Nestorian Silk Road Network

Timeline

1. c. 635–845Chang'an · ShaanxiNestorian missionaries such as Alopen arrived in Chang'an and were granted permission to preach, establishing monasteries and monastic networks, and maintaining ecclesiastical contacts with Persian and Central Asian Nestorian communities along the Silk Road.
2. 1261Dadu and Ilkhanate post roads · EurasiaAfter Kublai Khan and Hulegu divided rule over Eurasia, Nestorian bishops and caravans traveled the steppe Silk Road; Nestorian figures such as Rabban Bar Sauma served as envoys to the West, and the network served religious, diplomatic, and commercial functions.
3. c. 1368–1400Northern China and Central Asia · EurasiaAfter the founding of the Ming dynasty, the rise of the maritime Silk Road and the reorganization of overland transport caused Nestorian organizational networks in China and Central Asia to gradually shrink; some communities went underground or merged into local beliefs.