A HISTORY OF Christianity in Asia VOLUME I: BEGINNINGS TO 1500 Samuel Hugh Moffett A Division of Moffett, Samuel H. digitalisiert durch: A history of Christianity 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 China, ca. A.D. 800 xx West and West Central Asia 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 Thomas 26 The Tradition Evaluated 29 The Mission of Pantaenus (ca. 180 or 190) 36 Notes 39 VÜi CONTENTS Chapter 3: The Church of the East: The Syrian Period 45 The Abgar and Addai Tradition 46 The Tradition Evaluated 50 "The First Christian Kingdom" 56 Bardaisan of Edessa 64 The Assyrian Christians of Arbela 70 Tatian the Assyrian 72 and the 75 Asceticism 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 Missionary 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 Synod of 220 Jacob of Nisibis and the of Monasticism 222 Aphrahat 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 "Nestorianism" 275 Notes 180 Chapter 10: The Controversy Spreads into Asia 185 Edessa, Rabbula, and the Monophysites 286 Chalcedon and Schism in Africa 190 The Persian Church Becomes Nestorian 293 of Nisibis 294 The Synod of Acacius (486) 297 The School of Nisibis 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 Persians (622-651) 230 Shah over Patriarch 232 The Controversy over the Teachings of 234 The Breakdown of the Patriarchate 242 The Spread of Monophysitism 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 SOUTH ASIA 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 Alopen to the Crusades) Chapter 15: The First Christian Mission 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: Christianity and Islam (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 Mongols 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 Bar Hebraeus 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 John of Montecorvino 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 God 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: India (1500-1700): St. Thomas or St. Peter 3 The St. Thomas (Mar Christians and the Portuguese 4 Golden Goa and the Roman Catholics 8 Francis Xavier and the Jesuits 9 Friction between Thomas Christians and the Missions 12 The Synod of Diamper (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 Malabar Coast 20 Mission to Muslims in North India 23 Chapter The Buddhist Kingdoms of the South (1505-1800): Portuguese Ceylon, Burma, 36 Portugal 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 Japan 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 Matteo Ricci and the Entry into China (1583-1610) 108 The Three Pillars of the Chinese Church The Jesuits in Beijing to the Fall of the Ming Dynasty (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 Clergy 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 Nestorian Schism 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)