 |
| Nestorian Stele in Xi'an - 781 A.D |
At the height of its allure, the famous Silk Road had managed to break down many geographical boundaries and linked the people of the West and East by way of commerce. Even though the it was primarily utilized for commerce, the Silk Road also developed into a vessel for the exchange, development, propagation of various ideas and traditions beyond their native borders. Some examples of the aforementioned claim can be found within the propagation of the traditions of the Buddha, Mani, Muhammad, Zoroaster, and Jesus throughout the silk Road. However, to better appreciate the importance of the Silk Road in world history, I will attempt to map out the movement of a specific branch of Christianity, Nestorianism, which spanned the borders the empires of Byzantium, Persia, and China.
Nestorian Christianity, contemporarily known as the Eastern Orthodox Church, was founded in ancient Byzantium by the See of Constantinople, Nestorius, in the middle of the fifth century as a consequence of a dispute with the Bishop Cyril of Alexandria over the nature of Christ. In short, the dispute was over the status of the Virgin Mary and the degree of unity of the Godhead and manhood in Jesus Christ. Cyril and the Catholic church asserted that God was indeed in Christ and, as an effect, the Virgin Mary was the Mother of God, Theotokos.[1] In contrast, Nestorius claimed that Jesus Christ could not be both man and God because, in referring to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, “suffering on the part of the Divine Logos who, as divine, is by nature impassible.”[2] Nestorius also rejected the concept of Theotokos because that would entail that the Virgin Mary was a God- bearer. Consequently, Nestorius and his orthodoxy were branded heretical in the Council of Ephesus A.D. 431 and was forced into exile.[3]
 |
| Nestorius |
The tradition then moved toward Persia. Fortunately for Nestorius and his followers, King Firuz of Persia, whom was at war with the Roman Byzantium empire, was convinced by the Bishop of Nisibis, Bar-Suma, that Nestorian Christianity was hostile to the Roman Empire and to provide them with protection.[4] As a result, Persia became the first state to recognize Nestorian Christianity, which enabled it to establish a Persian church and to spread to the east ward.[5]
 |
| Saint Jacob Church in Nisbis, Persia |
After establishing itself in Persia, Nestorian Christianity starts to move again. Two centuries after being branded heretical and forced from the borders Byzantium, Nestorian Christianity spread from Persia to Chang’an by way of the Silk Road in 635 A.D and established a Christian metropolitan. The exact mode of transmission, however, is somewhat unclear, but if the limited extant sources are to be trusted it seems that the propagation of Nestorianism to China was aided by the works of both missionaries and influential Silk Road traders from Mesopotamia and Transoxiana. The most important of these two agents worthy of highlighting are a Persian priest, Alopen, and the Soghdians, an ancient Iranian people heavily invested in the Silk trade. Alopen is credited with the formal delivery of Nestorian scriptures to China, while the Soghdians and their language are credited with being the vassal for the spread of the faith throughout the Silk Road and into Central Asia. It is recorded that by 635 A.D Alopen had traveled to China by foot where his scripture and faith were examined and officially recognized by the Tang Emperor, T’ai-tsung, who granted him permission to establish a state-sanctioned Church, and ordered the translation of his scriptures into Chinese.[6] While the Soghdian and their language are claimed to have been the primary spoken language in which Nestorian Christianity was disseminated in Asia; the liturgical language of Nestorian Christianity remained Syrian.[7]
 |
| Sogdian in Sassanid style dresses donors to the Buddha - China, 8th century |
Nestorian Christianity was primarily propagated within the borders of ancient Persia, Byzantium, and Central Asia, but it was within the borders of Central Asia, particularly medieval China, that it bared witness to unprecedented cultural challenges and developments. Nestorianism existed in Central Asia for centuries, albeit for a brief intermittence, between the seventh and fourteenth century under the primary patronage of the Tang dynasty and Mongolians. However, it appears that it was under the patronage of the Tang Dynasty Nestorian Christianity experienced its greatest change and cultural achievements in Central Asia.
