At the end of the 12th century, ferocious Mongol cavalry rushed through the barren wastelands of Central Asia, creating the most vast empire in human history, the mighty Mongol Empire. The terrible army of Genghis Khan shook the world. The barbaric slaughter and astonishing brutality of the Mongol nomadic tribes spread throughout Eurasia and the Middle East, and any army opposing the Mongols was quickly crushed. Many Mongol tribes and warriors called themselves Christians, and many tribes had converted to Christianity for centuries. Mongolian Christians belong to the Assyrian sect of the East, also known as the Nestorian Church (Jingjiao) or the Eastern Syrian Church. These Eastern churches were mainly concentrated in the Middle East, especially in today's Iran and Iraq. In the early days of Christianity, Assyrian missionaries had spread the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout India, China, and Mongolia. The Rise of the Assyrian Church in the Far East - As a result of the missionary fortifications of the Christians in Central and East Asia, the Christian Church was established in China more than 300 years before the Conversion of the Russian Nation to Christianity, while most of Northern Europe was still pagan.
A 781 AD stele found by 17th-century Jesuit missionaries in Xi'an, China, provides evidence of this. It states in Syriac and Chinese that a Christian sage named Aroban arrived in 625 AD to proclaim Jesus and his "doctrine of light." The tablet is accompanied by a brief outline of the basic teachings of Christianity. According to this inscription, Aroben was received by the emperor, and his teachings were recognized and ordered to be promoted throughout the Tang Empire. Aroben translated the Bible into Chinese for the Royal Library and established the Chin Ci Church and Monastery1. Aroben belonged to the Nestorian (Jingjiao) ancient Eastern Assyrian church. The church originated and is mainly popular among the Syrian-speaking people of present-day Iran and Iraq. The Church of the East itself originated in the evangelistic ministries of saints St. Thomas, St. Mary, and St. Adetta in the 70 Apostles of Jesus. 2 In fact, the Assyrian Church and the Eastern (God) Church and the Orthodox Church have much in common. The definition of "Nestorian" refers to its doctrine of Christology, which emphasizes its human reality and thus distinguishes it from its divinity. The denomination takes its name from Constantinople Patriarch Nestori (c. 381-451),3 who advocated "distinguishing" christ from the two sexes of God and man. This leads its opponents to slander their faith in Christ as having two personalities. His opposition to the claim of "Maria, the Mother of God", also sparked controversy. The word in Greek is Theotokos, meaning "the breadwinner of God," an expression that Nestori considered inappropriate because Mary was the human and physical mother of Christ, not his divinity. Nestori taught that Mary should be called "Mother of Christ" or "Mother of God, Mother of Christ", but not simply "Mother of God". The Egyptian patriarch Liro accused Nestor of heresy. Nestorius was exiled to a monastery near Antioch because of his heresy, from where he was exiled to a large oasis in the Sahara Desert. After the storm of controversy subsided, the Byzantine Emperor Magi'an decided to pardon and release him, but by the time news of the amnesty arrived, Nestori was already dying. Many Syrian-speaking Christians were attracted by the teachings of Nestori and his cleric Diodoro of Talso and Theodoro of Mopsettia. The Church of the East honors Theodoros, Theodoro, and Nestori as the authority of their teachings. Theodore of Mopsettia is now recognized as one of the greatest biblical scholars in the history of the Church.
Today, many Assyrian Christians are reluctant to be called Nestorians. The reason for this is that they argue that the Church of the East was not founded by Nestori, and that the term "Nestorians" is sometimes referred to a heresy that has never been advocated by Nestorius or the Church of the East, that is, the so-called two natures of God and man who believe in Christ are two "separate" persons within Christ. In any case, recently the Assyrians have subscribed to the name Nestorians. Similarly, not all Jing believers are Assyrians. In fact, many of them were Indian, Mongolian, Chinese, and simply used Syriac as a religious language. Being accused of heresy by the Western Church is good for the Jing Church. Before christianity was legitimized in the Roman Empire, many Christians took refuge in Rome's old rival, the Parthian Empire of Persia (Resting in Peace). When Emperor Constantine ended his persecution of Christians and converted himself to Christianity, Persia began to doubt the loyalty of its Christian subjects. When the Assyrian Christians proved that the Western church condemned it as heretical, the Persians were kind to the Syrian church in the East. In this way, the Church of Syria in the East spread throughout the Silk Road and throughout the Far East, with Persia as its base. The Western Syriac Church is another branch of the Syriac Church. This church is also known as the Jacobites and the Syriac Orthodox Church. Jacobites inherited the traditions of the Syrian church and did not accept the teachings of Nestorius. They believed that the humanity of Jesus Christ was insignificant and absorbed by his overriding divinity. They are called unitarians. The name Jacobites is derived from Jacob Balladeus (died 578). The Syriac Church of the East is dominant in the East, but wherever the Nestorians (Gyeongjuks) develop, they love to follow them. Now they are living in the name of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Aroben was born in present-day Iraq. Syrian Christians like Aroben speak Syriac, a type of Aramaic. Aramaic is the original language of the Bible and the language that Jesus used in his teaching and daily life. Syriac churches in both the East and the West speak Syriac. Syriac is a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew, Arabic and certain Ethiopian languages. Aramaic was an important language for ancient civilizations and religions, as well as the language of the early church and first-century Judaism. Many priests of the early church, such as Ephraim and Thatian, wrote a large number of Syriac texts. In Central Asia and the Far East, Syriac was the language of Assyrian merchants and the liturgical language of Jingjiao Christians. It has also been used in diplomacy, as well as for the remembrance of monuments, tombstones and other monuments, such as the Great Qin Jingjiao stone stele in Xi'an, which is written in Chinese and Syriac. Most of the Letters from Europe to the Mongol rulers were written in Syrian script. For example, William, the Franciscan cleric Ruburu, traveled across Asia with Syrian letters from European monarchs to the Mongol rulers. 