao has no eternal name, the Way has no eternal body. The suitable religion will be adapted to the regions and put into effect in such a way that all people will be saved. The very virtuous [Bishop] Alopen of the land of Ta Qin [eastern Mediterranean region], bringing his sacred books and images from far, has come to offer them at the supreme capital. It [this doctrine] touches on all the important aspects of life, it has no superfluous words. It helps all living things and encourages people. It is appropriate that it spread through the empire. For this reason, the authorities in the I Ning quarter of the city should found a Ta Qin monastery right away and accredit twenty-one monks. When the virtue of the ancestors of the Zhou [dynasty] was lost, the rider disappeared on the grey-blue [ox] to the west; when the wisdom of the great Tang shined again, the radiant breeze wafted to the east.’ Then it was ordered that a portrait of the emperor be painted on the wall of the monastery. [^47] served only the Iranian and Sogdian merchants there. In 635 the Nestorian Alopen, most probably a monk or bishop named Ardaban in Middle-Iranian, reached Chang’an. That Emperor Taizong sent a state minister and an honour guard to receive him outside the city walls suggests that Alopen either accompanied an official Sassanian delegation or, as Paul Pelliot believes, himself served as ambassador of King Yazdgerd III. [^49] In fact, it seems unlikely that a mere missionary of an unfamiliar religion would be welcomed by a state minister and taken to the palace. We can thus assume that Alopen was also acting on the orders of his patriarch, Ishoyahb II. [^50] Alopen’s official status also explains why Emperor Taizong ordered the construction of a Nestorian monastery in the capital and graced it with his likeness. Pelliot believes that with this building the emperor was according with a wish of King Yazdgerd III. In this case, Yazdgerd’s son, Piroz II, who lived in exile in China, would have

Of the three so-called Persian religions – Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism and Manichaeism – the Sassanian state religion was the first to have its own temple in Chang’an, presumably beginning in 621 or, at the latest, 631.48 Since Zoroastrianism wasn’t really a missionary religion, the Zoroastrian priests of Chang’an

The pagoda of the Nestorian Ta Qin monastery, founded around 650, near Wuchun, Shaanxi province, China. An earthquake destroyed the monastery in the first half of the eighth century. In 963 the pagoda was rebuilt as part of a henceforth Buddhist shrine. Today it is a Taoist shrine but is still called Ta Qin monastery.49 The seven-storeyed,

31-metre high pagoda was restored in 2000/2001.

On this pottery camel from north- west China and dating from the Tang Dynasty (618–907CE) the saddle bags on both sides are most unusual. They feature an almost naked bearded man being supported or even carried by two other men. In Chinese works of art a beard usually refers to a Westerner. While the central figure could represent the Indian god Kubera being slightly inebriated, his halo suggests another interpretation for representations of Kubera with a halo are unknown. The scene might well represent the Descent of Christ from the Cross. In that case, the camel was a burial object placed into the tomb of a Christian who was buried according to Chinese tradition but whose religion was indicated by this Christian motif. From the condemnation in 676 by Patriarch Giwargis I (in office 661–680) of heathen burial rituals at Christian funerals we can deduce that syncretistic burial customs were in those days widespread (see chapter IX, note 9). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rogers Fund 2000.8 been following the example of his father when he asked the court for the construction of a second Nestorian monastery in 677.51

Emperor Taizong supported with his authority. According to tradition, Lao-Tzu, on account of the moral collapse of the late Zhou Dynasty (770–249BCE), is said to have left the Middle Kingdom towards the west on a blue ox. Thanks to the establishment of the virtuous dynasty of the Tang, now the wisdom of Lao-tzu, in the form of the Nestorian religion, returns with

The puzzling mention of the rider on the grey-blue ox should be understood in connection with the above-mentioned cross, carved among the clouds. For the rider is none other than Lao-tzu, the spiritual founder of Taoism, whom

Great Master of the Law and Guardian of the Empire. The law spread to the ten provinces, there were monasteries in a hundred cities, and families experienced glowing good fortune.’53 The large number of monasteries presumably ought to be understood to mean that Gaozong granted permission for the construction of monasteries in all the prefectures, which does not mean that in fact all these were built. Eleven monasteries are known, of which seven have been located: two monasteries in Chang’an; the Ta Qin monastery near Wuchun, which is the only one preserved in parts; a monastery in Luoyang, the second capital of the empire; and monasteries in Lingwu in Gansu and Chengdu and Omei Shan, both in Sichuan.54 In addition, there were large congregations in Canton and Dunhuang, and in the semi-autonomous Kocho. The Church of the East was now found along the whole of the Silk Road, from Damascus through Seleucia-Ctesiphon, Merv, Samarqand and Turkistan, as far as Chang’an.

