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• MacLean, "Tishbukhta", pp. 170–171!

Jingjiao Sanwei Mengdu Zan

The title and the opening lines of Jingjiao Sanwei Mengdu Zan, a Chinese translation of the Eastern Syriac Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

Jingjiao Sanwei Mengdu Zan (Chinese: 景教三威蒙度讚; lit. 'A Hymn of the Luminous Religion of the Three Majesties for Obtaining Salvation'), often referred to as the Nestorian Gloria in excelsis Deo in English, is the earliest Chinese translation of Gloria in excelsis Deo. It was made in the 8th century, and is attributed to Adam, a Nestorian monk in the Tang dynasty. A part of the Nestorian documents, it was discovered by Paul Pelliot in the Mogao Caves in 1908, and is currently stored at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Sanwei Mengdu Zan is based on the Syrian Gloria text. It mentions the Trinity and the Holy Spirit. However, many scholars have pointed out the Buddhist, Taoist, and Manichaen influences on the language employed by the text.

Naming

Many names exist ...

• Hymn of Perfection of the Three Majesties

History

Creation (8th century)

See also: Church of the East in China

Christianity arrived in China in the 7th century, when Ishoyahb II, Patriarch of the Church of the East, sent a mission into Tang China. The mission, headed by a Syrian bishop Alopen, reached Chang'an in 635. After reading some Christian texts translated and prepared by the priests, Emperor Taizong of Tang proclaimed an Edict of Toleration for the Christians and permitted Alopen to build a monastery in Chang'an and establish his mission there. The early Chinese Christianity was known as Daqin Jiao (Chinese: 大秦教; lit. 'Daqin religion'), referring to "Daqin", a designation for the eastern parts of former Roman Empire in Chinese. It was later known as Jingjiao (Chinese: 景教; lit. 'luminous religion').

The Nestorian Gloria in excelsis Deo is attributed to Adam (景淨; Jǐngjìng). He was an important figure in the early history of Christianity in China, who authored the inscription of the Xi'an Stele in 781 and was also entrusted to translate 30 texts of Jingjiao into Chinese. According to Vladmir Liščák, Adam also studied Taoist mysticism and Buddhist philosophy, and was able to use both of them to explain Christian themes.

Adam also worked together with an Indian Buddhist monk Prajna to translate the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra on the Six Pāramitās into Chinese. before working on ...

Discovery and reception (20th century)

Left: Paul Pelliot in 1909. Right: Pelliot working in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang among many manuscripts, in 1908.

In 1908, Paul Pelliot discovered the manuscript of Sanwei Mengdu Zan and Zunjing in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang. The two texts are written on one sheet of paper, with 46 columns of characters in total. According to Lin Wushu's analysis of the handwriting and material of the manuscript, Sanwei Mengdu Zan and Zunjing are not of the same scripture, but originally two independent manuscripts.

In 1910, Luo Zhenyu published the text on Guocui Xuebao (国粹学报). In 1934, Liang Jifang (梁季芳) of Yenching University set it to tune. Liang's hymn is included as the second hymn in the Chinese hymnbook Hymns of Universal Praise (普天頌贊), published in 1936 and 1943.

Content

The original manuscript of the Nestorian Gloria in excelsis Deo, currently at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Classical Chinese is a top to bottom, right to left script, and the Gloria is titled at the top-right: "景教三威蒙度讚".

The text is based on the East Syrian form of the Gloria in Excelsis Deo. It offers a praise of the Holy Trinity in the form of classical Chinese poetry. It consists of 44 lines, and each line has seven characters. According to Tang Li, Jingjiao Sanwei Mengdu Zan is the only text "which can be compared to its Syriac original" among the texts authored by Adam.

English translations

The Mighty of Three Receiving Great Praises
(Gloria in Excelsis Deo)

The supreme heavens praise with honor and awe
The Earth, all peace and harmony recalls
Man’s original true nature a new solace finds
in Aluohe, the Father, three in one, the kind.

All ye good people worship (Him) faithfully
All ye spirits of wisdom sing with praise and joy
All ye truthful turn to Him respectfully
His holy light be received, and devils destroyed

His infinite truth eternal, where can be sought?
Merciful Father, bright Son and king of wind pure
Among all kings, He is the master King
Among all lords, He is the Lord of law
In wondrous brightness, He dwells in infinite for ever more
His power of light patrols the bordered world.
since the beginning none has seen Him
Revealed in all, yet His image cannot be formed.

On his pure virtue alone, one should contemplate,
His power alone, no equal found.
He alone is unchanging, His dignity portrays
The source of all goodness without bounds.

All his grace I recall today
O, His marvelous joy of another world is this world’s ray.
Mishihe, the great holy Son, all shall venerate
Going through all sufferings, millions of lives He saves.