4 The Silk Roads trade led to a confluence of different cultures and religious beliefs. Various religions coexist along the Silk Road. Among them are Jingjiao, Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism and shamanism of the steppe nomads. Aroben was along the Silk Road preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ all the way to China. For centuries, brave Assyrian Christians have crossed the Silk Road north and south, spreading hope and the message of salvation of Jesus Christ. Many missionaries walked bipedally from one end of the Silk Road to the other, transmitting the gospel to China and Mongolia. 5 Around 1000 AD, the Mongol tribe of Krekhs converted to Christianity. The number of the tribe exceeds 200,000 people. Stories of their conversions are found in the records of the Jacobite cleric General Hebryth, the Chronicles of the Assyrian Church, and Lawrence E. Brown's The Fall of Christianity in Asia. 6 It is said that the leader of Creé once went out hunting and lost his way in the wilderness, and when he was desperate and pessimistic and disappointed, he suddenly saw a supernatural figure appear in front of him, introducing himself as St. Sergei, promising to show him the way home, if he would believe in Jesus. In this way, the leader miraculously returned to the camp. He immediately brought in some well-known Assyrian merchants, converted to Christianity, and asked them for religious guidance. This incident shows that the Assyrian merchants also helped spread Christianity while trading along the Silk Roads. Christianity flourished in China for centuries. A large number of monuments of Christian background have been found in the Far East, especially along the Silk Roads, and in the hinterland of the Mongol Empire: crosses, Christian tombstones, Chinese and Texts of Christian books in Syriac. Some of the antiquities are dated in the 7th to 9th centuries. A number of church ruins and Christian paintings have also been found.
7 Marco Polo mentions that between 1271 and 1295 he visited hundreds of churches and saw thousands of Christians during his travels throughout the Mongol Empire. The Assyrian Church reached its peak during the Mongol Empire and almost did not become the dominant religion of the Empire. Unfortunately, due to the confrontation between Islam and Roman Catholicism, and because of its internal weaknesses, especially nominalism, it gradually lost its position. Some warlords, including the notorious Timur, converted to Islam. Timur launched an Islamic jihad against Christians in the Far East, nearly destroying Christianity in Central Asia. Before 600 AD, the Assyrians sent missionaries to the entire Far East and established a Christian community. Beginning in what is now northern Iraq, they spread throughout Iran, throughout Central Asia, and finally into China. They also sent missionaries to Ethiopia and India. 8 Edward Gibbon writes in His History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: "In the 6th century AD, according to a report by a Jingjiao tourist (Cosmas Coplets of Alexandria), 9 Christianity had successfully spread to Bactria, the Huns, Persia, India, Greater Armenia, Medai, Elam: these barbarian churches were numerous from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea; these new churches were remarkable by the large number of holy monks and martyrs. On the Malabar Pepper Coast and on the islands of the Indian Ocean, Sokotra and Ceylon, the Christian population in these isolated areas, as well as the number of bishops and priests (Archduches of the Assyrian Church) appointed by the Catholic Patriarchate of Babylon, is increasing. "10 By 800 A.D., Christianity had spread throughout the Far East and throughout the Mongol tribes of Naiman, Kere, and Wangu, and the Uighurs had a large number of Assyrian Christians in the Mongols, the Mongols after Genghis Khan.
11 Chinese the Great Wall was built to defend against the encroachment of these and other Mongol tribes on its territory. At that time, the Mongol tribes were fighting each other, not enough to pose any threat to the outside world. Until a great leader emerged to unify them and forge them into an invincible military force. In 1206, Temujin (1167-1227), after conquering the Krebes who had sheltered him earlier, changed his name to Genghis Khan, meaning "ruler of the world (or 'four seas')". Genghis Khan was one of the most influential people in the entire second millennium of world history in the Christian era. His army created the largest land empire in history, and his expansion led to the spread of the Black Death in Europe and the discovery of the Far East by Europeans. Genghis Khan was a barbarian. He is believed to have said: The greatest joy a man can have is victory: conquering the enemy's armies, chasing them, robbing them of their possessions, howling wolf howls when they kill their whole families, riding their good horses, and their wives and daughters. 12 The Secret History of the Mongols is the oldest and most important record of the life of Genghis Khan,13 and the book provides rich details about the rise of Temujin. Professor Larry Moses of Indiana University, after studying the holy scriptures cited in chapter 16 of the Secret History, concluded that its author "may have been a Jingjiao Christian." Although its author is almost certainly a Jingjiao Christian, the Secret History is not a Christian religious book at all. There is only one vague mention of the Christian rituals practiced by the Mongol rulers before Genghis Khan and the khan, who was also his ally. Professor Moses mentions that the holy scriptures compare Temujin to David in 1 Samuel, his brother Zamuhe to Jonathan, while the then Jing sect of the Mongol Khan Khan (the father of Zamuhe) was compared to Saul. Any Bible reader who reads the Secret History will find this similarity. Genghis Khan was a deep believer in religion. He worshipped "MengKe Ke Tengger", which is the Mongolian word for "eternal life, heaven", and believed in animism. 