Interpretation of Tang Christianity in the Late Ming China Mission

Matteo Nicolini-Zani is a Catholic monk of the ecumenical Monastic Community of Bose, Italy, and a sinologist. He conducts historical and literary research on Christianity in China. He is the author of Christian Monks on Chinese Soil: A History of Monastic Mission to China (Liturgical Press, 2016) and The Luminous Way to the East: Texts and History of the First Encounter of Christianity with China (OUP, 2022).

• PrefaceAbbreviationsList of FiguresIntroduction1 A Venerable Ancestor: The Appropriation of Tang Christianity by Jesuit Missionaries and Chinese Converts1 The Context: The Tang Christian Stele and Its Interpretations2 The Precious Stele: A Foundation Stone for the Seventeenth-Century China Mission3 The Holy Crosses: The Xi’an Stone Confirmed by Other Ancient Traces of Christianity in China2 A Multi-Level Commentary: The Correct Explanation of the Tang “Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” by Manuel Dias Jr.1 Between Interpretation, Instruction, and Apology: The Contents2 A Complex Work with a Long Life: The Structure, Editions, and Reprints3 The Man behind the Text: The AuthorAnnotated translationPreliminary Note on the Translation“Correct Explanation of the Tang Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” (Tang jingjiao beisong zhengquan 唐景教碑頌正詮) by Manuel Dias Jr., s.j.Preface《景教流行中國碑頌并序》[Ancient Traces of the Heavenly Studies]Correct Explanation of the Stele Eulogy on the Diffusion of the Luminous Teaching in ChinaAppendix 1: “After Reading the Stele Inscription of the Luminous Teaching” (Du jingjiao beishu hou 讀景教碑書後, 1625)By Li Zhizao 李之藻Appendix 2: “Stele Inscription for the Church of the Luminous Teaching” (Jingjiaotang beiji 景教堂碑記, between 1625 and 1627)By Xu Guangqi 徐光啓Appendix 3: “A Clarification about an Iron Cross” (Tie shizi zhu 鐵十字著, 1627)By Xu Guangqi 徐光啓Appendix 4: “Preface to the Stele with a Cross Unearthed in Wurong” (Wurong chudi shizijia beixu 武榮出地十字架碑序, 1633)By Zhang Geng 張賡Appendix 5: “A Poem in Honor of Giulio Aleni, s.j.” (Late Ming dynasty)By Ke Xianshi 柯憲世Appendix 6: “Outline of the Orthodox Way of the Lord of Heaven” (Tianzhu zhengdao jielüe 天主正道解略, 1644)By José Estevão de Almeida, s.j. and Inácio da Costa, s.j.Appendix 7: “A Study of the Luminous Teaching” (Jingjiao kao 景教考, ca. 1644)By Qian Qianyi 錢謙益BibliographyIndex

"This book is the first English translation of the revised Chinese and Latin texts, facilitating the study of Michele Ruggieri and the Tiānzhǔ shílù by Western scholars. At the same time, the book provides an introduction, a biography, and a bibliography of Michele Ruggieri and the Tiānzhǔ shílù, which also provides a wealth of references for scholars."- Wei Xiong, Religious Studies Review, 49/4 (2023).