Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/98

86 86 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. The inscription of Si-ngan-Fou has, then, furnished us with authentic information on the propagation of the Christian Faith in Upper Asia from the year 636 till 781. We found, however, in the traditions of the Sy- rian Church, traces of evangelical preaching in China previous to that period. We have seen that the Patriarch Saliba-Zacha, appointed metropolitans for Heria (in Khorassan), for Samarcand, and for China — a pro- ceeding which denotes that Christianity was already flourishing in those countries. The same sources will furnish us with documents to show that these distant missions still subsisted after the erection of the monu- ment of Si-ngan-Fou in 781 — another confirmation of its authenticity. Is there anything wonderful in finding Christianity spoken of in an inscription when we have certain proofs that there were missionaries in the coun- try both before and after the erection of the stone ? Timotheus, who occupied the patriarchal see of the Nestorians, from 777 till 820, sent religious men to preach the Gospel to the various nations of Upper Asia. At this time, there was in Assyria a very celebrated Nestorian monastery called Beth-hobeh, where resided a very learned monk versed in all the Syrian, Persian, and Arabic tongues. His name was Subchal-Jcsu. The Patriarch Timotheus, considering this man well suited to the mission, made him a bishop, and sent him to preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of the environs of the Caspian Sea. The hopes of the patriarch were not disappointed ; for Subchal-Jesu brought a great number of these people to the knowledge of the truth, built several churches, and ordained many priests. Encour- aged by this success, he afterwards penetrated further into the remote East, and traversed Tartary and China,