Nestorian pillar of Luoyang

The Nestorian pillar of Luoyang is a Tang Chinese pillar erected in 814–815 CE, which contains inscriptions related to early Christianity in China, particularly the Church of the East. It is a Nestorian pillar, discovered in 2006 in Luoyang, which is related to the Xi'an Stele.^[1]

Nestorian pillar of Luoyang
Rubbing of the Nestorian pillar entitled "大秦景教宣元至本經", which was erected in China in 814-815.
Traditional Chinese	大秦景教宣元至本經經幢
Simplified Chinese	大秦景教宣元至本经经幢
Literal meaning	Pillar of the Sutra on the Origin of Origins of Daqin Luminous Religion
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dàqín Jǐngjiào Xuānyuán Zhìběnjīng Jīngchuáng

The pillar

The title of the pillar is 大秦景教宣元至本經 "Sutra on the Origin of Origins of Daqin Luminous Religion", one of the Jingjiao Documents.^[2] The pillar was erected in 814-815 CE, and moved to another location in 829 CE, as explained in one part of the inscriptions.^[3] The "sutra" which starts with a Trisagion (Qadishā Alāhā) was dedicated to a deceased Lady An (安氏太夫人) of Sogdian descent. The inscription tells about her ancestors who came from Bukhara in Central Asia; her relatives and clergymen from the Luoyang Daqin Monastery, who attended the funeral service also had typical Sogdian surnames such as Mi (米, origin of Maymurgh) and Kang (康, of Samarkand, or historically Kangju).^[4]

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  Detail of the rubbing of the pillar, showing a cross on a lotus flower flanked by angels (depicted in the form of apsaras)
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  Detail of the rubbing of the pillar, showing a cross on a lotus flower flanked by angels (depicted in the form of apsaras)
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  Detail of the rubbing of the pillar
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  Detail of the rubbing of the pillar

See also

• Christianity portal

• Church of the East in China
• Jingjiao Documents
• Adam (Jingjing)
• Mogao Christian painting
• Murals from the Christian temple at Qocho
• Sogdian Daēnās

References

1. Nicolini-Zani, Matteo (2009). "The Tang Christian Pillar from Luoyang and ITS Jingjiao Inscription a Preliminary Study". Monumenta Serica. 57: 100. doi:10.1179/mon.2009.57.1.003. ISSN 0254-9948. JSTOR 40727622. S2CID 190861764.
2. Winkler, Dietmar W.; Tang, Li (2009). Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters. 2. Auflage: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 109. ISBN 978-3-643-50045-8.
3. Winkler, Dietmar W.; Tang, Li (2009). Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters. 2. Auflage: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 110. ISBN 978-3-643-50045-8.
4. Li, Tang; Winkler, Dietmar W., eds. (2020). Artifact, Text, Context: Studies on Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. "orientalia – patristica – oecumenica" series (vol. 17). Zürich: LIT Verlag. pp. 126–127. ISBN 978-3-643-91195-7.

Further reading

• Holm, Frits (2001), My Nestorian Adventure in China: A Popular Account of the Holm-Nestorian Expedition to Sian-Fu and Its Results, Volume 6 of Georgias reprint series, Gorgias Press LLC, ISBN 0-9713097-6-0. Originally published by: Hutchinson & Co, London, 1924.

External links

• SIR E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, KT., THE MONKS OF KUBLAl KHAN EMPEROR OF CHINA (1928) - contains reproductions of early photographs of the stele where it stood in the early 20th century (from Havret etc.)