THE NESTORIANS IN CHINA.
ACCORDING TO THE LATE S. WELLS WILLIAMS.
[S. Wells Williams, late professor of the Chinese Language and Literature at Yale College, in his valuable work The Middle Kingdom, Vol. II, Chapter XIX, speaks of the Christian missions in China, and since the book is not very accessible to our readers we collect here those portions which refer to the Nestorians in China. Bracketed passages are a condensation. The other paragraphs are direct quotations from The Middle Kingdom.—Ed.]
THE time of the arrival of the Nestorians in China cannot be specified certainly, but there are grounds for placing it as early as A. D. 505: Ebedjesus Sobiensis remarks that "the Catholicos Salibazacha created the metropolitan sees of Sina and Samarcand, though some say they were constituted by Achæus and Silas." Silas was patriarch of the Nestorians from A. D. 505 to 520; and Achæus was archbishop at Seleucia in 415. The metropolitan bishop of Sina is also mentioned in a list of those subject to this patriarch, published by Amro, and it is placed in the list after that of India, according to the priority of foundation.
The only record yet found in China itself of the labors of the Nestorians is the celebrated monument which was discovered at Sí-ngan fu in Shensí, in 1625; and though the discussion regarding its authenticity has been rather warm between the Jesuits and their opponents, the weight of evidence, both internal and external, leaves no doubt regarding its verity. It has been found quite recently to be in good preservation, and rubbings taken from it are nearly perfect. The Syriac characters composing the signatures of Olopun and his associates have made it an object of much interest to the natives; these, as well as the singular cross on its top, have doubtless contributed to its preservation. It was set up in 1859 by a Chinese who had so much regard for it as to rebuild it in the brick wall