But, as in the Sassanian Empire, in China the Church of the East remained dependent on the goodwill of the absolute rulers and was at the mercy of their whims. ‘During the Shengli period [698–699] the Buddhists took advantage of the situation and raised their voices in the capital of the west, Zhou [Luoyang]. Towards the end of the Xientian period [712] a few vulgar men of letters spread derisive slander in the west of Hao [Chang’an]. But the high priest [archdeacon] Lohan [Abraham] and the very virtuous Jilieh [Gabriel], who were both of noble lineages and as monks had forsaken the world, came from the west. Together they lifted up again the mysterious rope; together they again increased the uninterrupted stitches. Emperor Xuanzong [ruled 713–756] ordered the five princes personally to visit the sacred buildings [the Nestorian churches and monasteries] and re-erect the altars there. The high beam of the law, which was for a time the help of the Holy Spirit – the radiant breeze. In this regard, it is surely no coincidence that the Ta Qin monastery was erected around 650 near Wuchun, 70 kilometres south-west of Xian, very near the most important Taoist temple of the time, Lu Guantai. In this temple, which was elevated to an imperial ancestor temple in 630, Lao-tzu is said to have written the Tao te-Ching, the literary foundation of Taoism, immediately before his rapture.52

East Syrian Christianity experienced a rapid upswing in the Middle Kingdom, as the stele goes on to report: ‘The great emperor Gaozong [ruled 649–683] respectfully followed his ancestors. He granted the true doctrine further adornment and had a monastery of the radiant religion constructed in each of the [358] prefectures. He honoured Alopen and granted him the title

bent, was repaired; the foundation stones of the doctrine, which had been knocked down, were built up anew. At the beginning of the year Tien Pao [742] the emperor commanded General Kao Lixe to hang the portraits of the five holy ones [the five previous emperors] in the monastery.’55

Arab delegation in 732.58 In 744 the astronomer and bishop Jihuo (Giwargis) travelled via the sea route to Chang’an, where he, along with seven other priests, held a worship service in an imperial palace.59 Bishop Giwargis took advantage of the favourable moment and asked the emperor, who was well disposed towards him, not only for permission to change the name of the Nestorian monasteries from Bosi si (Persian monastery) to Ta Qin si (Ta Qin monastery) but also that the emperor himself write the corresponding calligraphy.60 To be allowed to use a calligraphic inscription from the hand of the emperor represented an extraordinary honour in China. Additionally, it was a clever move to distinguish themselves from the fallen ‘Persian’ dynasty of the Sassanians and avoid confusion with the other Persian religions. While the future of the bishopric or metropolitan diocese of China seemed once again assured, dark clouds were gathering above the Middle Kingdom.

The apparent persecutions of the Church of the East in the late seventh century occurred at the time of the usurper Wu (ruled 683–705). Wu was one of the concubines of Gaozong’s father and had been taken by the emperor upon his father’s death – in defiance of both Buddhist and Confucian moral precepts. Wu was an unscrupulous intriguer. First she murdered her and the emperor’s baby and attributed the murder to the empress, whereupon she took over the empress’s position and had her rival cruelly executed. At the death of Gaozong in 683 she deposed her two sons and seized power for herself. She was a fanatical Buddhist, who elevated Buddhism to the state religion in 691. She considered herself to be Buddha Maitreya, who had been promised by Buddha Shakyamuni, but this did not prevent her from taking a Buddhist monk as her lover. When he failed in a military mission she had him whipped to death. Buddhist parties took advantage of this favour- able situation by weakening their Nestorian rivals and destroying the monastery of Luoyang. Before Emperor Xuanzong I (ruled 713–756) brought an end to the turmoil, a few monasteries were plundered and ruined.56 The Chinese branch of the Church of the East found itself in an obvious crisis, which came to an end only with Xuanzong’s accession to the throne.57

The trigger for this crisis, which brought the Tang dynasty to the brink of the abyss, was the advance of the Arabs. Beginning in 741, together with their Tibetan allies they advanced from Sogdia and Bactria into eastern Turkistan. Following initial successes, the Chinese army suffered a crushing defeat in 751 at the river Talas in southern Kazakhstan. Then in 755 the Sogdian favourite of Xuanzong, General An Lushan (†757), exploited the weak leadership of the aged emperor and rebelled. He conquered Chang’an and forced the emperor, who abdicated in favour of his son Suzong (ruled 756–762), to flee. Thanks to Field Commander Duke Guo Ziyi (697–781), the powerful patron of the Nestorians, and Uigur cavalry, Suzong was able to quell the rebellion. When the Tibetans took advantage of the turmoil that followed An Lushan’s death and themselves occupied Chang’an in 763, it was again Guo Ziyi who drove them out of the capital.

