Go to the East, harvest the soul: The Gospel Road of the Chinese Empire

Author: Zhou Ning
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The author is a scholarly figure with a literary and biographical approach, making the history of Western Christianity's three major entries into China both engaging and fascinating. The introduction of Christianity to China experienced three waves in its early stages. In the ninth year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, Alopen introduced Nestorian Christianity to the East, which flourished for two centuries. However, when the Franciscan John of Montecorvino arrived in Beijing in 1294, he found that "these regions of China had never been visited by any apostle or disciple of an apostle." While Catholicism and Nestorian Christianity were active during the Yuan Dynasty, they soon faded into silence. Two hundred years later, Jesuit missionaries returned to China, and Father Bartolo lamented that "China had never heard of the gospel or the Incarnation of God." In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Jesuit missionaries created a golden age for the introduction of Christianity to China. After the Yongzheng Emperor banned Christianity, all efforts were in vain. This book is not strictly an academic treatise; while the issues it discusses are academic, its approach has the flavor of cultural essays. It emphasizes readability, targeting readers who are interested in cultural issues and possess a certain level of education but are not professional scholars.