Description and Significance of the Nestorian Stele, “A Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Da Qin Luminous Religion in the Middle Kingdom” (大秦景教流行中國碑)
The limestone monument known in the West as the Nestorian Stele, Tablet, or Monument is arguably one of the most important documents in the history of Christianity and East-West relations. This engraved stone monument, now housed in the Forest of Steles Museum (西安碑 林博物館) in Xi’an (西安), the capital city of Shaanxi Province in central-northwestern China, eulogizes the history of the Assyrian Church of the East in China between 635 C.E., the year this branch of Christianity arrived there, and 781 C.E., the year the stele was erected. The jingjiaobei(景教碑), as the stele...
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