Nestorians Jǐngjiàotú 景教徒

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Nestorians refer to Christians who follow Nestorians first translated their scriptures into Chinese Nestorius, a leader of an early Eastern Chris- and established a Nestorian church in Chang’an. After tian tradition. Persecution for heresy forced the that many Nestorians came to China either by land from Nestorians toward Central and East Asia, includ- Central Asia or by sea from Persia (Iran). The Nestorian Stele was erected in 781, a time of relative prosperity for ing China. As the first generation of Christians Chinese Nestorianism. It is said to have been inscribed coming to China, they arrived in the Tang court by a Nestorian priest named “Adam” (“Jingjing” in Chi- in the early seventh century, and remained in the nese) with the sponsorship of a larger congregation. The country for two hundred years. stele offers a brief but thorough history of Nestorianism in Tang China. According to manuscript sources, the Ne- storian leader Adam translated about thirty-five scriptures hristianity was introduced to China during the into Chinese. Several of these translations survived as the Tang dynasty (618–907 ce) and became widely manuscripts from Dunhuang; one of them is identified as known as “Jingjiao” (Luminous Teaching) dur- Gloria in excélsis Deo in Syriac texts. However, after 845 ing the Tianqi period (1625–1627) of the Ming dynasty the Nestorians virtually disappeared in Chinese sources, (1368–1644) after the discovery of a luminous stele (a having suffered political persecution under the reign of carved or inscribed stone slab or pillar used for commem- the Emperor Wuzong. They fled from central China and orative purposes). Modern scholars identify this form of settled in peripheral regions, especially Samarqand and Christianity as Nestorianism, one of the churches of the Turfan. Tomb inscriptions show that Nestorianism expe- East led by Nestorius (386–451 ce). rienced a modest revival in several regions during the Yuan Persecution for heresy had forced the Nestorians to- dynasty (1279–1368), especially in Inner Mongolia and a ward Central and East Asia, including China. Although few coastal cities in southeast China such as Zhenjiang Nestorianism is mentioned in traditional Chinese sources, and Quanzhou. But after the fourteenth century Nestori- the most important historical sources have been the Ne- anism vanished from in China again, this time for good. storian Stele, discovered in Chang’an (modern Xi’an in Shaanxi Province) in the seventeenth century, five Nesto- rian manuscripts written in Chinese and recovered from Doctrine, Ethnicity, Dunhuang (Gansu Province), and numerous tomb inscrip- and Languages tions found in Inner Mongolia and Quanzhou in the modern period. According to these sources, Nestorianism was Nestorius was banished by the Council of Ephesus in 431 introduced to China by Alopen in 635. At that time, acting for his heretical views regarding Jesus as both a man and a under an imperial edict from the Emperor Taizong, the divine son. A doctrine with similar views was introduced 1581 C © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 1582 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 宝库山中华全书

Fragment of a Nestorian painting. Nestorians, the first generation of Christians coming to China, arrived in the early seventh century, and remained in China for two hundred years. A stele said to have been inscribed by a Nestorian priest named Adam relates a history of the religion during the Tang dynasty. Photo courtesy of Chen Huaiyu.

to China. Other Nestorian doctrines preserved in Chi- that the majority of Nestorians in China were Iranian- nese translations concern the Trinity of Father, Son, and speaking people. During the Tang dynasty most Nestori- Holy Spirit; God the creator; Jesus the savior; and the ans seem to have lived in large cities, such as Dunhuang, concept of original sin. Although the Nestorians left many Chang’an, Luoyang, and perhaps Cheng’du, which natu- sources written in Chinese, it is doubtful if any of these rally attracted foreign merchants.. According to the Ne- Nestorians were ethnic Chinese themselves. It is clear storian Stele from Chang’an and a Nestorian scriptural

