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A HISTORY of Christianity in Asia

A HISTORY of Christianity in Asia

A HISTORY OF in Asia

VOLUME I: BEGINNINGS TO 1500

Samuel Hugh Moffett

A Division of

Moffett, Samuel H. digitalisiert durch: A in Asia IDS Luzern 1992-2005 Contents

xii xiii Maps Strabo's Map of the World, A.D. 19 xvii West Asia and the Sassanid Empire, ca. A.D. 600 xviii East Asia and T'ang Dynasty , ca. A.D. 800 xx West and West under Islam: The Abbasid ca. A.D. 800 xxii The Mongol Empire at its Greatest Extent, under Kublai Kahn, ca. xxiv Asia, ca. 1500 xxvi

Part 1: From the Apostles to Muhammad

THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED YEARS Chapter 1: Asia and the World of the First Century 3 Asia 6 Iranian (Persian) Asia 10 Sink (Chinese) 13 Indian Asia 16 Notes 20 Chapter 2: The First Missions to 24 and "The Apostle to Asia" 25 The Acts of 26 The Tradition Evaluated 29 The Mission of (ca. 180 or 190) 36 Notes 39

VÜi CONTENTS

Chapter 3: The of the East: The Syrian Period 45 The Abgar and Addai Tradition 46 The Tradition Evaluated 50 "The First Christian Kingdom" 56 of 64 The Assyrian Christians of Arbela 70 the Assyrian 72 and the 75 and Asian Missions 77 Notes 80

SECTION TWO: THE EARLY PERIOD IN PERSIA (225-400) Chapter 4: The Sassanid Revolution and the Church 91 and the Sassanid Shahs 92 Church Life in Third-Century Persia 94 The Sons and Daughters of the Covenant 97 Outreach 200 Notes 202 Chapter 5: The of Religions: Christian, and Manichaean 205 Notes 222 Chapter 6: First Steps Toward a National Persian Church 226 The Episcopacy of Papa and the of 220 and the of 222 the Persian 225 Notes 230 Chapter 7: The Great Persecution 236 Notes 245

SEcnoN THREE: THE LATER SASSANID PERIOD IN PERSIA (400-651) Chapter 8: The of the Persian Church 249 The Synod of (410) 252 The Synod of Yaballaha (420) and Further Persecution 257 CONTENTS

The Synod of Dadyeshu (424) and the Independence of the Asian Church 262 Notes 264 Chapter 9: The Great 168 The Nestorian Controversy 270 "" 275 Notes 180 Chapter 10: The Controversy Spreads into Asia 185 Edessa, Rabbula, and the Monophysites 286 Chalcedon and in Africa 190 The Persian Church Becomes Nestorian 293 of Nisibis 294 The Synod of Acacius (486) 297 The 200 Controversy and Decline 204 Mission into Central Asia 207 Notes 209 Chapter 11: Patriarch and Shah 226 The Synod of Mar Aba (544) and His 227 Chosroes I and Mar Aba 220 Abraham of Kaskar and Monastic Revival 225 Notes 228 Chapter 12: The Decline of the (622-651) 230 Shah over Patriarch 232 The Controversy over the Teachings of 234 The Breakdown of the 242 The Spread of in Persia 243 The Nestorian Counterattack 247 The Fall of the Sassanid Dynasty 252 The Late Flowering of the Persian Church 254 Notes 257

SECTION FOUR: CHRISTIANITY IN Chapter 13: Indian Christianity and Relation to Persia 265 Notes 270 Chapter 14: The Christian Kingdoms of the Arabs 272 Notes 281 X CONTENTS

Part II: Outreach: The of the Earth (From to the ) Chapter 15: The First to China 287 How Old Is Chinese Christianity? 288 Alopen and the First Christian Mission (635-649) 292 Beginnings of Persecution (656-712) 293 Recovery of the Church (712-781) 295 Disappearance of the Nestorians from China (781-980) 302 Notes 324

Chapter 16: (622-1000) 324 Muhammad and the Christians 326 Christianity and the Koran 329 Under the Patriarchal Caliphs (632-661) 333 Under the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750) 340 Under the Early 'Abbasids (750-850) 348 Timothy I and the Caliphs 349 The Decline of the Church 357 Notes 362

