Anointing does not seem to be a religious concept among the Chinese, so no contemporary
term could be found for Messiah. Here transliteration was the only viable solution.
However, even transliteration is not always culturally simple. The Chinese language has
many homophones, hence the need for the different tones in the language. The same syllable,
such as "mi" can have several meaning depending on the tone. However, a different
character is used for each homophone, rather than a written indication of the tones.
Therefore, when transliterating "mi", the first syllable in Mi-shih-ho (Syriac: Meshia), there
were several characters to choose from. As when selecting human names, the translator
would try to select characters that individually had positive or appropriate meanings.
The chart shows how the "Jesus the Messiah" text uses three different spellings of Messiah
with the meanings "Confused-Teacher-Upbraid", "Confused-Poem-Place", and "Full-
Teacher-Upbraid". The latter is the one used in the "Monotheism" text as well, while the
stele uses "Full-giving-Upbraid." The same problem is seen when transliterating Jesus as I-
shu. "Remove rat" doesn't have especially spiritual connotations, so the more neutral
characters for "feather-screen" and "number" were quickly substituted, and remained in use at
the time the stele was erected. Similarly when translating the last term, "Holy Spirit", the
first attempt as "Cool Wind" was soon replaced with the more accurate "Pure Wind" and
remained in use through the coming centuries. Thus the evidence shows a serious attempt to
find terms that were accurate theologically or, in the case of transliterations, that would
reflect positively and not distract from the message.
The sutras clearly do, however, interact with Buddhism and Taoism in a way that some have
seen as synchretistic. The Jesus-Messiah sutra says "All Buddhas as well as Kinnaras and
the Superintending-Devas and Arhans can see the Lord of Heaven, but no human being has
ever seen the Lord of Heaven" (4-5). Or later, "all Buddhas flow and flux....but the Lord of
Heaven remains always in a place of comfortable joy and peace." (13-14). The Discourse on
the Oneness of the Ruler of the Universe seems to inject a dualistic passage based either on
the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang or on Persian dualism. It also refers to the Buddhist
concepts of the "four elements" (4-5), the "five attributes" (68), the "three wicked ways",
rebirth, the Kalpa of formation, and "the law of the myriad Kalpa." (210-213).
In fact, we find such terms in all the documents. This leads Prof. Saeki to say that "the
Taoistic tendency...is proof of syncretism from the very beginning," and that "the final
absorption of the Nestorians in China after several hundred years to the local cults and
religions...is only a natural consequence of this concession." Palmer says, "they are classics
of the most radical fusion of Western and Eastern spirituality" bearing witness to a "radical
Taoist-Christian Church."
But remember the context in which these texts were produced. The missionaries were
struggling to encapsulate the Gospel in a new culture and language. The Jesus-Messiah text
was written within a few years of the missionaries' arrival, and their Chinese language skills