14 Animism is the belief that "all natural phenomena and things, whether inanimate or not, always have an innate soul." "15The gods they worship dwell in every corner of the world; In the wind, in the fire, in the water, everywhere is admired. 16 The Mongol religious leader was a shaman (the word "shaman" is derived from the Mongolian language). The shaman is a witch doctor or medicine man. People believe that they have the ability to exorcise demons, cure diseases, and "often have direct contact with the spiritual world through dreams or jumping gods." 17 Some Mongols believe in Buddhism, which, like Christianity and Islam, is a foreign religion. In the early days of the Mongol Empire, there were more Christians than Muslims in the Mongol tribes. Before the Mongols converted to Islam, they were basically tolerant of different religions. Möngke Khan described the different religions to William of Ruburu as "the fingers of one hand." Möngke Khan told him, "God gave you the Bible... He gave us [the shaman] and we followed their instructions so that we could be at peace. 18 According to Peter Jackson and David Morgan, "it is quite possible that in their opinion any religion is right: it would be better if the "religious class" of every religion and denomination prayed to them, and then heaven would bless the dynasty no matter what. Christian monks and priests, Buddhist lamas and Muslim lawyers, judges and religious foundations were exempt from hard labor and taxes. It is important, however, that the Ruling Authorities of the Mongols could not be too close to a particular religious denomination... Regardless of which religion a particularly interested Mongol prince or commander-in-chief was, his primary duty was to maintain and expand the Mongol Empire. 19 The story of the Mongol ruler Wang Khan before Genghis Khan and the leaders of the Jingjiao sects of other Mongolian tribes spread to Europe, giving rise to the legend of "Priest King John". 20 European legend has it that in "India," meaning that in the Far East, a powerful priestly king ruled. They believed that somewhere in the Far East, there was a great Indian king named John, known as the "priestly king John" of India. He was immortal, wealthy, and willing to join forces with Europe in a crusade against the Muslims. The legend of "John the Priest" has three historical sources: the St. Thomas sect of Christianity that spread to India, the Christian empire of the Coptics in Ethiopia, and the Jing sects of Mongolia and Central Asia. When the stories of Christians in South, East africa, and Central Asia spread to Europe, they were added to the fire and spread falsehoods to the end and became the legend of "John the Priest King." This is ultimately due to the fact that Europe at that time did not yet have the exact knowledge of the geography of the world. For many centuries, Europeans have confused India, Africa and China as "India." The original source of the legend was the monarchs and princes of the religious rulers of Central Asia. Marco Polo, Shon Hebries and William of Ruburu all tried to lock in the "priest King John" as the King Khan. John of Mengovino determined that a certain King George, who had been baptized by him in the Assyrian church, was a descendant of "John the Priest king." Among the Mongol tribes, the Jing sects were not small in number to influence. According to Gibbon, "The jingjiao churches spread from China all the way to Jerusalem and Cyprus; they were more numerous than the Greek and Latin churches, including the Jacobites. 21 In the major events of the empire, several Jingjiao women from the Kre tribe had considerable influence. Samuel Hugh Murphy mentions some of these key women in his History of Christianity in Asia: "Genghis Khan's daughter-in-law, a religious woman... Sorkaktanibeki instigated Lu hetianibegi... The princess is one of the three Christian sisters who played a remarkable role in the history of the Mongol Empire. The eldest sister, Ibaka-beki, was married to Genghis Khan; the second sister, Bektutmish, was the eldest wife of Genghis Khan's eldest son, Shuchi. The instigator who married his fourth son, Tuolei, was destined to do something more important. She became a Christian mother of three Mongol princes, a Great Mongol Khan and a Chinese Emperor (Kublai Khan), and a Persian Emperor (Ilkhan). 22 James Montgomery described the importance of these Lycan queens: "Hulagu and his two brothers, Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan, and the other brother Ali Bu, had a Christian mother (Sorkaktani instigated Rukhtini), a strong and tenacious woman. Hulagu had a Christian wife, Dakuz Kathon Toguskodun... She played a large role in favoring Christians against Muslims, and under her influence Hulagu built a Christian church next to her tent... She and her husband died in the same year, and according to [Shon Hebrace], "The whole Christian world mourns the loss of the lamps and warriors of these two Christian religions." ”。。。 These Christian queens played their part in religious politics... Abbaha's son, Aruhun Khan (1258-1291), had a Christian wife, whom Pope Nicholas IV sent her an official letter. [23] Volkmal Gondrane described Sorktani as "a Christian whose influence is widespread but who has not yet been taken seriously by posterity." 24 He described her authority as enormous: "Her special credit is the spread of the Jingjiao faith in Asia on the one hand, and the anti-Muslim sentiment of the Great Khan... Her influence as "First Lady" on other women and children is only indirectly reflected in the original material. After her death in 1265, her niece continued her aunt's mission until the death of Kublai Khan in 1294. After that, the important leaders of Mongolia began to turn to Islam. 