1.
Nestorian Stele
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The Nestorian Stele, also known as the Nestorian Stone, Nestorian Monument, or Nestorian Tablet, is a Tang Chinese stele erected in 781 that documents 150 years of early Christianity in China. It is a 279 cm tall limestone block with text in both Chinese and Syriac describing the existence of Christian communities in cities in northern China. It reveals that the initial Nestorian Christian church had met recognition by the Tang Emperor Taizong, according to the Stele, Alopen and his fellow Syriac missionaries came to China from Daqin in the ninth year of Emperor Taizong, bringing sacred books and images. Buried in 845, probably during religious suppression, the stele was not rediscovered until 1625, the stele is thought to have been buried in 845, during a campaign of anti-Buddhist persecution, which also affected the Nestorians. The stele was unearthed in the late Ming Dynasty beside Chongren Temple in Longquan, the newly discovered stele attracted attention of local intellectuals. It was Zhang Gengyou who first identified the text as Christian in content, alvaro Semedo was the first European to visit the stele. Nicolas Trigaults Latin translation of the monuments inscription soon made its way in Europe, portuguese and Italian translations, and a Latin re-translation, were soon published as well. Semedos account of the discovery was published in 1641, in his Imperio de la China. The first publication of the original Chinese and Syriac text of the inscription in Europe is attributed to Athanasius Kircher, China Illustrata edited by Kircher included a reproduction of the original inscription in Chinese characters, Romanization of the text, and a Latin translation. This was perhaps the first sizeable Chinese text made available in its form to the European public. A sophisticated Romanization system, reflecting Chinese tones, used to transcribe the text, was the one developed earlier by Matteo Riccis collaborator Lazzaro Cattaneo, mungello suggests that Matthaeus Sina may have been the person who traveled from China to Europe overland with Johann Grueber. The heading on the stone, Chinese for Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin. An even more abbreviated version of the title, 景教碑, in its Wade-Giles form, the name of the stele can also be translated as A Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Ta-Chin Luminous Religion in the Middle Kingdom. The stele was erected on January 7,781, at the capital city of Changan. The calligraphy was by Lü Xiuyan, and the content was composed by the Nestorian monk Jingjing in the four-, a gloss in Syriac identifies Jingjing with Adam, priest, chorepiscopus and papash of Sinistan. A Syriac dating formula refers to the Nestorian patriarch Hnanishoʿ II, in fact, the reigning Nestorian patriarch in January 781 was Timothy I, who had been consecrated in Baghdad on 7 May 780. The names of several higher clergy and around seventy monks or priests are listed. The names of the higher clergy appear on the front of the stone while those of the priests and monks are inscribed in rows along the sides of the stone
2.
Church of the East
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The Church of the East, also known as the Nestorian Church, is a Christian church within the Syriac tradition of Eastern Christianity. It was the Christian church of the Sassanian Empire, and quickly spread widely through Asia, between the 9th and 14th centuries, the Church represented the worlds largest Christian church in terms of geographical extent, with dioceses stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to China and India. Several modern churches claim continuity with the historical Church of the East, the Church of the East was headed by the Patriarch of the East, continuing a line that, according to tradition, stretched back to the Apostolic Age. Liturgically, the church adhered to the East Syrian Rite, and theologically, it adopted the doctrine of Nestorianism, which emphasises the distinctness of the divine and human natures of Jesus. This doctrine and its namesake, Nestorius, were condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431, leading to the Nestorian Schism and a subsequent exodus of Nestorius supporters to Sasanian Persia. The existing Christians in Persia welcomed these refugees and gradually adopted Nestorian doctrine by the 5th century, the church grew rapidly under the Sassanians, and following the Muslim conquest of Persia it was designated as a protected dhimmi community under Muslim rule. In the 13th and 14th centuries the church experienced a period of expansion under the Mongol Empire. From its peak of geographical extent, the experienced a rapid period of decline starting in the 14th century. The Ancient Church of the East further distinguished itself from the Assyrian Church of the East in the 20th century over reforms such as the use of the Gregorian Calendar. In the early 21st century, both the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church had approximately 500,000 members, the Church of the East was headed by the Patriarch of the East, an office that traces its origin to the Apostolic Age. The head of the church bears the title Catholicos. Like the churches from which it developed, the Church of the East has an ordained clergy divided into the three orders of deacon, priest, and bishop. Also like other churches, it has an episcopal polity, organisation by dioceses, each headed by a bishop, dioceses are organised into provinces under the authority of a metropolitan bishop. The office of bishop is an important one, and comes with additional duties and powers. The Patriarch also has the charge of the Province of the Patriarch, most of these latter were located farther afield within the territory of the Sasanian Empire, but very early on, provinces formed beyond the empires borders as well. By the 10th century, the church had between 20 and 30 metropolitan provinces including in China and India, the Chinese provinces were lost in the 11th century, and in the subsequent centuries, other exterior provinces went into decline as well. However, in the 13th century, during the Mongol Empire, other names for the church include Persian Church, Syriac or Syrian, and Assyrian. Nestoriuss doctrine represented the culmination of a philosophical current developed by scholars at the School of Antioch and this became a source of controversy when Nestorius publicly challenged usage of the title Theotokos for the Virgin Mary
3.