Chapter 17: The Survival of Christianity Under Medieval Islam 374 The Beginning of a New Millennium 375 The Breakup of the 'Abbasid Caliphate 377 Christians During the "Persian Renaissance" 378 Christianity in Asia Under the of Egypt 381 The Rise of the Turks (992-1095) 384 The Crusades (1095-1291) 386 Notes 392

Part III: The Pax From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane Chapter 18: The and the Recovery of Asian Christianity 399 Christian Keraits and Mongols 400 The Mongol Empire 404 CONTENTS

The First Franciscan Missions to the Mongols 405 William of Rubruck 409 Notes 414 Chapter 19: The Mongols and the Church in Persia 422 Hulegu and the Christians 422 Ilkhans and in Mongol Persia 425 and the Jacobites 428 The Travels of the "Monks of Kublai Khan" 430 of Weakness in Persian Christianity 435 Notes 436 Chapter 20: Christianity in Mongol China 442 Sorkaktani and the Line of Succession 443 The Polos at the Court of Kublai Khan (1266-1292) 445 Nestorian Church Organization 448 Prince George of the Onguts 450 The of Kublai Khan 452 and the Roman Catholics 456 The Outer Limits of Nestorian Advance 459 Notes 462 Chapter 21: The Eclipse of Christianity in Asia 470 The Second Disappearance of the Church in China 471 The Conversion of the Persian Hkhanate to Islam 475 Tamerlane, "Scourge of and Terror of the World" 480 Notes 488 Chapter 22: The Church in the Shadows 495 The Middle East 497 St. Thomas Christians in the Middle Ages 498 Conclusion 503 Notes 509 Appendix: The Nestorian Monumenf s Theological Introduction 523 Notes 526 Bibliography 529 American Society of Missiology Series, No. 36

A HISTORY OF Christianity in Asia

VOLUME II:

1500 to 1900

Samuel Hugh

OOKS York 10545 Contents

Preface to the ASM Series xii

Preface xiii

Maps xviii

Abbreviations and Acronyms of Journals, Annuals, and Organizations xxiv

Part I: They by Sea: The Return West (1500-1800)

Chapter 1: (1500-1700): St. Thomas or St. Peter 3 The St. Thomas (Mar Christians and the Portuguese 4 Golden and the Roman Catholics 8 and the Jesuits 9 Friction between Thomas Christians and the Missions 12 The (1599) 13 The Propaganda (or Propaganda Fide) 16 The Coonen (Koonan) Cross 17 The Drift from Nestorian to Jacobite Connections 19 Catholic Expansion beyond the 20 Mission to in North India 23

Chapter The Buddhist Kingdoms of the South (1505-1800): Portuguese Ceylon, Burma, 36 and the Buddhist Island of Ceylon (1505-1656) 37 Beginnings of Christian Mission (1543-1551) 38 A Christian King, Church Growth, and Religious Reaction 39 The Portuguese in Decline (1591-1656) 41 Burma: Violence and Resistance (1554-1800) 42 Alexander de Rhodes: Beginnings in Vietnam (Tonkin and 1583-1802) 43 The French Enter Vietnam (1664-1802) 46 CONTENTS

(Thailand): A Tenuous Base for Mission (1553-1769) 49 Chronology of Buddhist South Asia ( (1500-1800)) 51

Chapter 3: The Muslim Kingdoms of Southeast Asia (1500-1800): Portuguese in Malaysia and the Islands (Indonesia) 59 Malacca, Gateway to East Asia (1511-1663) 60 The Islands (Indonesian Archipelago, 1511-1601) 60 Tabarija, the First Christian King 62 Francis Xavier in the Moluccas 63 Mission in the Islands after Xavier 65

Chapter 4: The "Christian Century" in 68 Xavier, Jesuits, and Japanese Patronage (1551-1587) 68 The Japan Mission after Xavier (1552-1579) 73 Reforms of Valignano in the Nobunaga Shogunate (1571-1582) 75 Valignano as "Missiologist" 77 Backlash: The Age of Persecution 79 Restoration Gives to Persecution: Ieyasu (1598-1614) 85 The First Protestants (1600) 86 The Great Persecution: The Beginning of the End 87 Silence (1640-1800) 92 Chronology of Events 93