25 Soon after the Mongols destroyed Russia and Hungary, rumors spread that they were about to invade Europe. In his history books, Matthew Paris recorded the story of the Mongols and the panic of the people at that time. 26 The Pope and secular leaders were so shocked that they sent ambassadors and missionaries to Mongolia to see how serious their threat to Christendom would be. Many St. Francisian monks and monks were sent across Asia to the heart of the Mongol Empire. The Crusader king Louis IX, who was later canonized, sent Father William and other priests to visit Möngke Khan. Marco Polo also traveled throughout the Mongol Empire in this era. Many of these tourists recorded their trips and frequently mentioned the Jing sects they encountered. Jingjiao monks also visited Europe as emissaries of the Mongols. Only laban (In Syriac, that is, monk, monk) has survived the travel notes of Saoma. Through these major sources of information, we can have a vivid understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the Jingjiao Church in the Mongol Empire. Shortly after the Odolic monk of Bodenlonge took up the priesthood, he set out for the Far East as a world traveler and perhaps a missionary. He set out between about 1316 and 1318, returned to Europe before the spring of 1330, and died in 1331. 27 He is said to have baptized more than 20,000 people. His story is described in detail in the Journey of the Bohemian Odolik. He described the Jings as "despicable and vicious heretics" and "separatists and pagans." 28 He mentions seeing "the houses of the Jing sect", several Jing churches, and the Jing believers who served under the tent of the Great Khan. 29 He also went to India to visit the Jingjiao Christians of the St. Thomas sect. Rustican of Pisa wrote a book entitled "Marco Polo's Travels", which recounted the story told to him by marco polo, a Venetian. Marco Polo followed his father and uncle throughout Asia from 1271 to 1292 to engage in trade. The Polo fathers and sons also wanted to spread Catholicism during their journey. Marco Polo claimed to have been deeply pleased by Kublai Khan and was made an official and envoy to serve the royal family. The Travels of Marco Polo is full of references to the Jing sect. Marco Polo tells us where he met the Jingjiao Church, who the important Jingjiao were, and in which cities there were many Jingjiao. He believed that Christians in the Far East were heretics because they did not belong to the Roman Catholic Church. He begins by describing them: "Some people obey the law of Christ, but they do not follow the rites of the Church of Rome, for there are many things that are not done right. They are known as the Jingjiao and Jacobites. Their patriarch is called the Patriarch. The Patriarch was canonized as archbishop, bishop and abbot at all levels, and then sent to all over India, China, Baghdad, just like the Pope of Rome. You see, I say that the Christians I meet in all these countries are The Codifications and the Jacobites. [30] Marco Polo also mentioned the Jingjiao Church on Socotra Island, as well as the Jingjiao Christians in St. Thomas in South India, and he also mentioned Kublai Khan's patronage of Jingjiao. Frances Wood in Marco Polo's "Did Marco Polo Go to China?" The book speaks of the events in which Marco Polo (or his sources) discovered Manichaean believers and mistook them for Christians. 31 This is due to Manichaeism's use of the Bible and its special reverence for Jesus Christ. Manichaeism began in 241 AD in the Zoroastrian Empire 32, when a young man named Manichae began a new religion. Mani preached that any religion was the truth, that Zoroastrians, Buddha, and Jesus were all great prophets, and that he himself surpassed his predecessors to become the greatest prophet. Manichae's religious background was the Assyrian Christianity, which was greatly influenced by the Assyrian Church. The success of Manichaeism was due to the gospel foundation laid by early Assyrian missionaries. The frequent mention of Jesus in Manichaean texts and his high honors attest to the strength of the Assyrian church in Central Asia at that time. The followers of Manichae tried to follow in the footsteps of the Assyrian missionaries, tempting Assyrian Christians to embrace manichaeism as a fake. Manichaeism eventually disappeared completely, and no one believed anymore. 33 Many Jing priests served as ambassadors to the Mongols. Friar Simon and Friar Ada met with the European envoy, Friar Ander Longrume, and presented a letter to Pope Innocent IV, asking him to tolerate the Christians and urging him to make peace with Frederick II (Holy Roman Emperor). The epistle is still preserved in the Vatican archives. 34 On 14 December 1248, general Elijigidei Erlegi sent two Gyeongju priests, Da wei and Margu, to King Louis IX of France. Eleksin wished Louis IX victory in the war against the Muslims and asked him to "avoid discrimination between Latin and non-Latin Christians, since all denominations were equal under Mongol rule." 35 Around 1255, two Uighur Mongol monks set out from Khan Bali (now Beijing) on foot for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They were the Margu monks and the shogun sauma monks. Because of the fighting, they could not reach Jerusalem and had to stop in Baghdad. There, the Monks of Margull were nominated as the new patriarch of the Old Eastern Church. He changed his name to Jehovah Job III and ran the Eastern Church from 1281 until his death in 1318. He was the only Mongol sheikh in history. In 1287, the pro-Christian Aruhun Khan of Persian Ilkhan sent the monkSauma to Western Europe to encourage them to support a new crusade. Aruhun Khan wanted his Jingjiao army and Christian Europe to join forces in a two-sided attack to drive Muslims out of the Holy Land. In Europe, Shoma met with the Byzantine Emperor Andronica II Pariologos, King Philip IV of France, and King Edward I of England. These people were obsessed with the internal affairs of Europe and had little interest in the Crusades. He also met with Pope Nicholas IV. 36 The upper echelons of the Roman Catholic Church asked Saoma to confirm whether he was heretical. The latter argued: "His Holiness Thomas, His Holiness Ada and His Holiness Marie have taught us the Gospel, and we have followed the rites they have