How the Church of the East Reached China: The Nestorian Stele Story

In 1625, Jesuit missionaries in Xi'an unearthed a black limestone stele dating to 781 CE, inscribed in Chinese and Syriac. It told the story of a Christian monk named Alopen who arrived in Chang'an in 635, welcomed by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. This episode explores the remarkable journey of the Church of the East across Asia, from its origins in Persia to its establishment in China as the 'Luminous Religion.' Lucas and Luna discuss the stele's discovery, its theological content, and the political factors that allowed Christianity to flourish under the early Tang emperors who valued cultural exchange on the Silk Road. They also examine the role of Buddhist and Daoist influences in shaping Chinese Christian texts, and the eventual suppression of foreign religions under Emperor Wuzong in 845. The conversation sheds light on a little-known chapter of global religious history: how a branch of Christianity thrived in the heart of China for over two centuries, leaving behind a monument that still stands in the Stele Forest of Xi'an. #NestorianStele #ChurchOfTheEast #TangDynasty #Alopen #ChangAn #SilkRoad #XiAn #Jingjiao #EmperorTaizong #EmperorWuzong #ChristianityInChina #Syriac #PersianChristianity #LuminousReligion #History #FexingoHistory #WorldHistory #ReligiousHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo