Macau Ricci Institute Public Forum: Syriac Christians in Tang China
Date:
- Monday 4th May 2026
Venue:
- Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy, University of Saint Joseph (St. Joseph's Seminary Campus), Rua do Seminário, Macau, China
- (Gate located at the Rua do Seminário leads to the Seminary campus, and the door on the right side of the church gives access to the Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy)
- 中國澳門三巴仔橫街聖若瑟大學 (聖若瑟修院校舍)宗教研究及哲學學院
- 請由三巴仔橫街之大門進入修院校園，並循石級而上，經教堂右側的門進入聖若瑟修院大樓
Cooperation Partner:
- University of St. Joseph
Online Platform:
Registration(Deadline of registration: 3 May 2026):
Speakers
Alexis Balmont
Alexis Balmont is a researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and an associate researcher at several institutions including the Centre de Recherche sur les Civilisations d'Asie Orientale (Paris) and the Sources Chrétiennes institute (Lyon). He holds dual doctorates from the École Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris Sciences et Lettres) in Chinese Studies and from the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Rome) in Oriental Studies. His research focuses on the intersection of Syriac Christianity, classical Chinese literature, and the religious history of the Silk Road. He works across several disciplines —sinology, patristics, philology, and digital humanities— and reads ancient languages including Classical Chinese, Syriac, Sogdian, and Greek. His recent publications include a critical edition and English translation of the Chinese Christian texts (Syriac Christians in Tang China, LIT Verlag, 2025) and a parallel French edition in the Sources Chrétiennes series (Éditions du Cerf, 2025). His work was awarded the Grand Ricci Prize in Chinese Lexicography (2025) and the Bellarmine Prize (2025).
Introduction
In 635 CE, a Christian monk named Alopen arrived in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Empire. The Tang emperor received him and authorized the construction of a monastery. This event marks the beginning of a documented Christian presence in China —one that would last nearly two centuries. The Christians who settled in Tang China belonged to the Church of the East, a Syriac-speaking tradition rooted in Mesopotamia and Persia. They arrived along the Silk Road, carried by networks of Persian and Sogdian merchants and clergy displaced by the Arab conquests of Persia. In China, they were known as practitioners of the “Luminous Teaching” (jingjiao 景教). What makes this history remarkable is not simply its geographic reach, but the texts these communities left behind. Seven Chinese-language Christian documents have survived, ranging from theological treatises and catechetical discourses to hymns and mystical dialogues. Rather than translating existing Syriac sources, the authors composed original works in classical Chinese, drawing on Buddhist and Daoist vocabulary to express Christian thoughts. The result is a form of Christianity shaped by Chinese intellectual culture. The conference introduces these texts and the communities behind them. It asks what it meant to be Christian in Tang China, how a minority religious community negotiated its identity within a pluralistic imperial culture, and what these distant sources can tell us about the broader history of Christianity as a global religion.
西元 635 年，一位隐修士名叫阿羅本（Alopen）抵達大唐帝國首都長安。唐朝皇帝接見了他，並准許興建修道院。此一事件標誌著有文獻記載的基督宗教在華傳播之開端，這一傳教歷程延續了近兩百年。在唐代定居的基督徒隸屬於東方教會（景教會），這是一個以敘利亞語為用語、發源於美索不達米亞與波斯的宗教傳統。他們沿著絲綢之路前來，伴隨波斯與粟特商人的商業網絡，以及因阿拉伯征服波斯而遷徙的教會人士。在中國，他們被稱為信奉「景教」者。這段歷史之所以值得關注，不僅在於其地理傳播範圍，更在於這些群體所遺留下來的文獻。現存的七份漢語基督宗教文獻，內容涵蓋神學論著、教理講述、聖歌與神秘主義對話等。這些作品的作者們並非直接翻譯既有的敘利亞文典籍，而是以文言文創作全新作品，並借用佛教與道教詞彙闡述基督宗教思想，最終形成了深受中國思想文化影響的基督宗教形態。本次研討會將介紹這些文獻及其背後的信仰群體，探討在唐代身為基督徒的意義、作為少數的宗教群體如何在多元的帝國文化中確立自身身份，以及這些久遠的文獻能為基督宗教作為全球性宗教的宏觀歷史提供哪些啟示。