The diocese of China owed its rescue to diplomacy, as the Arab caliphs used the Chinese experience of the Nestorians and employed their missionaries as advisers and translators. After the first Arab delegation reached Chang’an in 651, Bishop Gabriel arrived in China with the second in 713. After an unknown length of time, Gabriel returned and accompanied the third

The military intervention of the Uigurs repre- sented a turning point for Manichaeism, since

their ruler, Muyu Khan (ruled 759–779/780), converted around 762. Prior to this point, Manichaeism, which had officially reached the capital in 694, was, in contrast to Christianity, tolerated only within the foreign merchant communities. In 731, after an examination by the Office of Rites, Emperor Xuanzong I issued the following edict: ‘The doctrine of Manichaeism is fundamentally a perverse belief. In a deceitful manner it pretends to be a school of Buddhism and in this way leads people into error. It deserves to be strictly forbidden. Because, however, it is the religion of western barbarians and other aliens, its adherents shall not be punished, as long as they practise it only among themselves.’ In contrast to Manichaeism, which was condemned as fundamentally harmful, Christianity had been classified a century earlier as fundamentally beneficial and deserving of support.61 Presumably the attempts of Manichaeism to emulate Buddhism – efforts bordering on plagiarism – were a particular thorn in the side of the authorities. That this accusation was never made of Christianity speaks to its autonomy. a Persian religion, it benefited from this new situation. In addition, Muyu Khan’s successor, Alp Qutlugh (ruled 778/780–790), allowed Christians to engage in missionary work in the Uigur Empire.63 Finally, Christianity enjoyed the favour of the powerful duke Guo Ziyi, who was not himself a Christian but whose general and adviser Issu was. At the conclusion of the historical section of the stele of Xian, which is dedicated to this General Issu, is written the following: ‘The great benefactor, deputy commandant of the northern border provinces, the priest Issu, is generous and benevolent, he practises the way [religion] with enthusiasm. When the president of the great council, the honourable Guo Ziyi and prince of Fenyang, took over leadership of the army in the northern border provinces, Emperor Suzong gave him Issu as deputy. Issu served the prince tooth and nail; he was the eyes and ears of the army.’ He divided his wealth among the worthy ‘and each year gathered the monks of the four monasteries [of the capital]. He fed the hungry, clothed the cold, cared for the sick and buried the dead. He is of incomparable benevolence among the monks and the Enlightened Masters with the white garments.’64

And yet suddenly Manichaeism became the state religion of the Uigurs, on whose military aid the Chinese emperor was becoming increasingly reliant. The emperor now no longer stood in the way of its spread in the Middle Kingdom, and Manichaean temples and monasteries were allowed to be built. Nevertheless, Manichaeism appears to have found little approval among the Chinese populace, as its basic principles were too foreign. As a Chinese chronicle evaluated it: ‘It [the Manichaean sacred book] says that men and women ought not to marry, that the sick may take no medicine, and that one must bury the dead naked. The unlettered folk will be quickly infected with the perverse teachings of this demonic religion. It belongs to the category of the 96 heretical western sects.’62

The Nestorian priest and chorepiscopus Issu came from Balkh in modern Afghanistan and was of Iranian ancestry; his corresponding name was Yazdbozid. At that time it was not uncommon for members of the Nestorian and Buddhist clergy to hold political or military office. Issu was married – his son Adam wrote the text of the inscription – and thus belonged to the white clergy; the clergy, who wore black, by contrast, were celibate monks. Issu’s son Adam, whose Chinese name was Qing Qing, was a monastic scholar and a prolific translator, to whom was attributed the translation of 30 Nestorian texts into Chinese, one or two of which have been preserved.65 Qing Qing was such a linguistically gifted scholar that in 786 the renowned Indian Buddhist missionary Prajna asked him for help

Because Christianity was also perceived as

with the translation of the Satparamita Sutra into Chinese. Since Qing Qing did not know Sanskrit, and Prajna did not know Chinese, a transitional translation was made into Persian or Uigur. Evidently the result was unsatisfactory, as the emperor denied the translation his imprimatur.66 Suspicion may arise that the Nestorian’s translation altered the Buddhist sutra in the direction of Christianity. death or actively concerned themselves with life after death, while Taoism and Confucianism paid this little heed. Perhaps the Tibetan king Langdarma also encouraged Emperor Wuzong to take this drastic step when he had all Buddhist monasteries in Tibet closed in 841/842 and nationalized their possessions and landholdings.68

The edict of 845 maintained: ‘Human labour was wasted in the building of monasteries, the people’s money was plundered for golden decorations, and marital relations damaged by ascetic strictures. With regard to the disobedience of national laws and harm to human beings, nothing is worse than Buddhism. If a farmer does not cultivate his field, others starve; if a woman abandons the raising of silkworms, others freeze to death. Now there are countless monks and nuns in the empire. They are all dependent on others for their food and clothing. After careful analysis of the examples of our ancestors, we have decided to put an end to this evil. In the whole of the empire, 4600 monasteries were destroyed, 265,000 monks and nuns were returned to the lay state and made subject to taxation. Over 40,000 hermitages were destroyed, and immeasurable amounts of fertile farmland were nationalized. And 150,000 slaves were freed.’69 In contrast to the Nestorians, who, according to the stele of Xian, held no slaves, every Buddhist monastery possessed an average of 30 slaves. ‘As far as the Ta Qin [Nestorian] and Muhu [Zoroastrian] religions are concerned, since Buddhism has already been cast out, these heresies must not alone be allowed to survive. People belonging to these are to be compelled to return to the world, belong again to their own districts and become taxpayers. As for foreigners, let them be sent back to their own countries. The [most probably Chinese] Ta Qin [Nestorian] and Muhu [Zoroastrian] monks to the number of more than 3000 are compelled to return to the world.’70 These numbers reveal that Buddhism had a hundred times more monks, priests and nuns than did Christianity and Zoroastrianism combined.

