Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Copyright Page / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Preface / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Abbreviations / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Chapter 1 A Venerable Ancestor: The Appropriation of Tang Christianity by Jesuit Missionaries and Chinese Converts / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Chapter 2 A Multi-Level Commentary: The Correct Explanation of the Tang “Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” by Manuel Dias Jr. / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Preliminary Note on the Translation / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Annotated Translation “Correct Explanation of the Tang Stele” / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Appendix 1 “After Reading the Stele Inscription of the Luminous Teaching” ( Du jingjiao beishu hou 讀景教碑書後, 1625) / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Appendix 2 “Stele Inscription for the Church of the Luminous Teaching” ( Jingjiaotang beiji 景教堂碑記, between 1625 and 1627) / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Appendix 3 “A Clarification about an Iron Cross” ( Tie shizi zhu 鐵十字著, 1627) / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- 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) / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Appendix 5 “A Poem in Honor of Giulio Aleni, s.j. ” (late Ming dynasty) / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Appendix 6 “Outline of the Orthodox Way of the Lord of Heaven” ( Tianzhu zhengdao jielüe 天主正道解略, 1644) / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Appendix 7 “A Study of the Luminous Teaching” ( Jingjiao kao 景教考, ca. 1644) / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Bibliography / Matteo Nicolini-Zani -- Index / Matteo Nicolini-Zani.

The book contains the first annotated English translation of the Correct Explanation of the Tang “Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” (1644) by the Jesuit Manuel Dias Jr. and other late Ming Chinese Christian sources interpreting the “venerable ancestor” of the Jesuit mission, namely, the mission of the Church of the East in Tang China. Based on this documentation, the book reconstructs the process of “appropriation” by Jesuit missionaries and their Chinese converts of ancient traces of Christianity that were discovered in China in the first half of the seventeenth century, such as the Xi’an stele (781) and other Christian relics

English

Description based on print version record.