taught us to this day... Many of our priests went to Mongolia, Turks, and China to educate them, and many Mongols today believe in religion. In fact, some princes and princesses were also baptized and confessed Christ. They all had churches inside the barracks, they had a lot of respect for Christians, and there were a lot of believers in the army. The Khan himself, because he was very fond of Christianity and longed to conquer Palestine and Syria, wanted you to help take Jerusalem. [37 The writings of Shon Sauma are included in the book History of Jehovah Sauber the Patriarch of the Jing Sect and His Acting Shogun, Saoma. Gregory John Abu Pharaz Dzhar, Hebrew Bishop, known as Dzun Horace (1225-1286), was an Jacobite cleric and a prolific writer of Syriac and Arabic. He wrote the Chronicle of the Holy Religion, a history of the world from creation to his time. In his history books, Hebrys mentions the favor of the Mongol rulers to the Jacobites and The Jingjiao Christians. In his article "Chronicles of Grigory Jans Hebrius Abu Farraz and His Relations with the Persian Mongols," George Wren argues that the praise of Hebrères for his Mongol benefactors is appropriate and not exaggerated. There is no doubt that the Syrian Orthodox Church flourished at that time and had a period of stability under the reigns of Hulagu and Abbaha. Zahm Heblis writes, "[In the early days of Mongol rule], the church developed steadily and was sheltered everywhere it went. "38 Between 1253 and 1255, Father William of Ruburu was sent by King Louis IX of France to the court of Möngke, The Great Khan of the Mongols. He was a brave, courageous and sincere man. His work became one of the most important accounts of that period because of its cultural and historical insight. He did this not only as a European envoy, but also for Jesus Christ. Father William of Rubru begs for King Louis IX of France to record in detail what he saw and heard. Like Marco Polo, his book also mentions a lot of Jingjiao. In His book In Search of Genghis Khan, Tim Severin summarized Father William's view of Jingjiao: "Ruburu begs very disappointed because none of these Christian spokesmen he met were formally trained. He complained that the Jing clerics could not even read their own Syriac scriptures. In addition, they lent usury, engaged in polygamy, bought and sold priesthood, made money from sacraments, and drank alcohol. In this remote place, since their bishop could only run once in about 50 years, Rubloo begged that the bishop had come up with a ridiculous system of traveling around to grease all children, even the youngest, to ensure that enough people would be qualified to serve as priests in the future. [39 Father William's attitude toward the Jingists was largely the same as that of other Catholics of his time. However, when the Great Khan organized a great debate among the various religions, Father William noticed that the Jing believers who participated in the debate were quite proficient in the Bible. He recorded the Jingists' silence of Buddhists, Muslims, and shamans in the debate and ultimately won. 40 However, father William was disappointed that not a single spectator had converted to Christianity after the debate. Afterwards , " clergy of different faiths sat down for a drunken break and ended the day's schedule. "41 In 1295, Pope Nicholas IV sent the monks of Mongovino to the Great Khanate. Later, Clement V appointed him Archbishop of Khan Bali. Catholicism began to develop believers in the Far East, mainly from the Jing. Monk John mentions that he baptized a Mongol king named George who converted from Jingjiao: "A local prince named George originally belonged to the Jingjiao Christian Church... When he came to me to take refuge, he belonged to the truth of the ecumenical faith, and many of his subjects converted to the orthodox ecumenical religion. 42 In his writings, there are also sometimes complaints about the confrontational posture of the Jing believers. The Jing believers understood that Catholics had come to divide and weaken the original Christian society in the Far East. Catholics are poaching the followers of a native religion to believe in a foreign religion in the eyes of many. Catholics continued to work against the Jing believers for centuries. Later, St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) continued to convert from the Jing. In the 1550s, the Portuguese forced all of the Kum of the Saint Thomas to convert to Catholicism. They arrested the priests of the Syrian church and sent them to the Inquisition in Europe. As soon as the Portuguese got out of the way, the Church of St. Thomas immediately announced its withdrawal from the Catholic Church and joined the Church of Jacob in the East. 43 Guyo Khan wrote a letter to Pope Innocent IV, corresponding to the contempt of Europeans for other races and religions. He said, "You Westerners think you are Christians and despise others. How do you know, then, to whom God will favor and give grace? We worship God and have destroyed the entire continent from east to west by His divine power. [44] The Decline of the Assyrian Church in the Far East - Scholars have proposed various explanations for the demise of the Assyrian Church in the Far East. The Encyclopedia of World Art blames the plague: "In Central Asia... There is the so-called "Seirech'e cemetery", 4 found near the large city of Nawakath: 2 near Fruze in the west... Tombstones with crosses and Syriac inscriptions were found at these sites, ranging in age from 858 to 1345 – the latter year may have been the year when the people of these settlements were eventually wiped out by the plague. "45 The Black Death may have been a factor; however it was not the main cause. Samuel Hugh Murphy believed that the Jingjiao Church had died out because of its weakening due to its "isolation, superstition, and integration". 