The epoch of Qing Qing coincided with the first zenith of the Nestorian metropolitan see of China. While the Church recruited its believers among the significant communities of Iranians, Sogdians, Turks and Uigurs, decisive success among the broader Chinese population remained elusive; for the Chinese, it was an alien religion. It remained, as before, dependent on the goodwill and foreign policy of those in power. This was revealed when in 840 the Kyrgyz drove the Uigurs – who were irreplaceable as a protecting power but hated nonetheless – out of their central Mongolian homeland. The Uigurs moved to eastern Turkistan and lost their dominant influence in the Middle Kingdom, thus robbing the Manichaeans of their patron. Emperor Wuzong (ruled 841–846) used the opportunity to ban Manichaeism from China and in 843 ordered that ‘Manichaean books [shall] be confiscated, images shall be burnt and property shall be appropriated by the magistrates’. So ‘all Manichaean monasteries should be closed and in the capital Manichaean nuns to the number of seventy were all killed’.67 Two years later, for economic reasons, Wuzong, who was a committed Taoist and who paid for his quest for an alchemical elixir of immortality with a slow death by poisoning, extended the persecutions to Buddhism, as well as Nestorianism and Zoroastrianism, since they were both considered heretical sects of the teachings of the Buddha. In terms of content this assessment was under- standable insofar as only Buddhism and the ‘Persian religions’ offered a perspective after

contact with the patriarch in Baghdad ceased. When the patriarch sent six monks to China around 980 to take stock of the situation, they had to report that ‘Christianity in China has become extinct. The native Christians have perished and their churches have been destroyed; there was only one Christian left in the land.’72

Reconstruction of a silk temple banner of the early ninth century from Cave 17 in Dunhuang, China. The male figure wears four crosses: the first in his winged crown, the second on his clerical collar just above the pectoral cross, the third as a pectoral cross and the fourth on his ceremonial staff. The position of his right hand is taken from Buddhism; it is the vitarka mudra, which symbolizes the explanation of doctrine. The teaching figure represents Jesus Christ or a saint.50

A dialogue with Buddhism and Taoism: between orthodoxy and syncretism

At the time of the Tang Dynasty, Nestorian Christianity in China faced a difficult task. Unlike the Western Church, which expanded by supplanting theologically weak religions (such as the Greco-Roman religion), by spreading among illiterate peoples (as in Germania and the British isles) or by receiving help from civil authorities, the Nestorian missionaries encountered a highly developed culture and three very vibrant religions or world-views, which were firmly anchored in the state and among the people. While Confucianism provided the state ideology and marked the machinery of society, Taoism permeated the self-conception of the people and enjoyed the support of the first Tang emperors. Buddhism, for its part, had reached Chang’an about a half a millennium before Alopen and, adopting elements of Taoism, spread rapidly throughout the Middle Kingdom.

Although upon his accession to the throne Emperor Xuanzong II (ruled 846/847–859) revoked his predecessor’s edict and allowed a certain amount of reconstruction, Buddhism recovered only slowly in China, while Manichaeism and Nestorianism survived only on the western periphery of the empire in Kocho. The second half of the ninth century witnessed the collapse of state authority – palace eunuchs seized power, and rebellions flared up in every corner of the empire. Especially horrific was the rebellion of Huang Zhao, who captured the port city of Canton in 877/878 and there allegedly massacred 120,000 registered Muslims, Jews, Nestorians and Zoroastrians.71 When the Tang dynasty fell in 907 trade with the West by land routes also collapsed as a consequence of the loss of internal security, and the previously regular

How did Christianity, which originated in entirely different cultural circumstances, proceed theologically? Did it proclaim its message without mediation or compromise, did it seek to express its content to the desired audience in language they would understand, or did it, like Manichaeism, adapt itself chameleon-like to its new environment?73 The answers may be sought in the few surviving Nestorian documents in the Chinese language. Besides the statement of faith of the stone stele, there are six scrolls. Four of these texts come from Cave 17 in Dunhuang,

sealed in 1036, as presumably the other two do as well. Two additional fragments are hotly disputed.74 The documents recognized as authentic are: on this question, the idea of an omnipotent God sacrificing his beloved son remained a scandal. In Buddhist and Taoist thought, moreover, the principles of rebirth and karma contradicted those of a one-time resurrection and the act of faith. For their part, Confucians disapproved of Jesus’s lack of respect for his mother (Matt 12:47ff.), his command to leave one’s parents and his contempt for ancestor worship (Matt 8:22; Luke 14:26). Finally, in the tolerant environment of the Tang, Christianity’s claim to the only path to salvation must have appeared alienating.

