Roots of Christianity in China

This stone tablet, engraved in 781 A.D., is the earliest known record of Christianity in China. It describes the arrival of the Persian Bishop Alopen to Xi'an as well as subsequent missionaries of the Nestorian sect of Christianity. The Nestorians were deemed heretical by the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. and had to flee to Assyria, which is why they call themselves the Assyrian Church of the East. They eventually spread throughout the Persian Empire and all the way to western China. When Alopen arrived in Xi'an in 635 he was commissioned to translate the Christian scriptures into Chinese. In 638 he published 'The Sutra of Jesus the Messiah,' which borrowed the language of the Confucian court in order to appeal to Chinese intellectuals. After reviewing the tenants of the faith the Emperor found nothing subversive to Chinese traditional beliefs and allowed the new religion to be taught openly. It was known as 'Jingjiao' the 'luminous teachings.' Although Christianity enjoyed tolerance and popularity for a time, it eventually was cut off from it's base in Mesopotamia and diminished in isolation. Also, the edict by Emperor Xuanzong in 745 requiring all monks and nuns to be evicted from monasteries and seek out a secular livelihood affected the Nestorians in China. The edict was passed because many Buddhist monasteries had become very wealthy by collecting alms and donations from the common people, which perturbed the ruler.

During the great persecution by Emperor Wu-Tsung in 845, Christians buried this stone tablet to prevent it's destruction. It was not unearthed again until the 17th Century by peasants digging a foundation for a home. The find greatly aided the Jesuits who were trying to establish missions in China. The Emperor could not dismiss Christianity as a 'new religion' in China since the 1,000 year old tablet clearly stated otherwise.

Although the tablet specifies the arrival of Alopen in 635 A.D., we know that Nestorians were in China long before that. In 551 two Nestorian monks managed to smuggle silkworm eggs from China to Constantinople by hiding them in their hollow walking canes. This was the first time the West ever learned the science of silk production. The Chinese managed to keep the knowledge of sericulture a secret for over 2,000 years in order to maintain their monopoly on the highly valued material.

The tablet also attests to the religious syncretism that occured often along the Silk Road. At the top of the stone there is a depiction of two mythical creatures called 'Kumbhira' holding a pearl between them. This is Buddhist imagery mixed into a Christian stone stele. Also, Jesus was described by Chinese Nestorians as being a great master of the 'Dao.'