Nestorianism
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Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine that emphasizes a distinction between the human and divine persons of Jesus. It was advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428 to 431, following that, many of Nestoriuss supporters relocated to the Sasanian Empire, where they affiliated with the local Christian community, known as the Church of the East. Over the next decades the Church of the East became increasingly Nestorian in doctrine, Nestorianism is a form of dyophysitism. It can be seen as the antithesis to monophysitism, which emerged in reaction to Nestorianism, where Nestorianism holds that Christ had two loosely united natures, divine and human, monophysitism holds that he had but a single nature, his human nature being absorbed into his divinity. Both Nestorianism and monophysitism were condemned as heretical at the Council of Chalcedon, monophysitism survived and developed into the Miaphysitism of the Oriental Orthodoxy. Nestorianism never again became prominent in the Roman Empire or later Europe, though the diffusion of the Church of the East in and after the seventh century, despite this initial Eastern expansion, the Nestorians missionary success was eventually deterred. Isolated pockets of Christianity survived only in India, Nestorius took his Antiochene leanings with him when he was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by Byzantine emperor Theodosius II in 428. Nestoriuss teachings became the root of controversy when he challenged the long-used title Theotokos for Mary. He suggested that the title denied Christs full humanity, arguing instead that Jesus had two persons, the divine Logos and the human Jesus, as a result of this duality, he proposed Christotokos as a more suitable title for Mary. Nestorius opponents found his teaching too close to the heresy of adoptionism – the idea that Christ had been born a man who had later been adopted as Gods son. Nestorius was especially criticized by Cyril of Alexandria, Patriarch of Alexandria, a more elaborate Nestorian theology developed from there, which came to see Christ as having two natures united, or hypostases, the divine Logos and the human Christ. However, this formulation was never adopted by all churches termed Nestorian, indeed, the modern Assyrian Church of the East, which reveres Nestorius, does not fully subscribe to Nestorian doctrine, though it does not employ the title Theotokos. Nestorianism became a distinct sect following the Nestorian Schism, beginning in the 430s, Nestorius had come under fire from Western theologians, most notably Cyril of Alexandria. Cyril and Nestorius asked Pope Celestine I to weigh in on the matter, Celestine found that the title Theotokos was orthodox, and authorized Cyril to ask Nestorius to recant. Cyril, however, used the opportunity to further attack Nestorius, in 431 Theodosius called the Council of Ephesus. However, the council sided with Cyril, who, being a monophysite. The council accused Nestorius of heresy, and deposed him as patriarch, Nestorianism was officially anathematized, a ruling reiterated at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. However, a number of churches, particularly associated with the School of Edessa, supported Nestorius – though not necessarily his doctrine –
4.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
5.
Yuan dynasty
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The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. His realm was, by point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas. Some of the Mongolian Emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others used their native language. The Yuan dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and an imperial Chinese dynasty and it was the khanate ruled by the successors of Möngke Khan after the division of the Mongol Empire. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song dynasty, the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu. In addition to Emperor of China, Kublai Khan also claimed the title of Great Khan, supreme over the other khanates, the Chagatai, the Golden Horde. As such, the Yuan was also referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan. However, while the claim of supremacy by the Yuan emperors was at times recognized by the khans, their subservience was nominal. In 1271, Kublai Khan imposed the name Great Yuan, establishing the Yuan dynasty, dà Yuán is from the clause 大哉乾元 in the Commentaries on the Classic of Changes section regarding Qián. The counterpart in Mongolian language was Dai Ön Ulus, also rendered as Ikh Yuan Üls or Yekhe Yuan Ulus, in Mongolian, Dai Ön is often used in conjunction with the Yeke Mongghul Ulus, resulting in Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus, meaning Great Mongol State. Nevertheless, both terms can refer to the khanate within the Mongol Empire directly ruled by Great Khans before the actual establishment of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1271. Genghis Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and he and his successors expanded the Mongol empire across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis third son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, Ögedei offered his nephew Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai was unable to read Chinese but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him since his early years by his mother Sorghaghtani and he sought the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedeis son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251 and he granted his brother Kublai control over Mongol held territories in China. Kublai built schools for Confucian scholars, issued paper money, revived Chinese rituals and he adopted as his capital city Kaiping in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols
6.
Tang dynasty
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The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is generally regarded as a point in Chinese civilization. Its territory, acquired through the campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The dynasty was founded by the Lǐ family, who seized power during the decline, the dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty maintained a service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era, it is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of Chinas most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, there was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. The adoption of the title Tängri Qaghan by the Tang Emperor Taizong in addition to his title as emperor was eastern Asias first simultaneous kingship, there were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became an influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state, subsequently declining in influence, although the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which includes the Tang poet Li Bai, the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tangs Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Changan, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang or retired emperor, and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor, Emperor Gong of Sui. On the news of Emperor Yangs murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18,618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang
7.