46 Weakness within the Church has led to the destruction of the Catholic Church and, more seriously, Islam, against its rivals. After the death of Kublai Khan, many Mongols began to convert to Islam. The Jacobic historian described the change as Hebryth: "Early on, as the Mongols discovered the sincerity and benevolence of the Christians, they showed great respect for the Christian church under their rule. However, their favor later turned into resentment; many Mongols turned to the Muslim faith and no longer identified with Christianity. [47] This end began with the conversion of the Ilkhanate's Ghazan Khan (1271-1304) to Islam in 1295. The Assyrian church lost this royal grace and refuge. The Mongols began to fight with a new purpose, the Jihad Jihad Jihad for the spread of Islam. The most notorious Mongol Muslim warrior was Timur, known as the Lame Timur, who was born and died between 1336 and 1405. He conquered a large area of Asia, covering modern Turkey, Central Asia and India. He continued the brutality of Genghis Khan. His hooves did not spare even children, and the heads of his enemies cut off by his army piled up into mountains. He laid the prisoners alive under his newly built walls and buried the rest alive. 48 The genocidal attacks carried out by Timur against Christian Armenia and Georgia. Edward P. Sokol mentions these things: "Tamerlane also massacred Christians he met along the way. In Mesopotamia, since then, the Jing sect and the Jacobites have been left with only the pale shadow of the former church. He was also cruel to the Hindus and Zoroastrians he met in India and Iran. "49 In 1403, King Henry III of Castile (Spain) sent his envoy, Rozérô Ghazérò Kravijo, to visit Timur. Clavijo wrote about his mission to the Timurid Khanate, which in many ways resembled the descriptions of the Mongol Empire by other tourists, the main difference being the absence of those of Jingjiao. He mentioned that "Chinese Christians" who believed in Jingjiao asked to see Tamerlane. 50 There is also a passage about the Jing believers who were captured by Timur. He said: "Now that Samarkand has gathered the peoples they have taken captive from all over the world, I see that in addition to those peoples [the Indians], there are Turks, Arabs, all kinds of different Moors, Greek and Armenian Christians, Catholics, Jacobites and Jingists. People of all ethnicities, even their families, men, women and children, are said to be as many as 150,000. [51 Timur persecuted Muslims as he did Christians, and wanted to forge an alliance with Europe to strengthen his empire. However, his actions and that of the other Mongols after taking over the sword of Islam brought ruin to Jingjiao. According to the Medieval Dictionary, Tamerlane's victory led to the destruction of the Jingjiao learning center and eventually reduced the Jingjiao community to a small number of people fleeing to northern Iraq and the Persian mountains. 52 Despite centuries of missionary work, thousands, if not millions, of converts, the Jingjiao Church in Mongolia eventually disappeared. The reasons for this should be manifold. Perhaps because Father William of Ruburu begs said that the leadership of the Church was corrupt. However, there were many such incidents in Europe, and the Assyrian church in Mongolia was strong enough to produce people like Wang Han, TsuruhotheniBegi, Ma Yobo Yahwa III, Laban Japta Saoma... Such an important historical figure. Perhaps many were Christians in name only – it is hard to imagine devout Christians participating in atrocities such as those committed by the Mongols, but then again the European Crusaders were not good birds. When Father William of Ruburu saw the Christian Mongol chief Sarita, Cioac, the representative of Sarita, a Jing believer, said to him, "You cannot say to our prince (Saridah) that he is a Christian. He was not a Christian but a Mongol. 53 Salita prayed like a Christian, with an entourage of Assyrian priests, but he considered his Mongol status to be more important than the Christian faith. Perhaps this cultural idolatry (national identity) also weakened the Assyrian church among the Mongols. Divisions within the church also make it weak. The Jingists fought with the Jacobites, and then the Roman Catholic Church came to insert a lever to participate in the infighting. Islam is also plagued by factional struggles, but Muslims can unite to work towards the eradication of Christianity in Asia. The Jingjiao Church in the Far East is not the only church in history that has completely disappeared. Much of North Africa was also a Christian world, producing great men such as Tethullian and St. Augustine. The churches in North Africa (with the exception of the Coptic Church in Egypt) have perished. They also had many internal problems, but the North African Church and the Jingjiao Church in Mongolia and China died out for the same reason, that is, they were both victims of Muslim conquest, because of the rise of figures like Timur and the spread of Islam with the sword. Jingjiao's mistake was to rely too much on the preferences of aristocratic dignitaries and dignitaries. They are preoccupied with how to retain their favored positions, such as as ambassadors or compete for favors before Christian queens, rather than working to spread faith and strengthen cohesion. Church leadership never imagined what would happen once it fell out of favor. It was a fatal blow to them. The loss of its glorious status coupled with the blows of Islamic Jihad, the Church lost contact with their Order. The scattered Mongolian churches were isolated, lost contact with the mother churches in the Middle East, and suffered from plague, war, and persecution. The church began to shrink, and then slowly withered away. Many people cannot stand discrimination and convert to islamic rights as if it were a similar religion. At the same time as the mongol church died, the church in the Middle East also suffered disasters, but the latter overcame all kinds of survival to this day. Although the Church of Jing in the Far East has disappeared, it has left us with its traces. The guest of Honour John Berlang (1180-1252) traveled to the Capital of Mongolia in the 1240s. He was the first papal envoy to mongolia. Upon his return, he wrote a History of the Tatar Mongols, in which he described the culture, ethnicity, and history of the Mongols. Much of his information came from the Russian and Turkish Jingjiao Christians he interviewed on his travels. He mentioned that the Uighurs were, according to him, "Christians of the Jing sect." "The Mongols accepted their alphabet because they themselves had