1. Book of Jesus, the Messiah, presumably written by Alopen in 635–638.
2. On the One God, presumably written by

Alopen in 641. The text consists of three parts: The parable, On the One Heaven, The Sermon of the Lord of the Universe. 3. The stone inscription of Xian, written by Qing

The Book of Jesus, the Messiah is the oldest Nestorian document in Chinese. It contains 2800 words and may have been written by Alopen after his arrival in Chang’an for the emperor or for the examining Office of Rites. The document first declares God’s omnipresence and his role as the source of all life, then explains God’s commandments and proceeds to the Gospel. This recounts in summarized but complete form the life of Jesus from incarnation to crucifixion. Unfortunately, the book breaks off in the middle of the text, and the description of the resurrection is missing. Right from the start, one is struck by the optimistic view that every person has in principle the possibility ‘to have knowledge of the heavenly Lord [by] doing good and not following the evil way to hell’.75 This belief anticipates the view of God of the mystic John of Dalyatha, who lived a century later. The author then interprets sin as the result of the misbehaviour of previous generations; he refers to the ‘garden of fruits and animals’ but not to Adam and Eve, and thus leaves room for a Buddhist interpretation, which attributes the evil that befalls us to the karma of past generations.76 He then castigates the custom, widespread at the time of the Tang, of burying wooden and clay figures of camels, cows and horses alongside the dead.

Qing in 781. 4. Book of Praise, presumably written by Qing Qing around 780–800. 5. Book of Venerable Men and

Sacred Books, 906–1036. 6. Book of Mysterious Peace and

Mysterious Joy, before 1036. 7. Book of the Origin of the Enlightening Religion of Ta Qin, before 1036.

The two chief difficulties faced by Alopen and his successors were explaining the uniqueness of the Saviour Jesus Christ and selecting the target audience, since Buddhists, Taoists and Confucians could not be addressed with the same concepts. The idea that Christ, as God incarnate, was sacrificed in order to save human nature – essentially inclined to sin on account of Adam’s fall – from eternal damnation was incompre-hensible in the Chinese context. Confucianism believed in the goodness of human nature and focused on living a proper life in the here and now. Buddhism and Taoism likewise proceeded from an optimistic picture of the human person, and they believed that all people could reach perfection by their own power or with varying amounts of help from bodhisattvas or immortals. For them suffering was founded in ignorance, which could, in principle, be overcome. Although East Syrian dogma, because of its rejection of original sin, could be flexible

That Alopen wanted to gain the favour of the emperor and the Confucians is revealed

in his emphasis on the classic Chinese values of honouring emperor, parents and ancestors. ‘These are the three most important command- ments: first, serve the heavenly Lord; secondly, serve the emperor; and, thirdly, serve one’s parents.’ The fourth commandment adopted the foundation of Buddhism: ‘Be merciful to all living creatures.’77 The other Mosaic laws follow. In contrast to the later documents, Alopen did not hesitate to describe the crucifixion expressis verbis. On the whole, Alopen’s first text represents a successful attempt to reconcile the Christian message with Confucian ethics and Buddhist principles. is our only gate to heaven. We must enter into paradise whilst we are in this world.’80

With regard to the question of the imperfection of humanity, the author took full advantage of the leeway provided by Nestorian dogma. ‘Man originally came from the God of goodness. Man had originally a good cause, but due to his ignorance he was tempted by the evil. He writes down what is good and evil, but he is still con- fused and lacks understanding.’81 The human being is free to hear the universal teacher, Jesus, to learn the right path from him and to overcome his own ignorance. Thus did Alopen explain in terms understandable to Buddhists and Taoists Theodore of Mopsuestia’s view, orthodox for the Church of the East, of the human tendency towards sin. It is, once again, fascinating to observe how the Nestorian mystic Rabban Yussuf, more than three centuries after Alopen, expressed in different words a position identical in content: ‘The soul is by nature rational, mental and spiritual, like a polished and flawless mirror. Through the first sin, it was externally polluted but not in its nature. For the [original] sin was not so severe as to corrupt the nature of the soul; it could only effect an external, inessential staining.’82