pillar from Luoyang, all the Nestorians named in Chinese Turfan, all of which were written in either Syriac or other sources were clearly either Sogdians or Persians. A tomb central Asian languages, especially Sogdian and Turkic- epitaph found in Xi’an belongs to a Nestorian family from Uygur. None was written in Chinese. These manuscripts Persia, even though the family received a Chinese sur- date from the ninth to the thirteenth century, when the name identical to the emperor’s and many of the family Chinese empire had no sovereignty over this area. The members served in the Tang imperial government. But no discovery of these Syriac manuscripts indicates that Ne- Chinese sources provide any evidence of the views that storians in China kept Syriac as their church language. Chinese intellectuals and common people may have held Yet, Nestorians of different ethnicities also used their regarding Nestorianism. own languages during their religious activities. All tomb Psalms written in Syriac have been uncovered from inscriptions from the Yuan dynasty are written in bilin- Dunhuang and elsewhere. Numerous Nestorian manu- gual form, either Turkic-Uygur and Chinese or Syriac and scripts were found in an abandoned monastery in Bulayiq, Tu r k i c - U y g u r .

Nestorian Scroll. Af- ter 845 ce accounts of the Nestorians virtually disappeared in Chinese sources. Having suffered political persecution under the reign of the Emperor Wuzong, they fled from central China and settled in peripheral regions, especially Samarqand and Turfan. Photo courtesy of Chen Huaiyu.

Script on a Nestorian Scroll. Five Nestorian manuscripts written in Chinese were recovered from the caves at Dunhuang in Gansu Province. Photo courtesy of Chen Huaiyu.

Nestorianism and Other Daoism was the official ideology in the Tang dynasty, and Religions in China it seems that the Nestorian Stele also borrowed many Daoist terms. At one time the Tang government confused When Nestorianism came to China, Confucianism, Bud- Nestorianism with Zoroastrianism. The Nestorian church dhism, and Daoism dominated the religious life of the was ordered by the government to change its name from Chinese people. Nestorians borrowed a lot of loanwords “Persian Church” (bosi si) to “Byzantine Church” (daqin (words taken from another language and at least partly si) in 745 when the Tang government realized that Nesto- naturalized) from the texts of these three religions.. Bud- rianism was originally from the eastern Roman area. In dhism had a particularly close connection with Nestori- Chinese sources Nestorianism, Manichaeism, and Zo- anism. The Nestorian leader Adam tried a collaborative roastrianism were often referred to as the “three foreign translation project with Buddhist monks, but the Tang religions” (or “barbarian religions,” yijiao or hujiao), in emperor suspended this project. Adam’s translations bor- contrast to the three domestic religions, Confucianism, rowed a lot of terms, phrases, and usages from Buddhist Buddhism, and Daoism. In 845 all foreign-origin reli- texts, although he adapted their meanings considerably. gions, including Buddhism and Nestorianism, suffered

political persecution. This persecution was partly because Gillman, I., & Klimkeit, H..-J. (Eds.). (1999). Christians of the increased isolationism that began to develop in the in Asia before 1500. Ann Arbor: University of Michi- Tang government after the An Lushan Rebellion (755– gan Press. 763) nearly a century before. In sum, Nestorianism em- Malek, R., & Hofrichter, P. (Eds.). (2006). The church of barked on its journey to China when the Tang empire was the East in China and central Asia. Sankt Augustin, open to all religions but suffered when the Tang empire Germany: Institut Monumenta Serica. Pelliot, P. (1996). The Nestorian inscriptions ofSi- ngan-fou began to decline. (A. Forte, Ed.). Paris: Collège de France, Institut des Huaiyu CHEN Hautes Études Chinoises. Saeki, P. Y. (1951). The Nestorian documents and relics in China. Tokyo: Tokyo Institute of the Academy of Ori- Further Reading ental Cultures. Enoki, K. (1964). The Nestorian Christianism in China in Tang Li. (2004). A study of the history of Nestorian Chris- mediaeval time according to recent historical and archae- tianity in China and its literature in Chinese: Together ological researches. Rome: L’Oriente cristiano nella with a new English translation of the Dunhuang Nesto- storia della civilta. rian documents. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang.

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