The Luminous Way to the East : texts and history of the first encounter of Christianity with China /  Matteo Nicolini-Zani ; translated by William Skudlarek.

Translated from the Italian: Via radiosa per l'Oriente.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 305-382) and index.

PART I: A History of Encounters
1.“The Luminous Breeze Blew Eastward”: The Church of the East from Persia to China. - The Missionary Dynamism of the Church of the East -- Christian Archaeological Traces in Asia in the First Millennium -- Christian Literature in the Languages of Central Asia -- The Meeting of Religions on the Silk Road.

2. “The Brilliant Teaching Turned toward the Tang Empire”: The Christian Presence in China between 635 and 845 --Chinese Designations of Tang Christianity -- A Chronicle of the Events Attested by the Sources -- The Composition and Structure of Christian Communities -- The Geographical Location of Christian Monasteries

3. “The Scriptures Were Translated”: The First Christian Texts in Chinese -- The 781 Xi’an Stele: A Monument “Celebrating the Eminent and Meritorious Events” -- The 815 Luoyang Pillar: A Memorial Stone “Granting the Luminous Blessings” -- The “Dunhuang” Manuscripts: A Summary of Research -- The Production and Literary Form of the Texts -- The Content of the Texts.

PART II: The Texts in Translation
Notes on Sources -- The Reference Editions of the Translated Texts -- The Transcriptions of Foreign Names
Text A:
Stele of the Diffusion of the Luminous Teaching of Da Qin in China (Da Qin jingjiao liuxing Zhongguo bei 大秦景教流行中國碑)
Text B:
1. Hymn in Praise of the Salvation Achieved through the Three Majesties of the Luminous Teaching (Jingjiao sanwei mengdu
zan 景教三威蒙度讚)
2. Book of the Honored (Zunjing 尊經)
Text C:
Discourse on the One God (Yishen lun 一神論)
I. Discourse on the One Godhead (Yitian lun diyi 一天論第一)
II. Metaphorical Teaching (Yu di'er 喻第二)
III. Discourse of the Honored One of the Universe on Almsgiving (Shizun bushi lun disan 世尊布施論第三)
Text D:
Book of the Lord Messiah (Xuting mishisuo jing 序聽迷詩所經)
Text E:
Book on Profound and Mysterious Blessedness (Zhixuan anle jing 志玄安樂經)
Text F:
Book of the Luminous Teaching of Da Qin on Revealing the Origin and Reaching the Foundation (*Da Qin jingjiao xuanyuan zhiben jing 大秦景教宣元至本經)

"The Missionary Dynamism of the Church of the East It would be an attractive undertaking for the historian to be able to follow in the footsteps of those heralds of the Gospel, who went forth from Antioch with firmness and tenacity in those early days making their way to the East . . . building new centers of Christian irradiation, creating communities and spreading the doctrine of Jesus everywhere. The interest would certainly grow if we were familiar with the challenges faced by these first evangelizers on their way to the Far East. Gaining that knowledge, however, is no easy task. Christ's teaching had to cover immense distances on its road from Antioch towards the East. . . . The details of this diffusion, however, remain obscure. There are no Acts of the Apostles, no Letters of Saint Paul, no contemporary or near-contemporary documents that might tell us how and when Christianity from the region of the Euphrates and the Tigris crossed over the mountainous regions of the Orient, how through Media and Parthia it went south to Herat and Segestan, and how it penetrated eastward, crossing the Margiana (Merv), into the region of the Oxus and the Jaxartes, and finally how it entered today's Russian province of Semireč'e, then Turfan, and then further south into the heart of China"-- Provided by publisher.

Local access dig.pdf. [Nicolini-Zan-The luminous way to the East.pdf]

Mounted rubbing of the Xi'an stele erected in 781. There are three examples of this rubbing in the Ricci Institue collection. One was in the collection of Fr. Edwatd Malatesta, S.J.; the second in the collection of Dr. Jean-Paul Wiest; the third and oldest was in the collection of Fr. Francis Rouleau, S.J., who acquired it in China during his long residence there from 1929-1952. It is the best rendering of the three. Included in the Wiest copy are rubbings made ot the stele's two sides which contain later inscriptions but are often omitted as they are differently sized and drawn. Only the main sheet in mounted and on display.