Xi'an Stele

Xi'an Stele
The stele entitled 大秦景教流行中國碑 was erected in China in 781.
Traditional Chinese大秦景教流行中國碑
Simplified Chinese大秦景教流行中国碑
Literal meaningStele to the Propagation in China of the Jingjiao (Luminous Religion) of Daqin (Roman Empire)
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDàqín Jǐngjiào Liúxíng Zhōngguó Bēi
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingDaai6 Ceon4 Ging2 Gaau3 Lau4 Hang4 Zung1 Gwok3 Bei1
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese/dɑiH.d͡ziɪn kˠiæŋX.kˠauH lɨu.ɦˠæŋ ʈɨuŋ.kwək̚ pˠiᴇ/
Alternative Chinese name
Chinese景教碑
Literal meaningLuminous Religion Stele
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinJǐngjiào Bēi
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingGing2 Gaau3 Bei1

The Xi'an Stele or the Jingjiao Stele (Chinese: 景教碑; pinyin: Jǐngjiào bēi), sometimes translated as the "Nestorian Stele," is a Tang Chinese stele erected in 781 that documents 150 years of early Christianity in China.[1] It is a limestone block 279 centimetres (9 ft 2 in) high with text in both Chinese and Syriac describing the existence of Christian communities in several cities in northern China. It reveals that the initial Church of the East had met recognition by the Tang Emperor Taizong, due to efforts of the Christian missionary Alopen in 635.[2] According to the stele, Alopen and his fellow Syriac missionaries came to China from Daqin (the Eastern Roman Empire) in the ninth year of Emperor Taizong (Tai Tsung) (635), bringing sacred books and images.[3] The Church of the East monk Adam (Jingjing in Chinese) composed the text on the stele.[4] Buried in 845, probably during the Huichang persecution of Buddhism,[5] the stele was not rediscovered until 1625. It is now in the Stele Forest in Xi'an.

  1. ^ Hill, Henry, ed. (1988). Light from the East: A Symposium on the Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Churches. Toronto, Canada. pp. 108 109.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Jenkins, Peter (2008). The Lost History of Christianity: the Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia - and How It Died. New York: Harper Collins. pp. 65. ISBN 978-0-06-147280-0.
  3. ^ Ding, Wang (2006). "Remnants of Christianity from Chinese Central Asia in Medieval ages". In Malek, Roman; Hofrichter, Peter (eds.). Jingjiao: the Church of the East in China and Central Asia. Steyler Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH. ISBN 978-3-8050-0534-0.
  4. ^ Godwin, R. Todd (2018). Persian Christians at the Chinese Court: The Xi'an Stele and the Early Medieval Church of the East. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-78673-316-0.
  5. ^ McGrath, Anastasia (2021-02-10). "China's Buried Christian History". SAPIENTIA. Fordham University. Retrieved 2023-03-02.