Chapter 5: Once More to China: and Mandarins" 105 First Contacts in Macao 106 and the Entry into China (1583-1610) 108 The Three Pillars of the Chinese Church The Jesuits in Beijing to the Fall of the (1610-1644) 113 The Fall of the Ming Dynasty (1644) 114 Christianity under the Manchu (Ch'ing, or Qing) Dynasty 116 The Rites Controversy (1636-1692): Disunity in the Mission 120 The Controversy Continued (1693-1742): Church vs. State 125 The Mission of De (1704-1710) 126 Decline and Persecution (1742-1800) 130 The of the Jesuits (1773) 132

Chapter 6: Korea (1593-1800): The Kingdom 143 De Cespedes and the Japanese Invasion 143 Christian Influences from China 146 The Dutch to Korea 147 CONTENTS

Chapter 7: The Spaniards in the Philippines (1521-1800) 150 Magellan and the "Voyage around the World" 150 The First Missions (1565-1578) 152 "The Golden Years" (1578-1609) 153 Setbacks and Friction in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 156 Efforts to Train a Filipino 159 Suppression of the Jesuits 167

Chapter 8: Catholic Decline and Recovery (1792-1850) 175 Failure and Discouragement in India: Abbe Dubois 176 Worldwide Catholic Decline More Persecution in China 180 Beginnings of Recovery and Revival 181 Recovery in Catholic Europe 183 Recovery in Asia 185

Chapter 9: West Asia under the Turks and Persians (1500-1800) 193 The Nestorians on the Turko-Persian Borders 194 The Sixteenth-Century 195 Decline of the Jacobite (Monophysite) Base on the Mediterranean Coast 197 Catholic Missions in West Asia 197 Survival of the Church (1500-1800) 200 Christians in the Middle East at the End of the Eighteenth Century 203 A Chronology of West Asia (1405-1834) 204

II: The Protestants Reach Asia (1600-1800)

Chapter 10: The First Protestants: The Dutch Reach Indonesia, Formosa, and Ceylon 213 Indonesia: Capitalist Traders, Calvinist Chaplains 213 Formosa (Taiwan): Gateway to China? (1642-1661) 218 The Dutch Period in Ceylon (1656-1796) 222

Chapter 11: Eighteenth-Century India (1708-1792): Danish Kings, Pietists, and Chaplains 236 The First English Chaplains 236 The Mission to Tranquebar (1706-1846) 237 "Hidden Seed": The Moravians in India (1760-1803) 242 The English "Evangelical Chaplains" 244 CONTENTS

Part III: "The Great Century" (1784-1860)

SECTION ONE: PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS IN COMPETITION

Chapter 12: A Fresh Start in India (1792-1860): Carey and the Protestants 253 Carey: The Man and the Challenge 253 Carey in India: Opposition and Trials 255 : The Trio and the Covenant 256 The First Converts 258 Translation, Social Reform, and Education for India 260 The Charter of 1813: Freedom for Christian Missions in India 263 Alexander Duff and Christian Education for India 265 Church Growth: Indian in Mid-Century 267 Chronology (1792-1859) 270

Chapter 13: The Door to China Opens Again (1807-1860) 285 Robert Morrison and China (1807-1834) 286 The Ultra-Ganges Mission 289 and the Beginnings of Indigenous 291 The Growth of Protestant Missions to the Chinese (1817-1840) 293 Gützlaff, Continental European Protestant Pioneer 295 The Wars 297 (1851-1864) 298

14: The Catholic Century in Korea (1784-1886): 309 The Korean Initiative 309 Founding of the in Korea (1792-1801) 311 First Foreign Missionary and the Persecution of 1801 313 Sixty-Five Years of Persecution 314 The Great Persecution of 1866-1867 and Catholic Survival 315

Burma (1813-1850): Protestant Pioneers and Catholics 322 Judson and Baptist Beginnings (1813-1824) 322 War (1824-1826) 325 of the Burma Baptist Church (1826-1860) 326 Karen and Expanding Growth (1827-1860) 327 First Baptist Missionary Convention (1853) 329 Catholics in Burma 330 CONTENTS ix

