大秦景教流行中国碑
According to R. Todd Godwin, Adam was probably born around 751. Adam's father was named Yisi, who was likely part of a fighting unit invited to come to China by the Tang court to help quell the An Lushan Rebellion. Around 781, Adam composed the Nestorian Stele. In 787, Adam helped an Indian Buddhist monk from Kapisha called Prajna translate the Buddhist text "Sutra of the Six Mahayana Paramitas" from an Iranian language (Sogdian or Bactrian) to Chinese. The translated text was presented to Emperor Dezong in 787, who rejected the translation on the grounds it was faulty, corrupted, and confused by a fusion of Buddhist and Nestorian concepts.