still standing in central China.
C. The Da-Qin Pagoda
Palmer, in his recent book, The Jesus Sutras, tells his story as if he was totally shocked by
the discovery. He should rightly be criticized for a combination of poor scholarship and self-
aggrandizement, yet he should also be credited with bringing this structure, and the forgotten
story of early Chinese mission work, back to our attention. Actually, already in 1933 at the
request of Dr. Saeki, some Chinese scholars had visited the and confirmed it as an early
Nestorian building complex.
About 30 miles southwest of the ancient Tang Dynasty capital of Xi'an is the famous area of
Lou Guan Tai. It sits at the base of a pass leading westwards through the Qhingling
mountains. Its Feng Shui made the site perfect as a spiritual center, and in the 6
wrote Tao Te Ching, "The Book of the Way and its Power," founding the philosophy known
today as Taoism. Lou Guan Tai later grew into an important Taoist center, and it was just a
mile or two west, either just inside or outside the Taoist complex, that 12 centuuries later the
Da-Qin monastery was built by Christian monks.
Palmer's announcement, repairs have been carried out, and the tower now seems in rather
good shape for a 1300 year old structure. It is octagonal in shape, and looks exactly like
other ancient Chinese pagodas. In a Chinese topographical book of 1563 mentioned by
Saeki, it is clearly named and described and at that time had even more extensive ruins
visible.
We have four strands of evidence pointing to this as a Christian structure:
1. The name Da Qin links it with the early Nestorian mission.
2. Palmer says that the pagoda is cut into the hillside so as to face East, whereas all Chinese
temples face North and South. I was unable to confirm this during my visit.
3. Several lines of Syriac graffiti were found in or near the structure; and
4. Several pieces of Christian statuary were found on the second and third floor of the
pagoda. By the time of my visit, the statuary had been moved for safekeeping until a new
museum could be built, so the description I give here is based solely on that of Palmer and
the photographs reproduced in his book.
The statue that dominated the second floor of the pagoda was a 10 foot high and 5 foot wide
mountain scene. In the mountain was a cave, and in the cave a remnant of the nativity scene.
The only part surviving is a bent right leg, and an extended left leg. Such a stance, Palmer
says, is unknown in Chinese art, but is common in Eastern Orthodox renditions of Mary in
nativity scenes.