Christian in china When???

[Adventist Dissident]

I have been asking this quesiton. when did Christianity first reach China. Traditaidonal history says that it was some time in the 6th or 7th Centruary AD. the belief is founded upon historical evidence of stone detailing a dedication of Nestorian Chruch. This is the earlist "Historical" evidence, but that does not mean that Chrisitanity only entered there in the 6th of 7th century.


I have been strdying chrisitianity in asia and found that it would have been possible for Christianity to spread in the first centry AD to China.

the polotical unity and stablity was there. Thomas went to India and sent Missionaries out form there. Trades routes from India to China were well establish and The Buddist Missionaries Had been uning the m for about 200 years. At that time there were only 5 major Empire in the world. Rome,Parthinian,Indian,Han and Gadensen. I would not have taken much to travel to India and then Hop a Caravan into China.

There seems also to be linguistic changes that arose in the text of the Chinees about 250 to 300 ad. Concepts Such as Grace and Salvation were beginning to perminate the Chinees Language.

around 300-320 ad a movement arose called the "pure land" movement arose. in order to purge China of all foregin influences. Could it be a response to Chrisitanity?

Does any one else have any insight to this?

 

[ArnautDaniel]

I have been asking this quesiton. when did Christianity first reach China. Traditaidonal history says that it was some time in the 6th or 7th Centruary AD. the belief is founded upon historical evidence of stone detailing a dedication of Nestorian Chruch. This is the earlist "Historical" evidence, but that does not mean that Chrisitanity only entered there in the 6th of 7th century.


I have been strdying chrisitianity in asia and found that it would have been possible for Christianity to spread in the first centry AD to China.

the polotical unity and stablity was there. Thomas went to India and sent Missionaries out form there. Trades routes from India to China were well establish and The Buddist Missionaries Had been uning the m for about 200 years. At that time there were only 5 major Empire in the world. Rome,Parthinian,Indian,Han and Gadensen. I would not have taken much to travel to India and then Hop a Caravan into China.

There seems also to be linguistic changes that arose in the text of the Chinees about 250 to 300 ad. Concepts Such as Grace and Salvation were beginning to perminate the Chinees Language.

around 300-320 ad a movement arose called the "pure land" movement arose. in order to purge China of all foregin influences. Could it be a response to Chrisitanity?

Does any one else have any insight to this?

Trade routes from India to China were rather circuitous (with the Himalayas forming a pretty well impenetrable barrier). Even Buddhism got to China by first going West into Eastern Persia (basically modern Afghanistan and surrounding areas, and then hopping on the Silk Road and going East into China.

Which is to say the Hellenistic civilization was exposed to Buddhism before the Chinese one was (thus the Greek influence on Chinese Buddhist sculpture).

Other missionary religions came to China from Persia as well(i.e. in addition to Buddhism): Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism.

The impression I keep getting is that India had much closer interaction with Persia than China, and China had much closer interaction with Persia than India. So I'd be inclined to agree with a Persian form of Christianity entering China via the Silk Road rather than an Indian one.

Incidently it can be hard to distinguish Christianity, Manichaeism, and Zoroastrianism in China from textual records as they all had a habit of referring to themselves as the "Religion of Light", or "Luminious Religion". And where Zoroastrianism can be ruled out Manichaeism can still look a lot like Christianity.

As for linguistic changes...

One could try explaining the occurence of these terms in both the Greek West and the Chinese East as a result of Buddhist influence, so you'd need a more detailed analysis to even attempt to rule that out.

 

[Adventist Dissident]

thank-you for your response. I was awere of the persian connection, not the other religions. one of the biggest problems was that the Library at Merv was destroyed. this might have housed information that told of the history of christianity. I still wonder if there might be something hidden in Tbeit or some other monastry in far western china

 

[Sphinx777]

Of particular note... something else worth mentioning...

Heaven_worship

 

[ArnautDaniel]

Of particular note... something else worth mentioning...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven_worship

Most of the Chinese texts that would form the religious core of "heaven worship" predate Christ, so couldn't exactly be taken as the result of Christian influence.

 

[ArnautDaniel]

thank-you for your response. I was awere of the persian connection, not the other religions. one of the biggest problems was that the Library at Merv was destroyed. this might have housed information that told of the history of christianity. I still wonder if there might be something hidden in Tbeit or some other monastry in far western china

Textual survival is as much due to pure luck as anything.

The fact is, in all likelihood you are going to have to live with the fact that the only documentable evidence of the entry of Christianity into China is going to put it at the 5th or 6th century.

 

[Maverick3000]

around 300-320 ad a movement arose called the "pure land" movement arose. in order to purge China of all foregin influences. Could it be a response to Chrisitanity?

Are you talking about Pure Land Buddhism? It was in China since about the 140s CE.

Whether or not Christianity went into China earlier really depends on your methodology. China itself really didn't exist as a single entity in the timeline your talking about.

 

[mpodlesny]

Does Christianity currently exist in China?

 

[Maverick3000]

Does Christianity currently exist in China?

Yes, there are atleast 10-15 million Christians in China right now.

 

[E.C.]

Does Christianity currently exist in China?

Yes. One of the Orthodox saints in America was a bishop in China.

His name? St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.



If you would like to know the history of Christianity in China, I have two words for you: Nestorian Stele.