In his second manuscript, On the One God, consisting of at least three parts, Alopen stresses the Gospel and the foundational principles of Christian doctrine; presumably these texts aided missionary efforts. In the first part, which has been preserved in fragments, the author clarifies the monotheistic position of Christianity.78 After explaining the two worlds – the present world and the world to come – Alopen emphasizes that the human being must live virtuously and commendably in this earthly world. ‘What the next world requires should be sown first in this world. All merits and virtues should be accomplished in this world, not in the world to come. Almsgiving as well as other virtues should be made in this world. In the next world, even though one wills to do it, it cannot be done. An evil heart, evil thoughts, evil repay and jealousy can only be eliminated in this world, not in the next world.’79 With this urgent appeal Alopen acknowledged the Buddhist commandment to accumulate merit by living a virtuous life but unambiguously denied the possibility of numerous rebirths, which left open an endless period of time for amassing the necessary merit. The individual has not infinitely many chances, thanks to rebirths, to improve himself but, rather, only a single chance in this life. Saeki para- phrased Alopen’s position as follows: ‘This world

Remaining consistent, the author concludes the second section of On the One Heaven with placating words: ‘The One God wants from beginning to end all men to become holy.’83 This conviction agrees completely with the apocata-stasis doctrine of the Nestorian mystic Isaac of Nineveh – a contemporary of Alopen. ‘God did not abandon the devil and sinners at the moment of their fall. The demons will not remain demons, nor the sinners sinners. For God intends to lead them all to the same perfection in which the holy angels already are.’84

These and subsequent examples demonstrate that the position of individual mystics, who fell under suspicion of heresy, was also supported by the official missionaries to China. For their part, these Chinese texts represent outstanding

examples of an inculturation that managed to avoid syncretism.85 creation and the saving work of Christ and ends with a description of the Christian life. At the beginning of creation, ‘[God] established the cross to determine the four directions’,87 which makes clear that God established the cross from the beginning of time as a cosmic sign. The cross thus symbolizes neither the crucifixion, which is not mentioned on the stele, nor the resurrection of Christ, but rather the omnipotence of God. A notable parallel to this position is found in the apocryphal Acts of John from the fourth century, known in the East in a Syriac and two secondary Arabic versions. ‘This cross [is it] thus, which brought together everything through the Word.’88

The Nestorian hymn the Book of Praise from c.780–800. The hymn, discovered in Dunhuang by Paul Pelliot in 1908 and written on paper in the Chinese language and script, is a glorification of the Trinity.51 Interestingly, in the early 1990s four pages from a Nestorian Psalter, written in the Estrangela script, were also found in Dunhuang, in Cave B 53.52 (Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. Pelliot Ch. 3847, RCA 28578.)

The third section, called The Sermon of the Lord of the Universe, is a revised and expanded version of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7), after which follow Jesus’s passion, crucifixion and resurrection, as well as the advent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We also find intimation of the Nestorian doctrine of the two natures of Christ: ‘The Messiah was not God. He [God] became like man. This is the self-making of the Lord. The body of the Messiah died. This does not mean the end of his life.’86 These somewhat unclear words were meant to express that the human nature of Christ died on the cross, but not the divine nature.

The author Qing Qing then addresses the problem of sin. Like Alopen, Qing Qing recognizes no original sin; he underlines the fundamental goodness of human nature, but he shifts it closer to the Buddhist and Taoist idea of an original absence of desire. ‘To the first man he [God] granted perfect harmony with himself. The nature [of man] was left in its original

Let us now analyse the statement of faith on the stone stele of Xian in order to learn whether and to what extent the metropolitan see of China adapted itself to its powerful environment. The text begins with the calling of the Trinity as the Three-in-One. It proceeds with the story of

state and did not swell up [with ambition], his pure heart knew no desires.’ Taoists found in these words their own conviction, according to which the original man, who knew no desires, lived in perfect accord with the Tao. ‘But Satan employed his arts of deception and embellished the pure nature with decoration.’ Insofar as these adornments represent the product of satanic deceit, they must be the previously absent desires. Thus Qing Qing interprets sin as an error regarding the essence of existence, a false priority, an illusion. In this way he agrees with the Buddhists, who deduce the illusory character of our life from a fundamental delusion, from our ignorance.

In the best Nestorian tradition, the description of Christ follows: ‘Then there appeared on earth in the form of a man the one person from the Three-in-One, the venerable and radiant Messiah, concealing his true eminence.’ The human body of Christ served his divine nature as a shell – a formula to which the Church Father Theodore of Mopsuestia also subscribed. However, the text withheld the crucifixion and interpreted the resurrection as the general overcoming of death. The Messiah ‘brought to completion the old [Mosaic] Law, which was established to regulate families and states, and proclaimed the new, inexpressible doctrine of the Holy Spirit from the Three-in-One, in order to lead [people] to a virtuous way of life in true faith. He established the rules of the eight stations [eight categories of blessedness from the Sermon on the Mount?], removed the impurities [of human nature] and re-established its sacred purity. He opened the gates of the three constant virtues [of faith, hope and mercy], opened the way to life and overcame death. He left behind 27 sacred books,94 in which he explained the Great Reform, in order to open the [until now] closed door to spirituality.’95 Here Christ appears as a divine teacher, who shows people the way to find the original state of their nature, which has been re-established by him, and to lead a spiritual life. With regard to Holy Scripture, the Old Testament had regulated domestic and societal relations by law, while the New Testament serves as instructions for moral perfection and personal spiritualization.

