The history of Eastern Christianity in central, south, and east Asia prior to A.D. 1500 is rich and extensive, yet has been largely ignored. Material evidence now available from southeast and northeast Asia shows that Christian communities were present in seven countries for different periods between the sixth and fifteenth centuries.
Often termed “Nestorian,” or “Jacobite,” these communities have left a diversity of remains—epigraphical, architectural, sculptural, documentary—which testify to their presence, as far northeast as Japan and southeast as far as Indonesia. The glimpses of Christian churches in medieval Asia afforded by the evidence from these and other regions of Asia offer alternatives to Westernized patterns of mission, and question many assumptions concerning the history and character of Christian presence in the region.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
SalihAbu1894–1895Description of Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighbouring Countries. EvettsB. T. A., trans. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2.
ApremMar1976Nestorian Missions. Trichur, India: Mar Nasai Press.
3.
AtiyaAziz S.1968A History of Eastern Christianity. London: Methuen.
4.
ThawAung1972Historical Sites of Burma. Rangoon, Burma: Ministry of Union Culture.
5.
BartholdW.1977Turkestan to the Mongol Invasion. 4th edition. London: E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Trust.
6.
BashamA. L.1954The Wonder That Was India. New York: Grove Press.
7.
WinBa Than1982“Christians of the First Burmese Dynasty (1044–1300).”Rangoon, Burma: Ba Than Win.
8.
BraatenCarl1963“Modern Interpretations of Nestorius.”Church History32(3):251–267.
9.
BuchananKeith1968Out of Asia. Sydney, Australia: Sydney University Press.
10.
BudgeE. A. W.1928The Monks of Kublai Khan Emperor of China. London: Religious Tract Society.
11.
BudgeE. A. W.1932The Chronology of Gregory (Abu-Al-Faraj) Bar Hebraeus. 2 vols.London: Religious Tract Society.
12.
BurkittF. C.1899Early Christianity Outside the Roman Empire. London: John Murray.
13.
BurkittF. C.1904Early Eastern Christianity. London: John Murray.
14.
ButlerJ. F.1969“The Iconography of the Ancient South Indian Incised Crosses.”Indian Church History Review3(2):83–95.
15.
CheryanC. V.1970A History of Christianity in Kerala. Kottayam, India: Kerala Historical Society and C. M. S. Press.
16.
ChwolsonD.1886Syrisch-Nestorianische Grabinschriften, Memoires de l'Academie Imperiale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, VIIIe serie, Tome 34, No. 4.
17.
ChwolsonD.1888Syrisch-Nestorianische Grabinschriften, Memoires de l'Academie Imperiale des Sciences de St. Petersbourg, VIIIe serie, Tome 37, No. 8.
18.
CodringtonH. W.1924Ceylon Coins and Currency. Colombo, Ceylon.
19.
CollessBrian1968“Giovanni de Marignolli: An Italian Prelate at the Court of the South-East Asian Queen of Sheba.”Journal of South-East Asian History9(2):325–341.
20.
CollessBrian1969“Persian Markets and Missionaries in Medieval Malaya.”Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society42(2):10–47.
21.
CollessBrian1969–1977“The Traders of the Pearl: The Mercantile and Missionary Activities of Persian and Armenian Christians in South East Asia.”Series of articles in Abr-Nahrain, vols. 9–17.
22.
CollessBrian1987 Letter to author, November.
23.
CordinierJ.1807A Description of Ceylon. London: Longmans.
24.
CovelJ. C.CovelA.1984Korean Impact on Japanese Culture. Seoul, Korea: Hollym.
25.
DauvillierJ.1948“Les provinces chaldeenes 'de l'exterieur’ au moyen age.” In Melanges Offerts au R. P. Ferd. Cavallera. Pp. 260–316. Toulouse, France: Institut catholique de Toulouse.
26.
DauvillierJ.1983Histoire et institutions des Eglises orientales au Moyen Age. Collected Studies Series. London: Variorum Reprints.
27.
de RachiewiltzI.1971Papal Envoys to the Great Khan. London: Faber & Faber.
28.
di VarthemaLudovico1928The Itinerary of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna from 1502–1508. JonesJ. W., trans. London: Argonaut Press.
29.
FosterJohn1938The Nestorian Monument and Hymn. London: SPCK.
30.
FosterJohn1939The Church of the Tang Dynasty. London: SPCK.
31.
