The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-04-01
HISTORIAN MONUMENT

| SlOudFy zeal III all the ld0uS newly us
covered about the beginning of the
sixteenth century, and in the Far
East whittier a new route by sea had
been found. This missionary en-
deavor reached China early in the sew
enteenth century. Most prominent in
this work of evangelization were the
Jesuits, for whom the way to China
had been pointed out by the great
st. Francis Xavier.
Sian-fu, now the capital of the
province of Shensi, was the capital
of the Chinese empire when the Mes
torian Olopun arrived there. The
| Christian community of Sian-fu was
| in its most fiourishing state about
| the end of the eighth century when
the monumental stone was erected.
We do not know how long it stood in
place, but it had probably fallen to
the ground and been buried in the
| earth when Marco Polo visited Sian
fu in the thirteenth century, for he
makes no mention of it,
Discovery of the Monument.
1t was about the year 1926 that the
| monument was accidentally unearthed
by Chinese laborers and was set up
upon a pedestal by order of the gov
| ernor of Shensi News of the dis
covery reached the Jesuit fathers at
| Pekin in 1925; one of their number
| was sent to Sian-fu to examine the
| 80 -
| forwarded to Rome. A few years
later q copy of the inscription was
sent to Rome, and is preserved
there in the Vatican Library. At the
same time translations were made
from the original Chinese into Portu-
guese and Latin. Since then schol-
ars have studied the subject from
every point of view; several transla-
tions have been made and the inscrip-
ton has been quoted in various works
| There was at one time considerable
| discussion regarding the authenticity
of the monument with the result,
! however, that scholars now agree that
| the monument is truly a record of the
| eighth century Chief among those
who have established its authenticity
is the learned Jesuit, Father Henri
Havret who published in Shanghai
| (1895-1902), work entitled, The
| Christian Column of Singan-fu"
In spite of the venerable age of this
monument and its unique interest as
the earliest monument of Christianity
in China, no considerable effort had
been made to care for it's further
preservation. 1t stood in an open
field outside the walls of Sian-fu and
was seldom visited by interested par
ties. To Mr.. Frits Holm belongs the
credit of undertaking it's permanent
lodgment in a great museum.
Mr.. HoIm's Work.
Mr.. Holm, student of the Univer-
sity of Copenhagen, had had the op-
portunity of visiting many lands dur
ing a course of education in the Dan
ish navy. He afterwards spent some
years in the Far East, engaged in
journalistic work. And after some
further years of similar work in Lon
don, he organized and undertook, in
1907 and 1908, scientific expedition
into the interior of China with the
main purpose of securing the possible
purchase, or at least a reproduction
of the old HISTORIAN monument.
Although the Chinese attached no
value to the monument and had given
it no care, Mr.. Holm found that his
first advances made to the local au-
thorities reused suspicion which rem
dered utterly impossible all hope OF
procuring the original. He, therefore
resolved to obtain a perfect replica. He
had similar stone of exactly the
same size and weight cut from the
same quarries whence the original had
come. The reproduction of the in
scription and other carving was car
ried out as unostentatiously as pos
sble by skilled Chinese draughtsmer
| and stone cutters. All details were
copied with the minutest care.
The whole enterprise, which could
not be entirely concealed, was mo-
looked upon with favor in Sian-fu
And once the work was finished, Mr.
: Holm met with considerable difficulty
: before he was permitted to take hi!
: replica away with him. As the stone
e measures ten feet in height ant
y weighs two tons, the second difficult.
e of transportation was enormous. Th'
:. stone had to be conveyed in special
! ly constructed cart over $50 miles t.
the nearest railway station. AM
e even thereafter Mr.. Holm had to with
e stand annoyance and opposition be
e fore he finally secured his remarkabl
t. treasure safely on board ship an
r bound for New York.
Y 1t is interesting to know also, fror
). his own account, that on the day pre-
= vious to the departure of the replic
e from Sian-fu, he witnessed the rt
5. moval of the original monument, a
e the order of the Chinese official:
}, from the open field to a local museur
Y in Sian-fu. Hence it is due to Nj
D. Holm, not only that the Nestoria
n monument may now be studied in e,
f. act replica in the West, but also ths
e the venerable original will receive th
n care that it deserves.
s. A second article in the next issue
v The Catholic Bulletin will give FIJI
lie ther description of this interestin
g monument and of its memorable il
scription.