Daqin Pagoda

Daqin Pagoda (大秦塔) in Chang'an, Shaanxi Province, located about two kilometres to the west of Lou Guan Tai templeMartin Palmer, The Jesus Sutras: Rediscovering the Lost Religion of Taoist Christianity, ISBN 0749922508, 2001, is the remnant of the earliest surviving Christian church in China. The church and the monastery were built in 640 by members of the Assyrian Church of the East, also referred to as the Nestorian church. Though Daqin is the name for the Roman Empire in early Chinese language documents of the first and second century,
by the mid-ninth century it was also used to refer to the mission churches of the Syriac Christians.
==History==
Persecution of Christians in China led to the abandonment of Daqin in about 845. Much later, in 1300, a Buddhist temple was installed in the pagoda. An earthquake severely damaged the pagoda in 1556 and it was finally abandoned. Due to the earthquake, many of the underground chambers of the complex are no longer reachable. Daqin was "rediscovered" in 1998 and its roots in early Chinese Christianity were recognized. 
==The pagoda today==
Inside the pagoda, artistic works in both Western and Asiatic style can still be found, among them Jonah at the walls of Nineveh, a nativity scene and Syriac graffiti. Many of these artworks are made from mud and plaster, which suffered during prior centuries from exposure to the elements. Seismic activity and flooding endanger the stability of the pagoda. In 1999, the pagoda's exterior was restored, but overall stability was not improved. Further restoration of the site is planned, as well as exploration, most probably by remote probe, of the collapsed underground chambers.
The exterior of the pagoda and its surroundings were featured in episode one of the 2009 BBC program "A History of Christianity"http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ntrqh, the program also features an interview with Martin Palmer by the presenter Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch.
==See also==
* Nestorianism in China
* Memorial of the Propagation in China of the Luminous Religion from Daqin
* Nestorian Stele
==References==
==External links==
* Did Christianity Reach China In the First Century?
*Site from China about location
*Orthodox article on site
Category:Buildings and structures in Shaanxi
Category:Chinese pagodas
Category:Nestorianism in China
Category:Tang Dynasty art
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