Nestorians, as a branch of Christianity, were first introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty. To facilitate integration into the Chinese society and acceptation by the people, the relatively localized name - “Nestorianism in China”- came into being...
Nestorians, as a branch of Christianity, were first introduced to China in the Tang Dynasty. To facilitate integration into the Chinese society and acceptation by the people, the relatively localized name - “Nestorianism in China”- came into being. Nestorianism once disappeared from sight because of the event of persecution of Buddhism in Huichang period during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang and was not recorded in historical books. Afterwards, according to archaeological investigation, Nestorianism was widely spread among the frontier people such as Wanggu Tribe and Uygur in the western and northern border areas of China. With the rise of the Mongolian nationality, Mongolian cavalry swept across Eurasia and broke through the "silk road" of the Eurasian grassland. Neocentrism also upsurged rapidly by virtue of the superior religion policies of the rulers of Mongol Empire and Yuan Dynasty, which also laid the foundation for its decline and fall. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, Neocentrism also died out ultimately due to several subjective and objective factors.
During the Mongol Empire and Yuan Dynasty, Nestorianism spread all over China. Inner Mongolia region was the representative area of Nestorianism activities in the north. It can be seen from the Nestorianism relics in this region that there were frequent Nestorianism activities then which left a large number of tombstones, tomb ceilings and other stone carvings. The presence of these remains gives us a deeper understanding of the foreign religion. In addition, the "localization" cultural elements contained in these remains demonstrated the Inner Mongolia region’s role of bridge between and hub of east and west cultural exchanges, reflected the characteristics of inclusive ruling during the Mongol Empire and Yuan Dynasty, and also proved the endless charm of oriental and occidental cultures from collision to mix, and to the final fusion and creation of new cultures.