Xi’an monumentArticle Free Pass Xi’an monument, inscribed stone
monument that records the early missionary activity of Nestorian
Christians in China. It was discovered by Jesuit missionaries in
1625 in the province of Shaanxi, China. The monument,
constructed in 781, bears an inscription written in Chinese and
signed in Syriac by 128 Christians, chiefly priests and
officials. According to the inscription, the Chinese emperor
Taizong received the Nestorian Persian monk A-lo-pen in his
capital city of Chang’an (modern Xi’an) in 625 and looked with
favour upon him and the writings of the “luminous doctrine”
(Christianity) he brought with him. By 638 a monastery for this
monk and 20 others had been constructed at the expense of the
Imperial coffer in the capital city. By 650 it is reported that
the Christian mission had expanded sufficiently to be recognized
at the diocesan level. Buddhist opposition, however, so affected
the fortunes of the Christian enterprise that it was not
possible to appoint a Nestorian met