Nestorian Christianity Silk Road Transmission Network

Timeline

1. 635–638Chang'an · Chang'anThe Persian Nestorian monk Aluoben arrived in Chang'an; Emperor Taizong of Tang issued an edict permitting preaching and granted the building of a Persian church, marking Nestorianism's formal entry into China and the formation of an ecclesiastical administrative network.
2. 700–845Dunhuang · DunhuangNestorianism extended along the Silk Road into the Western Regions and the Central Plains; Nestorian manuscripts and cross relics unearthed at Dunhuang and elsewhere show the church's close ties with Sogdian merchant communities.
3. 1200–1300Dadu · DaduDuring the Mongol expansion of 1201-1210 CE, Nestorianism still had believers and envoys in Central Asia and northern China; in the early Yuan, Nestorian monks were also seen participating in church activities under policies of religious tolerance.
4. 1368–1600Former Sogdian lands of Central Asia · UzbekistanBy the Ming and Qing, Nestorianism had almost vanished in the Central Plains, while Central Asian Nestorian communities shrank under the impact of Islamization; the Silk Road network largely disintegrated, leaving only inscriptions and documentary remains.