The interpretation of Tang Christianity in the Late Ming China mission : Manuel Dias Jr.'s correct explanation of the Tang "Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching" (1644) / by Matteo Nicolini-Zani.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
English text, partially translated from the Chinese.

Cover illustration: Manuel Dias Jr., Tang jingjiao beisong zhengquan 唐景教碑頌正詮 [Correct Explanation of the Tang Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching] (Wulin [Hangzhou]: Tianzhutang, 1644), copy Bodleian Library Sinica 2643, frontispiece (unnumbered folio), courtesy of The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

The book contains the first annotated English translation of the Correct Explanation of the Tang “Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” (1644) by the Jesuit Manuel Dias Jr. and other late Ming Chinese Christian sources interpreting the “venerable ancestor” of the Jesuit mission, namely, the mission of the Church of the East in Tang China.
Based on this documentation, the book reconstructs the process of “appropriation” by Jesuit missionaries and their Chinese converts of ancient traces of Christianity that were discovered in China in the first half of the seventeenth century, such as the Xi’an stele (781) and other Christian relics.

Local access dig.pdf. [Nicolini-Zani-Tang Christianity.pdf]

Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations ix
List of Figures xiii
Introduction
1 A Venerable Ancestor: The Appropriation of Tang Christianity by Jesuit Missionaries and Chinese Converts 
1 The Context: The Tang Christian Stele and Its Interpretations 
2 The Precious Stele: A Foundation Stone for the Seventeenth-Century China Mission 
3 The Holy Crosses: The Xi’an Stone Confirmed by Other Ancient
Traces of Christianity in China 
2 A Multi-Level Commentary: The Correct Explanation of the Tang “Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” by Manuel Dias Jr. 
1 Between Interpretation, Instruction, and Apology: The Contents 
2 A Complex Work with a Long Life: The Structure, Editions, and Reprints 
3 The Man behind the Text: The Author 

Annotated Translation
Preliminary Note on the Translation “Correct Explanation of the Tang Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” (Tang jingjiao beisong zhengquan 唐景教碑頌正詮) by Manuel Dias Jr., s.j. 
Preface 
《景教流行中國碑頌并序》[Ancient Traces of the Heavenly Studies] 

Correct Explanation of the Stele Eulogy on the Diffusion of the Luminous Teaching in China 

Appendix 1: “After Reading the Stele Inscription of the Luminous Teaching” (Du jingjiao beishu hou 讀景教碑書後, 1625) By Li Zhizao 李之藻
Appendix 2: “Stele Inscription for the Church of the Luminous Teaching” ( Jingjiaotang beiji 景教堂碑記, between 1625 and 1627) By Xu Guangqi 徐光啟 
Appendix 3: “A Clarification about an Iron Cross” (Tie shizi zhu 鐵十字 著, 1627) By Xu Guangqi 徐光啟
Appendix 4: “Preface to the Stele with a Cross Unearthed in Wurong” (Wurong chudi shizijia beixu 武榮出地十字架碑序, 1633) By Zhang Geng 張賡
Appendix 5: “A Poem in Honor of Giulio Aleni, s.j.” (Late Ming dynasty) By Ke Xianshi 柯憲世
Appendix 6: “Outline of the Orthodox Way of the Lord of Heaven” (Tianzhu zhengdao jielüe 天主正道解略, 1644) 
Appendix 7: “A Study of the Luminous Teaching” ( Jingjiao kao 景教考, ca. 1644) By Qian Qianyi 錢謙益
Bibliography 
Index