no written script; however, now they call it the Mongolian alphabet. "The 54 Uighur and Mongolian alphabets are both variants of the Syrian alphabet. These letters, adapted from the Assyrian script, are still in use in Mongolia and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. In his history of Eastern Christianity, Aziz S. Atiyah notes the influence of Jingjiao practice on Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism, the Buddhist sect of the Dalai Lama. "One of the legacies of Jingjiao in the heart of Asia is said to have survived when its rituals were imitated and used in Tibetan lamaism (a ritual that included blessing with bread and wine at dinners)," he said. The striking similarities between Lamaism, such as monasticism, the use of holy water, the burning of incense, and the stylistic style of ritual clothing similar to that of Jingjiao, date back to the early Middle Ages. [55] There were already examples of Manichaeism, and the lamas felt the need to add the Christian practices of the Assyrian churches to their own rituals in order to win over more followers. In Christianity Meets Buddhism, Heinrich Dumoran mentions that jingjiao, which many scholars have been controversial about, may also have influenced the "mantras" of Pure Land Buddhism and Tantra. The Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, "because of its striking resemblance to Christianity in spirit, is often hypothesized to be directly influenced by [Jingjiao] Christianity." 56 The Pure Land Sect believes that salvation can be achieved in the name of the Buddha only through faith. In his book The Oriental Carpet of Christianity, Volkmål goondroughn traces the design of crosses commonly found in the oriental carpets of the Nestorians and Armenians. 57 - Conclusion Although Christian monasteries were founded in China for some time, the Nestorikan Church was much more successful among The Mongol tribes than in China. Many of the former Mongol territories are now converted to Islam; however, Inner and Outer Mongolia have become Tibetan Lamaists, although shamanism has survived among them. There are very few Christians in Mongolia today, and none of them are Jing. The ancient Assyrian churches now survive only in the Middle East and southeast india. About 400,000 Assyrians currently belong to the Old Assyrian Church of the East. In the 17th century, many Assyrians converted from Jingjiao to the Galadean sect, which was subordinate to the Roman Catholic Church. Many Assyrians living in Iraq, Iran, and Syria emigrated to the United States, making their tiny numbers in their home countries even rarer, and the rapid assimilation of American-born Assyrians into American culture led to further losses. Currently, the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church is seeking an alliance with the Roman Catholic Church. Saint Thomas Christians in India now belong to the Syriac Orthodox denomination. They make up one-fifth of the population of the Indian state of Kerala. Without their dedication and hard work to preserve their language and way of life, the history of the once glorious Assyrian Church of the East may soon come to an end. The Assyrians were in danger of disappearing from human history, just as their church had long since disappeared from the land of Mongolia. ------------------------------------------ 1 James Legge, The Nestorian Monument of Hsi-an Fu in Shen-Hsi China relating to the Diffusion of Christianity in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries Jingjiao Monument on the Spread of Christianity in Xi'an Province, Shaanxi, China (London: Truber & Co. 1888), 2-31. 2 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1989), 44-47. And William Barnstone The Other Bible (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984), 464-479. 3 Nestorius, The Bazaar of Heraclides, Frank N. Magill Masterpieces of Christian Literature in Summary Form Abstracts of Masterpieces of Christian Literature (New York: Harper and Row, 1963), 162-165. 4 Nigel Cameron, Barbarians and Mandarins: Thirteen Centuries of Western Travelers in Chinese Barbarians and Officials: Western Tourists in The Thirteenth Century (New York & Tokyo: Walker/Hill, 1970), 42. 5 Information on the Silk Road was gleaned from: Aghaghia Rahimzadeh, The Silk Trade Silk Trade http://sorrel.humbolt.edu/~geog309;ideas/aghsilk.html and Jewels of the Silk Road Treasures of the Silk Road http:// pheonix.groucher.edu/'mnash and The Silk Road Parts I & II Silk Road (I, II) Central Park Media and UNESCO available from PBS Home Video. Produced by the UN with the Peoples Republic of China. 6 Laurence E. Browne, The Eclipse of Christianity in Asia: From the Time of Mohammed until the Fourteenth Century The Fall of Christianity in Asia: From the Time of Mohammed to the Fourteenth Century :New York: Howard Fertig, 1967, 101-103. 7 Nestorian paintings are featured in the following book. Mario Bussagli, Treasures of Asia: Central Asian Painting: Central Asian Painting (New York: Skira, Rizzoli, 1979). 8 Chris Prouty and Eugene Rosenfils, Historical Dictionary of Ethiopian and Eritrea 2nd Edition Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 295 9 Cosmas Indicopleustes, TheFourth Book of the Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes of Alexandria's Cosmas Indy Copelets, Volume IV, http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/awiesner/cosmas.html. 10 Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. iv (New York: Peter Fenelen Collier, 1899), 564-565. 11 Volkmar Gantzhorn, The Christian Oriental Carpet Christian Oriental Carpet (Tubijan, Germany: Eberhard-Karl-Universitat, 1991), 152. 12 The Mongolian Conquests: Time Frame1200-1300 AD Mongol Conquests: 1200-1300 AD (Alexandria, Virginia: Time Life Books, 1989), 13. 13 Three versions of The Secret History are available, an easy to read paraphrase by R. P. Spuler, an Elizabethan English translation by Francis Woodman Cleaves and a contemporary English translation by Paul Kahn. There are three versions of the Secret History of Mongolia: R. A light version of P. Spuler, an Elizabethan English translation by Francis Woodman Cleaves, and a modern English translation by Paul Kahn. 14 Michael Hoang, Genghis Khan (New Amsterdam, New York: 1988), 157-159. 