King of eternal life, Lamb of mercy and joy
Who suffered greatly, yet never quit to toil
Who take away the collected sins of all beings
So that our true nature well saved, no more peace to spoil.
At the right hand of the Father, the holy Son solemnly seated
His throne is exalted to the infinite summit.
From there all our prayers our great teacher will answer
An ark He sent down, preventing the fire from spreading on the river

The great teacher, our merciful Father
The great teacher, our holy Lord
The great teacher, our King of laws
The great teacher has power to save us all.

The great teacher, whose wisdom assists us to succeed
With all eyes, all look up to Thee.
Sweet dews he poured out unto withered trees
All good roots His dewdrops received.

Our all-respected Mishihe, the great holy one
See-treasures of His love, the merciful Father I admire
Humble is the great holy one, so His wind pure
Hear His law in quietness, and no doubts required.

Attributed to Jingjing (8th c.), translated by Tang Li (2001)

Many English translations exist ...

Analysis

Theology

The transliterations of key Christian notions into Chinese characters in Sanwei Mengdu Zan:

• Left: "God" (Classical Syriac: ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ, ʼAlāhā, Chinese: 阿羅訶; pinyin: Āluóhē);
• Right: "Messiah" (Classical Syriac: ܡܫܺܝܚܳܐ, Məšîḥā, Chinese: 弥施訶; pinyin: Míshīhē)

Sanwei Mengdu Zan demonstrates the Holy Trinity as "the Merciful Father, the bright Son and the King of pure winds", and claimed that the three all deserve praise. The scholar Tang Li further argued that the text provides an orthodox statement of the Christian beliefs on the Trinitarian God, including Jesus the Holy Son, and it does not show Nestorianism.

Holy spirit ...

Influences from other religions

Buddhism

The arrival of Buddhism preceded the arrival of Christianity in China for about six hundred years. It influenced Chinese philosophy and culture greatly, and early Christian missionaries in China borrowed Buddhist vocabulary to write about theology. Tang Li conjectured that Adam, the author of Sanwei Mengdu Zan, "had a good relationship with some Buddhist monks."

References

Journal articles

• Drake, F. S. (1935). "Nestorian Literature of the T'ang Dynasty". The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal. 66: 291–300, 608–17, 677–87, 738–42.

• Drake, F. S. (1962). "Nestorian Crosses and Nestorian Christians in China under the Mongols: A Lecture Delivered on December 11, 1961". Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 2: 11–25.

• Gai, Jiaze (2017). 景教中舟船譬喻及其与摩尼教佛教之关联 [Metaphors of Boats in Chinese Nestorianism and Their Relations with Manichaeism and Buddhism]. 世界宗教文化 (The World Religious Cultures) (6): 78–85. ISSN 1007-6255.

• Lin, Wushu (2001). 敦煌景教寫本 P. 3846 之再研究 [A Further Study on the Dunhuang Nestorian Document P. 3847]. Dunhuang Tulufan Yanjiu (敦煌吐魯番研究). 5: 59–77.

• Lin, Wushu (2014). 景教“净风”考———夷教文典“风”字研究之一 [A Study on the 'Pure Wind' of Nestorianism: An Investigation into the Character 'Wind' in the Literature of Western Religions During the Tang]. 西域研究 (The Western Regions Studies) (3): 50–64. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-4743.2014.03.007.

• Niu, Ruji (2021). 敦煌景教文献的发现及其对丝路宗教研究的启示 [The Discovery of Dunhuang Nestorian Documents and Its Implications for Silk Road Religious Studies]. 世界宗教文化 (The World Religious Cultures) (1): 1–9. ISSN 1007-6255.
• Pu, Wenli (2021). 从《大秦景教三威蒙度赞》看唐代景教音乐 [Exploring Tang Dynasty Nestorian Music through the Nestorian Gloria in Excelsis Deo]. 中国宗教 (Religions in China) (2): 62–63. ISSN 1006-7558.

• Scott, David (1985). "Christian Responses to Buddhism in Pre-Medieval Times". Numen. 32 (1): 88–100. doi:10.2307/3269964. JSTOR 3269964.

• Wang, Juan (2018). 敦煌景教文獻對佛教儀文的吸收與轉化 [Absorption and Transformation of Buddhist Literature by Dunhuang Nestorian Texts] (PDF). Academia Sinica, Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology. 89 (4): 631–661.

• Wu, Qiyu (1986). 景教三威蒙度讚 [The Nestorian Gloria in Excelsis Deo]. 中央研究院歷史語言研究所集刊 [The Bulletin of the Institute of History and Philology]. 57 (3). Taipei: Academica Sinica: 411–38.

Dissertations

• Huang, Changyuan (2013). 中国古代基督教研究——以7至14世纪景教为中心 [A Study of Christianity in Ancient China, Focusing on Nestorianism in the 7th-14th Centuries] (PDF) (PhD thesis). Shaanxi Normal University.

Book chapters

• Chen, Huaiyu (2009). "The Encounter of Nestorian Christianity with Tantric Buddhism in Medieval China". In Winkler, Dietmar W.; Tang, Li (eds.). Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. LIT Verlag. pp. 195–214. ISBN 978-3643500458.

