The Nestorian pillar of Luoyang is a Tang Chinese

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

erected in 814–815 CE, which contains inscriptions related to early

Christianity in China Christianity has been present in China since the early medieval period, and became a significant presence in the country during the early modern era. The Church of the East appeared in China in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty. Catholic C ...

, particularly the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...

. It is a

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

pillar, discovered in 2006 in

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

, which is related to the

Xi'an Stele The Xi'an Stele or the Stele ( zh, c=景教碑, p= Jǐngjiào bēi), sometimes translated as the "Nestorian Stele," is a Tang Chinese stele erected in 781 that documents 150 years of early Christianity in China. It is a limestone block high wit ...

The pillar

The title of the pillar is "Sutra on the Origin of Origins of Daqin Luminous Religion", one of the Jingjiao Documents. The pillar was erected in 814-815 CE, and moved to another location in 829 CE, as explained in one part of the inscriptions. The "sutra" which starts with a

Trisagion The ''Trisagion'' (; 'Thrice Holy'), sometimes called by its incipit ''Agios O Theos'', is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodox, an ...

(Qadishā Alāhā) was dedicated to a deceased Lady An () of

Sogdia Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...

n descent. The inscription tells about her ancestors who came from

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

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 (, origin of Maymurgh) and Kang (, of

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

, or historically

Kangju Kangju (; Eastern Han Chinese: ''kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ'' standard Chinese ''Kāngjū''), proposes that it was an Iranian word meaning "stone", and compares it to Pashto ''kā́ṇay'' "stone". Joseph Marquart, Omeljan Pritsak and Peter B. Golde ...

). File:Sutras on the Origin of Origins of Ta-ch‘in Luminous Religion (detail-L).jpg, Detail of the rubbing of the pillar, showing a cross on a lotus flower flanked by angels (depicted in the form of

apsara Apsaras (, , Khmer language, Khmer: អប្សរា are a class of celestial beings in Hinduism, Hindu and Culture of Buddhism, Buddhist culture. They were originally a type of female spirit of the clouds and waters, but, later play ...

s) File:Sutras on the Origin of Origins of Ta-ch‘in Luminous Religion (detail).jpg, Detail of the rubbing of the pillar, showing a cross on a lotus flower flanked by angels (depicted in the form of apsaras) File:Sutras on the Origin of Origins of Ta-ch‘in Luminous Religion 3.jpg, Detail of the rubbing of the pillar File:Sutras on the Origin of Origins of Ta-ch‘in Luminous Religion 2.jpg, Detail of the rubbing of the pillar

References

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.) {{coord missing, China 8th-century inscriptions Monuments and memorials in China Church of the East in China Chinese steles Luoyang 8th-century Christian texts Church of the East texts Sogdians

The pillar

See also

References

Further reading

External links