 |
| Tang Emperor, Tai Tsung |
The extant scholarly works and primary sources reveal that from the beginning Nestorian Christianity failed to take the appropriate steps it needed to survive. The missionary workers failed to maintain the unique formulating characteristics of the faith as a religion that was far removed from the indigenous Chinese religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, but instead they were highly influenced by them. The Nestorians established numerous monasteries, produced distinct Chinese Christian and treatises, and translated their canons into Chinese, but they were shrouded with Buddhist and Taoist themes and practices. For example: Alopen, the first formally recognized missionary to China, after establishing a diocese, was given a Chinese title, “Great Spiritual Lord, Protector of the Empire,”[8] a title far removed from bishop of or see of; Monasteries, instead of churches, were erected in every province on a large scale.[9]
 |
| Nestorian priests in a procession on Palm Sunday, in a 7th- or 8th-century wall painting from a Nestorian church in China |
Doctrinally, Nestorians inadvertently aided the erosion of their distinctness by accommodating the Chinese culture in their theology.[10] Nestorians, challenged with the transliteration of their theology into Chinese, changed their symbols and borrowed from Buddhism and Manichaeism to propagate their fate; the cross was changed into a tree, mu;[11] excluded the image of the crucifixion[12] and changed Jesus into a bodhisattva;[13] Jesus was translated into Yishu; literal translation: Moving Rat.[14] Ultimately, their texts ended up being a mixture of Buddhist and Christian. The most prominent Nestorian Chinese text, “Sutra of Jesus-Messiah,” failed to properly explain a fundamental Christian concept, the soul; in its place they used the Buddhist concept Wind to refer to the soul;[15] in explaining the concept of original sin and the first man, they borrowed Chinese concepts of “original ancestor” and “sin of disobedience.”[16] Nestorian Christians took the step of specifically referring to the Buddha directly, “Human beings, therefore, in extremity, will always do honor to the Buddha,”[17]a figure foreign to Christian literature in the West. To further exemplify the obstacles they faced in elucidation their faith to the Chinese, Nestorians used the Buddhist concept of cosmology, Si se, wind, earth, fire and water to explain the Christian concept of creation, rather than the Adam and Eve.[18] In essence, they were creating a synthesis between Christianity and Buddhism, but rarely introduced anything distinctly new to stand against Buddhist concepts.
The legitimacy of the Chinese Church was wholly dependent upon the ruling powers and their state sanctioned support, which had begun in the seventh century. In the ninth century state support for Nestorian Christianity and most other religions ceased when Emperor Wu Tsung issued a decree for all monks to return to civil life; the decree explicitly ceased supporting and banned all religious activities.[19] Although it failed to establish itself as a distinct religion and to influence other traditions, Nestorian Christianity did manage to expand its canons and find its place in the Han Chinese society. The Nestorian Stele in ancient Chang’an, modern day Xi’an, which outlines the history of Nestorian Christianity in China, mentions they recognized five more books than the twenty two New Testament books of the Syrian church.[20] Additionally, the Nestorian Clergy had integrated itself into the Chinese society by providing many essential services, such as the purification and preparation, and burial of the dead, and caring for the sick.[21] However, their attempts to integrate into Chinese society did not safeguard their decline; the decree of Emperor Wu Tsung led to the disappearance of Christianity in China until the thirteenth century.[22] The decree led to the destruction of both Buddhist and Christian monasteries; records show that 4,600 monasteries were destroyed;[23] materials from the demolished monasteries were to be used for repairing yamens, the offices of bureaucrats, and post stages; Bronze images, mirrors, and clappers were melted down for coinage.[24]
 | |
| Hongwu, Founder of the Ming Dynasty (1369-1398 A.D.). |
Four centuries later Nestorian Christianity would again rise in China, but this time with the aid of an unlikely vessel, the Mongolian Empire. The Christianization of the Central Asian tribes, who would later form the Mongolian Empire, had begun as early as the sixth century.[25] As a result, the Mongolian Emperors had becoming generally moderate toward the Nestorian Christians during their campaigns, which was compounded by the fact they were enemies of their enemies, the Islamic Caliphate. The favor of the Mongolians toward the Nestorians was realized by 1289 when Emperor Kublai Khan established a ministry of special church affairs and enabled them to create a Christian metropolitan in Ancient Cambaluc, modern day Beijing.[26] Furthermore, the Mongolian Empire greatly utilized Nestorian Christians as administrators and scribes to manage their conquered territories.[27]
 |
| Kubali Khan |
The fortunes of the Nestorian Christians in China were once again to come to an end, but permanently this time. The Church would exist in China until the rise of the Chinese Ming Dynasty, who expelled the Mongolian rulers from their country in the mid-fourteenth century. The Ming Dynasty bared witness to the destruction of the Christian community; they destroyed their churches, expelled them from all government offices, and persecuted them in all their territories.[28] The persecution of Nestorian Christians was extended to the Mongolian Empire as well with the conversion of Tamerlane, the leader of the Mongolians, to Islam; he savagely persecuted Christians in his domains under the pretense of Holy War.[29] Thus with the ascension of the Ming Dynasty and Tamerlane, the adventures of the Nestorian Christians would come to an end.
