The “Brilliant Teaching”: Iranian Christians in Tang China and Their Identity

Max Deeg

doi:10.46586/er.11.2020.8674

Abstract

The last three decades or so have seen an increasing interest in the early history of Christianity in China, particularly in Christian communities in the Tang period. One of the pertinent questions asked—particularly by theologians—is whether the “Brilliant Teaching” (Jingjiao), as the religion called itself in Chinese, had a substantial number of Chinese converts, i.e. whether it was a proselytizing religion or rather an Iranian diaspora religion. While recent documents and new interpretations of existing sources has made it probable that we are indeed dealing with an “expat” religious community, the question of the cultural and religious identity of this community has not really been addressed: they were using Syriac as their liturgical and communal language, but were Persian, Sogdian and maybe even Bactrian in terms of origin and culture. This paper will summarize the data we can get from Chinese sources and discuss them in the light of religious and cultural identity.

Highlights

In the year 1625, workers discovered a monumental, inscribed stone slab in the city of Xi’an 西 [1] 安, the former capital of the Tang Empire Chang’an ⻑安
The renaming of the “Persian teaching” and its institutional representation had clear ad- [21] vantages for the Christian communities in China as a name originally derived from Parthia (Persis), Bosi / Early Middle Chinese (EMC) *pa-si, referring to the Sasanian Empire before its fall
29 The Mishihe-suo-jing mentions the star but has no reference to Persia, the presents or the envoys: 天尊在於天上,普著天地,當產移鼠.迷師訶。所在世間居,見明果在於天地,辛星居知在於天上,星大如車輪,明凈所天尊處。一爾前後生於拂林國,烏梨師劍城中,當生彌師訶。(“The Heavenly Worthy is residing up in Heaven, [and in order] to appear in Heaven and on earth [he] will generate Yishu (Jesus), the Mishihe (Messiah). [Through his] existence in the world as a result there was brightness in Heaven and on earth; the star was as big as a wagon wheel and brightly shone where the Heavenly Worthy resided

Summary

Max Deeg

ଈ୪ഌഝ೶ଈ୽ഝ The last three decades or so have seen an increasing interest in the early history of Christianity in China, in Christian communities in the Tang period. One of the pertinent questions asked— by theologians—is whether the “Brilliant Teaching” (Jingjiao), as the religion called itself in Chinese, had a substantial number of Chinese converts, i.e. whether it was a proselytizing religion or rather an Iranian diaspora religion. While recent documents and new interpretations of existing sources has made it probable that we are dealing with an “expat” religious community, the question of the cultural and religious identity of this community has not really been addressed: they were using Syriac as their liturgical and communal language, but were Persian, Sogdian and maybe even Bactrian in terms of origin and culture. This paper will summarize the data we can get from Chinese sources and discuss them in the light of religious and cultural identity

Introduction

The Problem of Daqin and Bosi

Conclusion