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Detail of the stele

The Nestorian Stele or Nestorian Stone, formally the Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin (大秦景教流行中國碑; pinyin: Dàqín Jǐngjiào liúxíng Zhōngguó bēi, abbreviated 大秦景教碑), is a Tang Chinese stele erected in 781 which celebrates the accomplishments of the Assyrian Church of the East in China, which is also referred to as the Nestorian Church (albeit inaccurately).

The stele documents the existence of Christian communities in several cities in northern China and reveals that the church had initially received recognition by the Tang Emperor Taizong in 635. It is a 279-cm tall limestone block. It is also translated as A Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Ta-Chin Luminous Religion in the Middle Kingdom (the church referred to itself as "The Luminous Religion of Daqin", Daqin being the Chinese term for the Roman Empire).

It was erected on January 7, 781, at the imperial capital city of Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an), or at nearby Chou-Chih (盩厔; Pinyin Zhouzhi). The calligraphy was by Lü Xiuyan (呂秀巖), and the content was composed by the Nestorian monk, Jingjing (景淨), in the four- and six-character euphemistic style (駢體文) Chinese (total 1,756 characters) and a few lines in Syriac (70 words). On top of the tablet, there is a cross. Calling God "Veritable Majesty", the text refers to Genesis, the cross, and the baptism. It also pays tribute to missionaries and benefactors of the church, who are known to have arrived in China by 640.

The stele was unearthed in the late Ming Dynasty (between 1623 and 1625) beside Chongren Temple (崇仁寺), where it was housed for several centuries. It is now displayed in the Stele Forest in Xi'an.^[1]

The Nestorian Stone has attracted the attention of some anti-Christian groups, who argue that the stone is a fake or that the inscriptions were modified by the Jesuits who served in the Ming Court. There is no scientific or historical evidence to support this claim.

Numerous Christian gravestones have also been found in China in the Xinjiang region, Quanzhou and elsewhere from a somewhat later period. There are also two much later stelae (from 960 and 1365) presenting a curious mix of Christian and Buddhist aspects, which are preserved at the site of the former Monastery of the cross in the Fangshan District, near Beijing^[2].

The Nestorian Stele is on exhibit at the Xi'an Beilin Museum (Forest of Steles Museum) in Xi'an, Shaanxi. The Nestorian Stele is located in Room Number 2 and is the first stele on the left after the entry.

1. ^ P. Y. Saeki, Nestorian Documents and Relics in China, 2nd ed. (Tokyo: Maruzen, 1951).
2. ^ A. C. Moule, Christians in China before the year 1550 (London: SPCK, 1930), pp. 86−9.

• Nestorianism in China
• Daqin Pagoda
• Religion in China
• Jesus Sutra

• Fulltext: from Wikisources (in Chinese)
• stele text in English from researchers at Fordham University; actually 1919 translation of C. Horne
• "The Jesus Messiah of Xi'an" ― translation and exposition of doctrinal passages in the stele text. From B. Vermander (ed.), Le Christ Chinois, Héritages et espérance (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1998).
• Photos of a replica of the Nestorian Stele in Xi-an; photos are of a replica located in Japan Japanese text.