 |
| Tamerlane |
In conclusion, compared to most other religions of the world, Nestorian Christianity would travel the farthest and fully utilize the Silk Road experience. It began in ancient Byzantium, traveled to ancient Persia, entered the Silk Road and was propagated throughout Central Asia, and finally ending up in China. It had an illustrious Silk Road experience, but its faith was intertwined with that of the Silk Road. The ascension of Tamerlane to the Khanate bore witness to an end to the Pax Mongolica, which had yielded 7,000 miles of peaceful interchange of commerce and ushered a Muslim rule and an iron curtain between the East and the West.[30] This also ended the propagate of Christianity in Central Asia for centuries. Throughout its illustrious career in Asia, Nestorianism had intermingled with Buddhism, and attained the patronage of both Mongolians and Chinese Dynasties, but also made numerous vehement enemies. It was an experience that no one would have imagined had it remained in Byzantium.
[1] G. R. Driver, Leonard Hodgson. “Nestorius, The Bazaar of Heracleides.” (London: Oxford University Press, 1925) http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nestorius_bazaar_0_intro.htm
[2] Ibid., 1925
[3] Ibid., 1925
[4] De Lacy O'Leary. “The Syriac Church and Fathers.” (Georgia Press, 2002) 100-102.
[5] Ibid., 2002. 100-102
[6] John M. L. Young. “By foot to China: The mission of the Church of the East, to 1400.” (Assyrian International News Agency, 1984). 14-15
[7] Mark Dickens. “The Church of the East.” (1999). 11-12. http://www.oxuscom.com/Church_of_the_East.pdf
[8] David D. Bundy. “Missiological Reflections on Nestorian Christianity in China During the Tang Dynasty” in Religion in the Pacific Era, ed. Frank K. Flinn and Tyler Hendricks. (Paragon House Publishers), 16.
[9]Ibid., 17.
[10] Ibid., 22.
[11] Ibid., 22.
[12] Ibid., 22.
[13] Seung Chul Kim. “Jesus the Bodhisattva: Jesus as Predicate,” vol. 16 of Buddhist-Christian studies. (University of Hawai’i Press, 1996), 193.
[14] Jigy Ji. “Encounters between Chinese Culture and Christianity: A Hermeneutical Perspective.” (Lit Verlag, 2008), 39.
[15] Ibid., 2008, 42.
[16] Ibid., 2008, 43.
[17] Ibid., 2008, 43.
[18] Ibid., 2008, 43.
[19] Ernst Benz. “The Eastern Orthodox Church: Its thought and Life.” (New York: Anchor Books, 1963). 132.
[20] Edgar J. Goodspeed. “The Nestorian Tablet,” Vol. 33, No 4. of The Biblical World. (Chicago: The University of Chicago press, 1909) 279.
[21] Alexander Wylie. “On the Nestorian Tablet of Se-gan Foo,” Vol. 5 of Journal of American oriental Society. (American Oriental Society, 1855-86) 285.
[22] Ernst Benz. “The Eastern Orthodox Church: Its thought and Life.” (New York: Anchor Books, 1963), 132.
[23] Mark Dickens. “Nestorian Christianity in Central Asia.” (2001) http://www.oxuscom.com/Nestorian_Christianity_in_CA.pdf
[24] Ibid, 2001.
[25] Ibid, 2001.
[26] Ernst Benz. “The Eastern Orthodox Church: Its thought and Life.” (New York: Anchor Books, 1963), 136.
[27] Mark Dickens. “Nestorian Christianity in Central Asia.” (2001), 23. http://www.oxuscom.com/Nestorian_Christianity_in_CA.pdf
[28] Ibid., 2001, 23.
[29] Ibid., 2001, 23.
[30] Ibid., 2001, 23.
