The Luminous Way to the East offers a comprehensive survey of the historical, literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources of the first stage of the Christian mission to China. It explores the complex and multifaceted process of the interaction with the different cultural and religious milieux that the Church of the East experienced in its diffusion throughout Central Asia and into China during the first millennium. Matteo Nicolini-Zani provides an overview of the Christian presence in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907) by reconstructing the composition and organization of Christian communities, the geographical location of Christian monasteries, and the related historical events attested by the sources. Through a new and richly annotated English translation of the Chinese Christian texts produced in Tang China, the volume provides a documented look at what was the earliest, and perhaps the most extraordinary, encounter of Christianity with Chinese culture and religions (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism). It shows how East Syriac Christianity in its eastward expansion along the Silk Road from Persia to China was open to the adoption of other languages and imagery and was able to enculturate the Christian teaching into new cultural and religious forms without losing its identity.

About the Author
Matteo Nicolini-Zani is a Catholic monk of the ecumenical Monastic Community of Bose, Italy, and a sinologist. As an independent scholar, he conducts historical and literary research on Christianity in China. He is the author of Christian Monks on Chinese Soil: A History of Monastic Missions to China.

Reviews
The book offers a thoughtful, broad, and accurate depiction of Jingjiao Christianity, while also providing great translations of the primary texts. I highly recommend this book to people who are interested in sinology, Chinese Christian history, and Christian missiology. * Heejun Yang, Reading Religion *
Though surely intended for a specialized readership, this book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the roots of Christianity in Asia who is also willing to be challenged by other ancient contextualizations of Christianity and willing to imagine other normative frameworks for Christianity. * Tobias Brandner, Divinity School of Chung Chi College, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Mission Studies *
It is a must read for all who deal with the history of Christianity in China and Central Asia, but more broadly it will also be of interest to scholars of religion, experts in Chinese Buddhism, church historians, theologians and missiologists. It is surely to become an indispensable English reference work when dealing with the Christian texts from Tang-era China. * Mark Dickens, Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies *



Book Information
ISBN 9780197609644
Author Matteo Nicolini-Zani
Format Hardback
Page Count 420
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 165mm * 240mm * 33mm