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The Multiple Identities of the Nestorian Monk Mar Alopen: a Discussion on Diplomacy and Politics

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The Multiple Identities of the Nestorian Monk Mar Alopen: a Discussion on Diplomacy and Politics _full_alt_author_running_head (neem stramien B2 voor dit chapter en nul 0 in hierna): 0 _full_alt_articletitle_running_head (oude _articletitle_deel, vul hierna in): Introduction _full_article_language: en indien anders: engelse articletitle: 0 Introduction 37 Chapter 3 The Multiple Identities of the Nestorian Monk Mar Alopen: A Discussion on Diplomacy and Politics Daniel H.N. Yeung According to the Nestorian Stele inscriptions, in the ninth year of the Zhen- guan era of the Tang Dynasty (635 AD), the Nestorian monk Mar Alopen, carry- ing with him 530 sacred texts1 and accompanied by 21 priests from Persia, arrived at Chang’an after years of traveling along the ancient Silk Road.2 The Emperor’s chancellor, Duke3 Fang Xuanling, along with the court guard, wel- comed the guests from Persia on the western outskirts of Chang’an and led them to Emperor Taizong of Tang, whose full name was Li Shimin. Alopen en- joyed the Emperor’s hospitality and was granted access to the imperial palace library4, where he began to undertake the translation of the sacred texts he had 1 According to the record of “Zun jing 尊經 Venerated Scriptures” amended to the Tang Dynasty Nestorian text “In Praise of the Trinity,” there were a total of 530 Nestorian texts. Cf. Wu Changxing 吳昶興, Daqin jingjiao liuxing zhongguo bei: daqin jingjiao wenxian shiyi 大秦景 教流行中國碑 – 大秦景教文獻釋義 [Nestorian Stele: Interpretation of the Nestorian Text ] (Taiwan: Olive Publishing, 2015), 195. 2 The inscription on the Stele reads: “Observing the clear sky, he bore the true sacred books; beholding the direction of the winds, he braved difficulties and dangers.” “Observing the clear sky” and “beholding the direction of the wind” can be understood to mean that Alopen and his followers relied on the stars at night and the winds during the day to navigate. Tradition has it that Alopen traveled along the Silk Road. “When the Nestorians headed east, they would travel through Tokhgra, which lay south of the Wuxu River… They would set out from Tokhgra to the mountains of Badakh and then head for Pamirs, eventually arriving at Khotan, from where they followed Monk Xuanzang’s trail all the way to Chang’an.” Feng Chengjun 馮承鈞, Jingjiao bei kao 景教碑考 [Study of Nestorian Stele] (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1931), 58. It is also plausible, however, that Alopen traveled, at least part of the way, by sea along the ancient Maritime Silk Route, a possibility discussed in the latter part of this article. 3 “During the Tang Dynasty, the office of the shangshulin (head of the Department of State Affairs), or “grand chancellor,” was sometimes left vacant, so that the position had to be filled by a head of one of the ministries under the Department of State Affairs (shangshusheng). There were six ministries under the Department: the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Rites, which dealt with foreign relations. Li Hu 黎虎, Han tang waijiao zhidu shi 漢唐外交 制度史 [History of the Diplomatic System of the Han and Tang Dynasties] (Lanzhou: Lanzhou University Press, 1998), 347-354. 4 The Hongwen Library, which Emperor Taizong erected next to the imperial palace, housed a collection of 200,000 volumes and was comparable to the famous Library of Alexandria. Cf. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004384972_004 38 Yeung brought with him. Taizong not only read the translated scriptures, but also dis- cussed their religious doctrines in face-to-face consultations with Alopen so as to ascertain the credibility and merit of the foreign religion. In the twelfth year of Zhen’guan (638 AD), after three years of study and observation, Taizong sent out an imperial decree5 granting permission to the Persian priests to proclaim their religion. At the same time, Taizong’s court financed the building of a Nestorian church (Daqin si) in Chang’an’s Yi Ning Fang District, providing a long-term settlement where Alopen and his followers could establish their mo- nastic order6 and continue their work of translating and preaching. Over the next 150 years, the Nestorians translated a total of 35 volumes of sacred texts, a task that lasted well into the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang.7 Alopen’s elaborate welcome along with the personal attention he had re- ceived from Emperor Taizong far exceeded the hospitality ordinarily shown to Samuel Hugh Moffett. Yazhou jidujiao shi 亞洲基督教史 [A History of Christianity in Asia] (Hong Kong: Chinese Christian Literature Council, 2000), 3. 5 The inscription on the Stele reads: “Right principles have no invariable name, holy men have no invariable station; instruction is established in accordance with the locality, with the object of benefiting the people at large.” 6 The Nestorian Stele itself offers a description of the monastic life led by Nestorians such as Alopen: “By the rule for admission, it is the custom to apply the water of baptism, to wash away all superficial show and to cleanse and purify the neophytes. As a seal, they hold the cross, whose influence is reflected in every direction, uniting all without distinction. As they strike the wood, the fame of their benevolence is diffused abroad; worshiping toward the east, they hasten on the way to life and glory; they preserve the beard to symbolize their outward actions, they shave the crown to indicate the absence of inward affections; they do not keep slaves, but put noble and mean all on an equality; they do not amass wealth, but cast all their property into the common stock; they fast, in order to perfect themselves by self-inspection; they submit to restraints, in order to strengthen themselves by silent watchfulness; seven times a day they have worship and praise for the benefit of the living and the dead; once in seven days they sacrifice, to cleanse the heart and return to purity.” For a modern Chinese translation, cf. He Guanghu and Daniel Yeung 何光滬, 楊熙楠, Hanyu shenxue duben (shang) 漢語神學讀本(上) [Sino-Christian Theol ogy Reader, Volume I] (Hong Kong: Logos and Pneuma Press, 2009), 20. 7 They brought with them a total of 530 volumes of scriptures, most of them not translated into Chinese. Only six of these – 13,500 words in all – are extant. Cf. Ge Chengyong 葛承雍, “Tangdai jingjiao chuanjiaoshi ru hua de shengcun fangshi yu liuchan wenming 唐代景教傳 教士入華的生存方式與流產文明 [The Lifestyle of Nestorian Preachers and Their Cultural Influence on China during the Tang Dynasty],” in Jingjiao: The Church of the East in China and Central Asia, ed. Roman Malek (Sankt Augustin: Institut Monumenta Serica), 171. On the translation of these 35 volumes and how the first Syriac-speaking Nestorians creatively adapt- ed the Scriptural accounts to the Chinese context after their arrival in China, cf. Matteo Nicolini-Zani, “Tangdai jingjiao wenxian 唐代景教文獻 [Tang Dynasty Nestorian Texts],” in Studium Biblicum Annual Report (2006-2007): 113-123..
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