These ideas very closely approach Taoism and Buddhism89 and are certainly surprising for adherents of the Latin Church; but are they heretical in the context of the Church of the East? If one consults the Nestorian mystics, we believe not. John of Dalyatha described the perfect state of human nature unambiguously as the absence of human desires: ‘Do you want the enjoyment of Christ to remain inflamed in your heart? Then chase away the enjoyment of the world. Christ will enter into your soul and live there if you have first emptied it of all that is worldly.’90 Rabban Yussuf also described sin as the loss of spiritual purity, as an ignorance that ‘besmirched the spotless mirror of the soul’.91 Logically, for John of Dalyatha release from sin, understood as a gradual return to the original state, consisted in a succession of spiritual enlightenments in the form of conceptual insights – that is, the overcoming of ignorance.92 Finally, there is the name jing jiao, enlightening religion, with which Christianity describes itself on the stele, in the tradition of the East Syrian mysticism of light, which was developed most clearly, again, by John of Dalyatha.93 We see that numerous interpretations of the missionaries and theologians active in China appear at first glance syncretistic, but we find similar patterns of thought among Nestorian mystics of Mesopotamia.

The recovery of the original purity of human nature also stands at the centre of the short hymn, Book of Praise, which may also have come from the quill of Qing Qing. In the language of Chinese poetry, the hymn praises the three hypostases of the Trinity and says of the Messiah: ‘Who takes away the collected sins of all beings so that our true nature will be saved, no more peace to spoil.’96 The conviction that Christ returned

Like the one depicting King David (page 174), the gold-plated silver platter of Verkhne-Nildino, made in the post-Sassanian style, was found along the the River Ob in western Siberia. It was kept in a small shamanistic shrine; the local people venerated it as the representation of important gods, to whom they sacrificed a horse and a calf every winter. The platter, measuring 23.7 cm in diameter, is nearly identical to a plate discovered in 1909 in the district of Perm, and it very likely came from the same mould. As with the plate showing King David, an origin in the Talas valley in far north-western Kyrgyzstan may be assumed, as well as a date from the ninth or tenth century.

On the plate are depicted ten heavily armed horsemen, who surround two fortresses, standing one in front of the other. As the plate features no inscription, interpretations of the image remain hypothetical. One version sees the scene as the conquest of Kushinagar. In this story, following the death of the Buddha Shakyamuni – whose body was cremated, with the urn containing his ashes placed in a stupa in the city of Kushinagar – seven neighbouring princes claimed their share of the sacred ashes and thus besieged and conquered Kushinagar. The second, more probable interpretation reads the scene as the siege of Jericho by King Joshua. In the upper right, the military commander Joshua, with his arm outstretched, stops the sun and the moon, visible above the upper citadel. In the window of the lower fortress is the maiden Rahab, who hid Joshua’s messengers; in front of the upper fortress the Ark of the Covenant is being carried in the centre, and the seven priests are blowing the seven rams’ horns, which will bring down the walls on the seventh day. (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.)53 to human nature its original pure condition not only provided a bridge to Taoism and Buddhism but also runs as a leitmotif through East Syrian theology and reached its culmination in the Nestorian mysticism of the eighth to tenth centuries. John of Dalyatha, for instance, described the experience of God as a return of the human being to his original goodness,97 and Rabban Yussuf likened the possibility of true spirituality, reopened by Christ, to the perfect purity of the mirror of the soul.98 So it is revealed that the two leading Nestorian theologians of China, Alopen and Qing Qing, on the basis of their interpretations of the Good News, were not only able to initiate a dialogue with Taoism and Buddhism but also anticipated the flourishing of the Nestorian mysticism of Mesopotamia. That

Qing Qing omitted the topic of the crucifixion is understandable within the Nestorian context and made the figure of Christ more accessible to the intended Chinese audience.

The final two99 authentic documents, the Book of Mysterious Peace and Mysterious Joy and the short fragment of the Book of the Origin of the Enlightening Religion of Ta Qin, exude a different spirit from those previously discussed. In the first document, written on jute paper, an attempt is made to bring Buddhist and Taoist values and morals into agreement with Christian ideas and commandments. The form is taken from the question-and-answer dialogues between the historical Buddha Shakyamuni and his favourite student Ananda; here Jesus instructs Simon Peter. In reality this document represents the

opposite of the four orthodox texts of Alopen and Qing Qing: those offer Christian content in Taoist/Buddhist language, while this text presents Taoist/Buddhist content within a Christian framework. ferryman, as Christ does in Christianity. Only when Jesus speaks of himself do purely Christian ideas appear: ‘I am in all heaven and on all earth. No matter if they are the same kind or different kinds, the knowledgeable or the ignorant, I protect and support all good [human beings] and release [save] all who deserve punishment.’102 While Jesus’s role with regard to those people who have accumulated much merit and know the way to salvation resembles that of a helpful bodhisattva or Taoist immortal, the ignorant with bad karma need his salvific power – that is, divine grace. The extent to which this text is representative of developments of the time remains an open question.