• Deeg, Max (2009). "Ways to Go and Not Go in the Contextualisation of the Jingjiao Documents of the Tang Period". In Winkler, Dietmar W.; Tang, Li (eds.). Hidden Treasures and Intercultural Encounters: Studies on East Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. LIT Verlag. pp. 135–152. ISBN 978-3643500458.

• Hsieh, Fang-Lan (2021). "Contextualizing Hymns and Songs for the Chinese Context". In Yeo, K. K. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in China. Oxford University Press. pp. 729–750. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190909796.013.31. ISBN 978-0190909796.
• Lin, Lijuan (2020). "On the Transmission of the Gloria in excelsis Deo: Remarks on the Daqin jingjiao sanwei mengdu zan 大秦景教三威蒙度讃". In Shabo Talay (ed.). Überleben im Schatten: Geschichte und Kultur des syrischen Christentums. pp. 111–13. ISBN 978-3447114639.

• Liščák, Vladimír (January 2009). "Early Chinese Christianity in the Tang Empire: On the Crossroads of Two Cultures" (PDF). In Ken Parry (ed.). Art, Architecture and Religion Along the Silk Roads. Brepols. pp. 103–25. doi:10.1484/M.SRS-EB.4.00191. ISBN 978-2-503-52428-3.

• Liu, Boyun (2021). "Chinese Buddhist Writings and the Bible". In Yeo, K. K. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in China. Oxford University Press. pp. 235–250. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190909796.013.13. ISBN 978-0190909796.

• Nicolani-Zani, Matteo (2006). "Past and Current Research on Tang Jingjiao Documents: A Survey". In Malek, Roman (ed.). Jingjiao: The Church of the East in China and Central Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781032068237.

• Zhu, Donghua (2021). "Chinese Jingjiao and the Antiochene Exegesis". In Yeo, K. K. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in China. Oxford University Press. pp. 47–62. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190909796.013.9. ISBN 978-0190909796.

• Zhu, Donghua (2022). "The Chronology of the Tang Dynasty Jingjiao Nestorian Theologian Jingjing's Writings and Translations in Relation to His Thought". In Yao, Feiya; Bohnenkamp, Max (eds.). Beyond Indigenization: Christianity and Chinese History in a Global Context. Translated by Max Bohnenkamp. pp. 25–45. doi:10.1163/9789004532120_003. ISBN 978-90-04-53212-0.

• An earlier version: Zhu, Donghua (2016). 景淨著譯作品的創作時序及其思想關聯研究 [A Chronological and Content Relationship Analysis on Jingjing's Works] (PDF). Logos & Pneuma: Chinese Journal of Theology. 44: 227–247.

Books

• Foster, John (1939). The Church of the T’ang Dynasty. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

• Lin, Wushu (2021). 唐代景教再研究 [A Further Study on Nestorianism in the Tang Dynasty]. The Commercial Press. ISBN 9787100196321.

• MacLean, Arthur John (2003) [Originally published in 1894]. Eastern Syrian Daily Offices. Gorgias Press. doi:10.31826/9781463208011. ISBN 9781463208011.

• Maclean, Arthur John; Browne, William Henry (1892). The Catholicos of the East and His People. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

• Malek, Roman, ed. (2006). Jingjiao: The Church of the East in China and Central Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781032068237.

• Moule, A. C. (2011) [Originally published in 1930]. Christians in China Before the Year 1550. Beijing: Gorgias Press. ISBN 978-1-61143-605-1.

• Nicolani-Zani, Matteo (2022). The Luminous Way to the East: Texts and History of the First Encounter of Christianity with China. Translated by Skudlarek, William. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780197609644.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-760964-4.

• Saeki, P. Y. (1937). The Nestorian Documents and Relics in China. Tokyo: The Academy of Oriental Culture, Tokyo Institute. OCLC 7078566.

• Standaert, Nicolas, ed. (2001). Handbook of Christianity in China (Volume One: 635 - 1800). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004391857. ISBN 978-90-04-11431-9. ISSN 0169-9520.
• Tang, Li (2004). A study of the history of Nestorian Christianity in China and its literature in Chinese : together with a new English translation of the Dunhuang Nestorian documents (2nd rev. ed.). Peter Lang. ISBN 3631522746.

• Tang, Li; Winkler, Dietmar W., eds. (2016). Winds of Jingjiao: Studies on Syriac christianity in China and Central Asia. LIT Verlag. ISBN 978-3-643-90754-7.

• Tang, Li; Winkler, Dietmar W., eds. (2022). Artifact, Text, Context: Studies on Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. Vol. 17. LIT Verlag. ISBN 978-3-643-91195-7.

• Tang, Li; Winkler, Dietmar W., eds. (2022). Silk Road Traces: Studies on Syriac Christianity in China and Central Asia. Vol. 21. LIT Verlag. ISBN 978-3-643-91228-2.

• Zhu, Qianzhi (1993). 中国景教 [The Nestorianism of China]. Beijing: Dongfang Press (东方出版社). ISBN 9787010026268.