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The Church of the East or Nestorian Church had a presence in China during two periods: first from the 7th through the 10th century, and later during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty in the 13th and 14th centuries. Locally, the religion was known as Jingjiao (景教). ==Early period== The first recorded Christian mission to China was led by the Syriac monk known in Chinese as Alopen. Alopen's mission arrived in the Chinese capital Chang'an in 635, during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Taizong extended official tolerance to the mission and invited the Christians to translate their sacred works for the imperial library. This tolerance was followed by many of Taizong's successors, allowing the Church of the East to thrive in China for over 200 years.〔Moule, ''Christians in China before the Year 1550'', 38〕〔Moffett, pp. 14–15.〕 China became a metropolitan province of the Church of the East, under the name Beth Sinaye, in the first quarter of the 8th century. According to the 14th-century writer ʿAbdishoʿ of Nisibis, the province was established by the patriarch Sliba-zkha (714–28).〔Mai, ''Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio'', x. 141〕 Arguing from its position in the list of exterior provinces, which implied an 8th-century foundation, and on grounds of general historical probability, ʿAbdishoʿ refuted alternative claims that the province of Beth Sinaye had been founded either by the 5th-century patriarch Ahha (410–14) or the 6th-century patriarch Shila (503–23).〔Wilmshurst, ''The Martyred Church'', 123–4〕 In 781 the Christian community in Chang'an erected a tablet known as the Nestorian Stele on the grounds of a local monastery. The stele contains a long inscription in Chinese with Syriac glosses, composed by the cleric Adam, probably the metropolitan of Beth Sinaye. The inscription describes the eventful progress of the Nestorian mission in China since Alopen's arrival. The inscription also mentions the archdeacons Gigoi of Khumdan () and Gabriel of Sarag (); Yazdbuzid, 'priest and country-bishop of Khumdan'; Sargis, 'priest and country-bishop'; and the bishop Yohannan. These references confirm that the Church of the East in China had a well-developed hierarchy at the end of the 8th century, with bishops in both northern capitals, and there were probably other dioceses besides Chang'an and Lo-yang. Shortly afterwards Thomas of Marga mentions the monk David of Beth ʿAbe, who was metropolitan of Beth Sinaye during the reign of Timothy I (780–823). Timothy I is said also to have consecrated a metropolitan for Tibet (Beth Tuptaye), a province not again mentioned. The province of Beth Sinaye is last mentioned in 987 by the Arab writer Abu'l Faraj, who met a Nestorian monk who had recently returned from China, who informed him that 'Christianity was just extinct in China; the native Christians had perished in one way or another; the church which they had used had been destroyed; and there was only one Christian left in the land'.〔Wilmshurst, ''The Martyred Church'', 222〕 The collapse of the Church of the East in China coincided with the fall of the Tang Dynasty, which led to a tumultuous era (the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period).〔 Dozens of Jingjiao texts were translated from Syriac into Chinese. Only a few have survived. These are generally referred to as the Chinese Nestorian manuscripts, but are also known as the Jesus Sutras. One of the surviving texts, the ''Zunjing'' or ''Book of Praise'' (尊經), lists about 35 books that had been translated into Chinese. Among these books are some translations of the Scriptures, including the Pentateuch (牟世法王经) - Genesis is known as 浑元经, Psalms (多惠圣王经), the Gospels (阿思翟利容经), Acts of the Apostles (传代经) and a collection of the Pauline epistles (宝路法王经). These translations of the Scriptures have not survived. However, three non-scriptural Christian books listed in the ''Zunjing'' are among the Jingjiao manuscripts that were discovered in the early 20th century: the ''Sutra on the Origin of Origins'', the ''Sutra of Ultimate and Mysterious Happiness'', and the ''Hymn of Perfection of the Three Majesties'' (also called ''Gloria in Excelsis Deo''). Two additional Jingjiao manuscripts not listed in the ''Zunjing'' have also been discovered: ''Sutra of Hearing the Messiah'' and ''Treatise on the One God''.〔P. Y. Saeki, ''The Nestorian Documents and Relics in China'', pp. 248-265〕〔http://www.caerdydd.ac.uk/clarc/projects/chinesenestorian/index.html〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Church of the East in China」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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