FosterJohn1972The First Advance: Church History I, 29–500 A.D.London: Theological Education Fund and SPCK.
32.
GordonE. A.1911The Lotus Gospel. Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University.
33.
GriersonG. A.1907“Modern Hinduism and Its Debt to the Nestorians.”Journal of Royal Asiatic Society. April: 311–335. (Offprint No. 476).
34.
GroussetRené1970The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
35.
HallD. G. E.1985A History of South-east Asia. 4th edition. London: MacMillan.
36.
HambyeE. R.1969“Some Fresh Documentation on Medieval Christianity in India and Further India.”Indian Church History Review3(2):97–101.
37.
HargreavesC.1972Asian Christian Thinking. India: Lucknow Publishing House.
38.
HickleyD.1980The First Christians in China. London: China Study Project.
39.
HoldcroftJ. G.1972Into All the World. Philadelphia, PA: Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions.
40.
HopkirkP.1980Foreign Devils in the Silk Road: The Search for Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
41.
HouraniG. F.1951Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
42.
KiddB. J.1927History of the Church to A.D. 461. London: Faith Press.
KlimkeitHans-J.1985“Christian-Buddhist Encounter in Medieval Central Asia.” In The Cross and the Lotus. HoustonG. W., ed. Pp. 6–24. New Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass.
45.
KuriakoseM. K.1982History of Christianity in India: Source Materials. Madras, India: Senate of Serampore College and Christian Literature Society.
46.
LabourtJ.1904Le Christianisme dans L'Empire Perse sous la Dynastie Sassanide. Paris.
47.
LatouretteK. S.1945–1947History of the Expansion of Christianity. 7 vols.London: Eyre and Spottiswood.
48.
LeslieD. D.1981–1983“Persian Temples in Tang China.”Monumenta Serica35:276–295.
49.
LieuS. N. C.1985Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China: A Historical Survey. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
50.
McCrindleJ. W.1897The Christian Topography of Cosmas, An Egyptian Monk. London: Hakluyt Society.
51.
MathewC. P.ThomasM. M.1967The Indian Churches of Saint Thomas. Delhi, India: ISPCK.
52.
MinganaA.1925“The Early Spread of Christianity in Central Asia and the Far East.”Bulletin of John Rylands Library9(2):297–371.
53.
MinganaA.1926“The Early Spread of Christianity in India.”Bulletin of John Rylands Library10(2):435–495.
54.
Ministry of Union Culture1955Pictorial Guide to Pagan. Rangoon, Burma: Government of Burma.
55.
MouleA. C.1930Christians in China Before the Year 1550. London: SPCK.
56.
MuskensM. P.1979Partner in Nation Building: The Catholic Church in Indonesia. Aachen, Germany: Mission Aktuell Verlag.
57.
NauF.1914L'Expansion Nestorienne en Asie. London: SPCK.
58.
TaeOhyoon1973History of the Korean Church. (In Korean). Seoul: Hye Seon Moon Wha Sa.
59.
OuterbridgeL. M.1952The Lost Churches of China. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press.
60.
PelliotP.1914“Chretiens d'Asie Centrale et d'Extreme Orient.”Toung Pao15:623–644.
61.
PelliotP.1930“Christianity in Central Asia in the Middle Ages.”Journal of the Central Asian Society17(3):301–312.
62.
PelliotP.1973Recherches sur les Chretiens d'Asie Central et d'Extreme Orient. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.
63.
QuéréM.1987“Christianity in Sri Lanka Before the Coming of the Portuguese.”Aquinas Journal (Sri Lanka)4(2):127–153.
WhaleyA.1960Ballads and Stories from Tunhuang. New York: MacMillan.
73.
WhitfieldR., ed. 1982The Arts of Central Asia: The Stein Collection in the British Museum—Paintings from Dunhuang. 3 vols.London: : British Museum; Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha.
74.
WoltersD. W.1967Early Indonesian Commerce: A Study of the Origins of Srivijaya. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
75.
YoungJ. M. L.1984By Foot to China: The Mission of the Church of the East to 1400. Tokyo, Japan: Radio Press.
76.
YoungW. G.1969A Handbook of Source Materials for Students of Church History. London: Lutterworth.
77.
YuleH.1913–1916Cathay and the Way Thither. Revised by CordierH.4 vols.London: John Murray.
78.
YuleH.1921The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian Concerning the Marvels and the Kingdoms of the East. Revised by CordierH.2 vols.London: John Murray.