Chapter 16: Ceylon under British (1796-1860) 336 Transition: Dutch to British, Reformed to Anglican 336 Catholic Survival and Schism 338 Protestant Missions: Recession and Reinforcements (1795-1860) 339 Buddhist Reaction and Revival 341 Protestant Advances in Education and Cooperation 342 Ceylon at Mid-Century 344

Chapter 17: Southeast Asia from Thailand to Vietnam (1800-1860) 349 (1800-1860) 349 Progress in the South 356 Malaysia and (1800-1860) 356 Malaysia Chronology 359 Vietnam (1800-1860) 360

Chapter 18: Indonesia (1800-1860) 367 Dutch 367 The Conversion of the Bataks 368 The Dutch Reformed Churches of the Islands 369 Joseph Kam in the Moluccas 370 Indonesia Chronology (1797-1892) 372

Chapter The West and the Ancient Churches of the Middle East (1800-1860) 376 The Nestorians of Persia (1800-1870) 376 The Nestorian-Protestant Schism (1846-1870) 380 (West Asia) 382 Armenians 385 The 389 in 391

TWO: MATURE AND LOCAL CHURCHES GROW

Chapter 20: in the Middle East (1860-1900) 403 Decline of the 403 "Mountain Nestorians" (1860-1900) 405 Armenians and Their Massacre 406 410 CONTENTS

Chapter 21: Advance in India (1860-1900) 415 The Syrian Thomas Christians of : Strife and Division 415 The Reform Movement and the Mar Syrian Church 417 The Continuing Syrian (Jacobites) 419 Mass Movements: Outreach to (Dalits) and Tribals 420 Advance to the Northeast: Mission to the Tribes 425 Rapid Catholic Growth in Chota Nagpur 430 Mission Cooperation, Division, and Christian Unity 431 Developing a National Christian Leadership 434 in Mission 437 Clouds on the Horizon: Growing Hindu Reaction and Missionary Doubts 442 An Overview of , 1850-1900 444 India Chronology (1857-1900) 447

Chapter 22: China's Christians at the End (1860-1900) 463 and the China Inland Mission 464 The Roman Catholic Recovery 469 Protestants Progress toward National Influence 472 The Protestant Christian Educational Network 479 A Chinese Church for the Chinese 481 The Chinese Backlash 482 The of -1901 484

Chapter 23: Christianity Reappears in Japan (1859-1900) 502 The Catholic Recovery 502 The Beginnings of Protestant Missions (1853-1872) 504 The in Japan 506 The Meiji Restoration (1868-1900) 507 Mission Activities during the Period of (1872-1890) 508 Japanese Christians Take the Initiative 513 Women in Mission 514 The Identification of Christianity with Western Civilization 515 The Period of Reaction (1890-1900) 518

24: Protestants and New Beginnings in Korea (1865-1905) 528 Robert J. Thomas, the First Protestant 529 Earlier Protestant Attempts to Enter Korea 530 The Foreign Wars; Korea Loses Independence 537 Beginnings of Massive Church Growth 537 Korean Leadership Training for the 539 First Steps from Mission Council to Korean Church 542 Cooperation 543 CONTENTS

Chapter 25: The Philippines (1860-1906) 554 The Spanish Friars under Pressure 555 Catholics under the Americans 558 Protestant Missions and American Occupation 559 The Rise of the Independent Philippine Churches 563 Philippines Chronology (1860-1915) 566

Chapter 26: Burma and Ceylon (1850-1900) 573 Burma: Mission, and the Tribes 573 Burma Chronology (1824-1900) 580 British Ceylon (1850-1900) 580

Chapter 27: Malaysia, and Vietnam (1860-1900) 594 (Thailand), Land of the Free 594 Malaysia and Singapore: Colonialism, Islam, and the Church 607 and — Vietnam) 612

Chapter 28: Indonesia (1860-1900) 622 Protestant Renewal in a Dutch Colony 622 Schism and Friction within Protestant Missions 624 Impact on Society 625 Roman Catholic Missions 626 Conclusion 628

Epilogue: Thinking Back and Looking Ahead 632 Thinking Back 632 Roman Catholic Missions 643 Looking Ahead: The Nineteenth Century as Prologue to the Present 645

Bibliography 655

Index 725