here, however, can clearly be identified as a city wall (with Chinese-style bell and drum
towers). Also visible is a tree with the remnants of a human seated beneath it. Palmer has
identified the scene as Jonah beneath the gourd tree outside Nineveh.
Although these identifications should be accepted with much caution, when taken as a whole,
there seems good reason to identify the pagoda as an ancient Christian structure. When
combined with the Stele, the Jesus Sutras, and other less prominent artifacts, it confirms that
there was a widespread Christian presence in 7
II. Missiological Implications
A. The Arrival of Christianity and Imperial Patronage
The dramatic story of the arrival of Alopen at the imperial court captures the imagination,
perhaps too easily. The church historian immediately thinks of parallel stories when the ruler
is converted and the people quickly follow -- Abgar of Syria, and Vladimir of Russia, among
others. Is this what happened and should it be emulated?
A closer look gives a slightly different picture. While Alopen certainly played an important
role in the spread of Christianity in China, he was not the first to do so. Christian traders had
undoubtedly shared their faith in China in the first centuries of the church, since there is
much evidence of trade between China and the Roman Empire.
In AD 431 the Council of Ephesus excommunicated Nestorius together with his followers for
holding that Christ was two separate persons. Nestorius' teachings, however, had a strong
following in the East and gradually coalescing as a separate "Church of the East." When the
Western church with its imperial backing began physically enforcing the council's decisions,
many Nestorians moved across the border into Persia where they soon dominated the
growing church.
By 424 the Nestorian church had bishoprics as far east as Merv. Back in Persia, by the mid-
6th century the local Magi and other leaders of Zoroastrianism had gained enough political
influence to begin a severe persecution of Christians. About the same time Monophysite
Christians were steadily gaining influence in Persia as well. By the early 7
Since the West still did not allow freedom of worship, and Islam was beginning to foment in
the south, and the north was barred by mountains, east was the natural direction to go.
Only occasionally do historical sources give us details of this migration. I mention only two
very different examples. The first is from a Chinese record of AD 578 telling how a large
Nestorian family from Mar Sagis emigrated from the western lands to Lin-t'ao, Kan-su. The
second involves the upheaval caused by fighting between the eastern Turks and the Chinese