Mogao Caves
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The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out in 366 AD as places of Buddhist meditation, the Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. An important cache of documents was discovered in 1900 in the so-called Library Cave, the caves themselves are now a popular tourist destination, with a number open for visiting. Dunhuang was established as a frontier garrison outpost by the Han Dynasty Emperor Wudi to protect against the Xiongnu in 111 BC. It also became an important gateway to the West, a centre of commerce along the Silk Road, as well as a place of various people. The construction of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang is generally taken to have begun sometime in the fourth century AD. The story is found in other sources, such as in inscriptions on a stele in cave 332. He was later joined by a second monk Faliang, and the site gradually grew, members of the ruling family of Northern Wei and Northern Zhou constructed many caves here, and it flourished in the short-lived Sui Dynasty. By the Tang Dynasty, the number of caves had reached over a thousand, from the 4th until the 14th century, caves were constructed by monks to serve as shrines with funds from donors. The major caves were sponsored by such as important clergy, local ruling elite, foreign dignitaries. Other caves may have been funded by merchants, military officers, during the Tang Dynasty, Dunhuang became the main hub of commerce of the Silk Road and a major religious centre. The site escaped the persecution of Buddhists ordered by Emperor Wuzong in 845 as it was then under Tibetan control, as a frontier town, Dunhuang had been occupied at various times by other non-Han Chinese people. After the Tang Dynasty, the site went into a gradual decline, by then Islam had conquered much of Central Asia, and the Silk Road declined in importance when trading via sea-routes began to dominate Chinese trade with the outside world. During the Ming Dynasty, the Silk Road was finally officially abandoned, the biggest discovery, however, came from a Chinese Taoist named Wang Yuanlu who appointed himself guardian of some of these temples around the turn of the century. Some of the caves had by then been blocked by sand, in one such cave, on 25 June 1900, Wang discovered a walled up area behind one side of a corridor leading to a main cave. Behind the wall was a small cave stuffed with a hoard of manuscripts. Words of Wangs discovery drew the attention of a joint British/Indian group led by Hungarian archaeologist Aurel Stein who was on an expedition in the area in 1907. Stein negotiated with Wang to allow him to remove a significant number of manuscripts as well as the finest paintings, a well-known scholar Luo Zhenyu edited some of the manuscripts Pelliot acquired into a volume which was then published in 1909 as Manuscripts of the Dunhuang Caves
8.
British Museum
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The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
9.
Palm Sunday
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Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels, the difficulty of procuring palms in unfavorable climates led to their substitution with branches of native trees, including box, olive, willow, and yew. The Sunday was often named after these trees, as in Yew Sunday. In the accounts of the four canonical Gospels, Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem takes place about a week before his Resurrection and it suggests that Jesus was declaring he was the King of Israel to the anger of the Sanhedrin. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord and we bless you from the house of the Lord. The symbolism of the donkey may refer to the Eastern tradition that it is an animal of peace, versus the horse, a king would have ridden a horse when he was bent on war and ridden a donkey to symbolize his arrival in peace. Jesus entry to Jerusalem would have thus symbolized his entry as the Prince of Peace, not as a war-waging king. In Luke 19,41 as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he looks at the city and weeps over it, in many lands in the ancient Near East, it was customary to cover in some way the path of someone thought worthy of the highest honour. The Hebrew Bible reports that Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, was treated this way, both the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John report that people gave Jesus this form of honour. In the synoptics the people are described as laying their garments and cut rushes on the street, in Jewish tradition, the palm is one of the Four Species carried for Sukkot, as prescribed for rejoicing at Leviticus 23,40. In the Greco-Roman culture of the Roman Empire, which strongly influenced Christian tradition and it became the most common attribute of the goddess Nike or Victory. Although the Epistles of Paul refer to Jesus as triumphing, the entry into Jerusalem may not have been pictured as a triumphal procession in this sense before the 13th century. In ancient Egyptian religion, the palm was carried in funeral processions, the palm branch later was used as a symbol of Christian martyrs and their spiritual victory or triumph over death. In Revelation 7,9, the white-clad multitude stand before the throne, Palm Sunday, or the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, as it is often called in some Orthodox Churches, is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the liturgical year. The day before Palm Sunday, Lazarus Saturday, believers often prepare palm fronds by knotting them into crosses in preparation for the procession on Sunday, the hangings and vestments in the church are changed to a festive colour—gold in the Greek tradition, and green in the Slavic tradition. Wherefore, we like children, carry the banner of triumph and victory, blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. There is no requirement as to what kind of branches must be used. Whatever the kind, these branches are blessed and distributed together with candles either during the All-Night Vigil on the Eve of the Feast, the faithful take these branches and candles home with them after the service, and keep them in their icon corner as an evloghia
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Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "The Church in China". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "
This article incorporates text from The Chinese repository, Volume 13, a publication from 1844 now in the public domain in the United States.
This article incorporates text from The Chinese repository, Volume 13, a publication from 1844 now in the 