15 The American Heritage Dictionary American Traditional Dictionary, 2nd College Edition (Boston: Houghton Miflin Co. 1991). 16 Paul Ratchnevsky, Gengis Khan: His Life and Legacy Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991), 155-157. 17 World Book Encyclopedia, (Chicago: World Book, 1994). 18 Peter Jackson and David Morgan, The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck Rubruck (London: Hakluyt Society, 1990), 195. 19 Ibid., ibid. 20 The story of Prester John is dealt with in the following sources: Robert Silverberg, The Ream of Prester John's Kingdom of King John (New York: Doubleday & Company 1972). Meir Bar-Ilan, Prester John: Fiction and History: Fiction and History http://students.biu.ac.il/~barilm?prejohn.html: The Catholic Encyclopedia "Prester John" Catholic Encyclopedia: "Sacrifice King John" http://www/newadvent.org?cathen/12400b.html Medieval Sourcebook: Otto of Freising: The Legend of Prester John The Legend of John the Sacrifice king http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/otto-prester.html 21 Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. iv, 564-565. 22 Samuel Hugh Moffet, A History of the Church in Asia (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), 402. 23 . James A. Montgomery, The History of Yaballaha III and of his Vicar Bar Sauma Christine Patriarch Job Jehovah III and his proxies Shogun Sauma (New York: Octagon Books, 1966), 6. 24 Gantzhorn, The Christian Oriental Carpet of The Christian Oriental Carpet, 152. Ibid. 26 Jackson and Morgan, The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck Rubruck Robru Begging William's Mission, 195. 27 Encyclopedia Britanica, Micropedia, Compendium Vol. 9 (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britanica, 1992), 877. 28 Odoric of Pordenone, The Eastern Parts of the World Described East of Orolik; Henry Yule, China and the Way Thither China and the Way to and from, vol. 11 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1967), 264. 29 Odoric of Pordenone, The Eastern Parts of the World Describedd East of Orolik, 186. 30 Ronald Lathom, The Travels of Marco Marco Marco Polo (London: Penguin Books, 1958), 51. 31 Frances Wood, Did Marco Polo Go To China? Did Marco Polo ever go to China? (London: Secker& Warburg, 1995). 32 Zoroastrianism is the ancient religion of Persia. It is dualistic, which means it holds two gods, a god of good and a god of evil. Zoroastrians worship Ahura Mazda, the good god, whom they believe will ultimately triumph. Belief in dualism means that there are two gods, one good and one evil. Zoroastrians worship the good god Ahura Mazda, believing that he will eventually triumph over evil. 33 Manicheanism is dealt with extensively in the following two works On Manichaeism see the following two works: Hans-Joachin Klimkeit, Gnosis on the Silk Road: Gnostic Texts form Central Asia On the Silk Road: San Francisco: Harper, 1993). Part of the UNESCO study of the Silk Roads: Roads of Dialogue Project Part of UNESCO's Silk Roads Studies: The Road of Dialogue Project. Rudolph, Kurt, Gnosis: the Nature and History of Gnosticism: The Nature and History of Gnosticism (Harper San Francisco, 1987). 34 Jackson and Morgan, The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck Rubruck's William's Mission, 30. 35 Ibid., 33-34. 36 Encyclopedia Britanica, Micropedia Encyclopedia Britanica, Compendium Vol. 8 (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britanica, 1992), 682-683. 37 Montgomery, The History of Yaballaha III and of his Vicar Bar Sauma Christine Patriarch Job Jehovah III and his agentSo took Sauma, 56-57. 38 George Lane, "An Account of Gregory Bar Hebraeus Abu al-Faraj and His Relations with the Mongols of Persia," Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies http://syrcom.cua.edu/Hugoye/vol2no2/HV2N2GLane.html Budge, E.A.W. The Chronology of Gregory Abu’l Faraj, the Son of Aaron. The Hebrew Physician Commonly Known as Bar Hebraeus Being the First Part of His Political History of the World Aaron's descendant, Gregory Abu Farraz Chronology. It is often referred to as the Jewish physician of Hebrilus as the first part of his world political history (London: Oxford University Press, 1932). 39 Severin, In Search of Genghis Khan in Search of Genghis Khan (New York; Atheneum, 1992), 152-153. 40 Christopher Dawson, The Mongol Mission (London: Sheed and Ward, 1950), 194. 41 Severin, In Search of Genghis Khan, 230. 42 Alfred J. Andrea and James H. Overfield, The Human Record: Sources of Global History Volume I: to 1700 The Human Record: A Global General History Resource Volume I: Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990, 347-349. 43 Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions Christian Missions (London: Penguin Books, 1964), 122-128. 44 Dawson, The Mongol Mission Mongolian Mission, 83. 45 Encyclopedia of World Art Encyclopedia of World Art, vol. x (London: McGraw Hill, 1965), 570. 46 Samuel Hugh Moffet, A History of the Church in Asia (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), 411. 47 Berntold Spuler, History of the Mongols Based on Eastern and Western Accounts of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (New York: Pourset Press, 1972), 40. 48 The Age of Calamity: Time Frame AD 1300-1400 AD The Age of 1300-1400 AD (Alexandria, Virginia: Time Life Books, 1989), 73-93. 49 Edward P. Sokol, Tamerlane Timur (Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press, 1977), 234. 50 Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, Embassy to Tamerlane on mission to the Timurid Khanate (London: Harper and Brothers, 1928), 235. 51 Ibid.Ibid., 288. 52 Joseph R. Strayer, The Dictionary of the Middle Ages (New York: American Council of Learned Societies and Charles Scribners Sons 1986). 53 Cameron, Barbarians and Mandarins Barbarians and Officials, 42. 54 Dawson, The Mongol Mission Mongolian Mission, 21. 55 Aziz S. Atiya, History of Eastern Christianity (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame press, 1956), 263. 56 Heinrick Dumoulin, Christianity Meets Buddhism Christian encounters Buddhism (LaSalle, Illinois: Open Court, 1974), 63-65; 72-73. 57 Gantzhorn, The Christian Oriental Carpet of Christian Oriental Carpet, 152.