In the dialogue Jesus answers Peter’s question about the way of salvation. The first step towards peace and joy lies in the renunciation of desires and action. This instruction corresponds to the Chinese principle of wu wei, non-action, in order not to impede the law of the Tao. It plays a large role in both Taoism and Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism. After the author has listed concrete examples of non-action, he founds its necessity on the avoidance of bad family karma – again, a Buddhist idea. First Jesus explains positive karma: ‘You [Simon] can ask me about the way to success [salvation] because your fathers and relatives of the former generations have done many good things which have been transferred to you.’100 Conversely, past impure desires hamper a sick man’s spiritual development. Non-action, however, provokes no bad karma and leads to inner peace and spiritual composure. The steps leading to non-action are the ten meditations, whose goal is to dissolve our attachments to ourselves, our families and material goods, which likewise correspond to Buddhist thought. In conclusion Jesus teaches the four paths to success, which correspond to wu wei. They are non- desire, non-action, non-virtue (absence of pride) and non-judgement.101

Now the question arises of whether Nestorianism influenced its environment at that time. In the case of Confucianism, to which Christianity was entirely foreign, certainly not. As far as Taoism and Buddhism are concerned, however, there are a few surprising parallels, but hardly influence. For instance, Taoism in the Tang period was familiar with a kind of divine trinity of the Three Purities. It consisted of the Heavenly First Worthy, also called the good father; the Highest Lord Tao; and the Highest Lord Lao, Lao-tzu. In this context Lao-tzu is the embodied Tao, who took on a body out of compassion for suffering humanity, in order to help them. This idea, which can be found before the year 635, developed not out of Christianity but out of Mahayana Buddhism. The same observation may be made of the Taoist tradition called benji jing, according to which the Heavenly First Worthy was embodied as a Taoist ascetic and out of compassion for humanity suffered countless torments and death in limbo. This text also existed before 635; its model was the popular Jataka stories, which tell of the previous lives of Buddha Shakyamuni. Influence on Taoism by Christianity appears to be excluded.103 As for Buddhism, there are a few similarities between the Christian doctrine of salvation and that of

Both the goal of inner peace and the methods leading to it stand in essence closer to Taoism/

Buddhism than to Christianity; God is no longer the personal and active God of the Bible but, rather, corresponds to the impersonal and passive Tao, and Jesus appears as an embodiment of Buddha or Lao-tzu. Symbolically speaking, the rightly lived life represents the movement from the riverbank of our transitory human existence to the opposite bank of permanence and eternity. In Buddhism the Buddha acts as

the Buddhist Pure Land school, which places faith in the mercy of Amitabha at the centre of its doctrine. In this case, however, Christian influence is improbable, since the first monastery of this school, which originated in India, was founded in China in 402.104 Christianity was presumably too weak to leave any mark on the great religions of China. the all-encompassing perspective of Buddhism or Taoism. Christianity is marked by the dual belief in the absolute good, God, and the evil that is to be overcome. The good is locked in a struggle with the evil and will triumph at the end of time. With the apocalypse time comes to a standstill; human beings will be sent for ever either to paradise or to hell. However, the ideas of a radical distinction between good and evil and of linear, finite time are alien to the East Asian mind. In its holistic view of the world, the terms ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are not absolute but relative. Buddhist and Taoist folk religion recognizes countless deities, which are well or ill-disposed towards humanity but not fundamentally good or evil. They are good if people obey the commandments and rituals, evil if they disregard these, in which case the angered deities are appeased by a ritual of atonement. The East Asian deities really form barriers for human behaviour. Buddhism and Confucianism are not creeds but ethics. In the East Asian cyclical understanding of time, good is transformed into evil and vice versa; it is governed by, to use a metaphor of Nietzsche, the ‘eternal return of the same’. In such thought structures, there is no room for ideas such as sin against God, salvation, a single God and apocalypse.

Finally, the question remains: why did the enlightening religion disappear in China? There are many answers, which build on each other. One factor emerges from the dependence of the Chinese metropolitan see on the favour of the rulers and, as was later the case with Buddhism in India, of their own monasteries. The Nestorian community was small in numbers and consisted in considerable part of non-Chinese merchants. In addition, Christianity only took a weak hold among the Chinese people in selected urban centres and thus remained vulnerable to repressions and pogroms. Moreover, until the ninth century Christianity was considered not an independent religion but a Buddhist sect. The geographical isolation of the Christians of China from the Mesopotamian centre certainly played a role as well.

Besides these external reasons, there were also internal factors. In China Christianity encountered three highly developed world- views, whose ideas were deeply imprinted on the Chinese soul. Fundamental differences were revealed between Christian monotheism and