UC Santa Barbara

The manuscript of Xu ting mishisuo jing 序聽迷詩所經 (the Record of Hearing the Sutra of the Intercessor) is thought to be the oldest Nestorian artifact produced in China. It conveys valuable information about the earliest contact between Nestorian Christianity and Central China. However, current transcriptions of this text are not entirely faithful to the original. The English translations fail to situate Chinese terminologies abounding in this text in their textual, historical, and religious contexts, thus misreading the original text in varying degrees. This thesis revisits "the Record of Hearing the Sutra of the Intercessor," offers a new transcription and English translation, and rereads the interreligious relationships reflected in this text. It takes two approaches as methodology. First of all, it gives a close rereading of the interreligious content in this text and discusses the different responses of early Nestorians to Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. Second, it adopts the perspective of manuscript studies, analyzing some details of the manuscript to corroborate the arguments with the aid of the newly released color photocopy of the manuscript. This thesis's analysis shows that "the Record of Hearing the Sutra of the Intercessor" is a theological invention by early Nestorians to defend monotheism in a multipolar Chinese religious landscape. The interreligious relationships reflected in this text reveal different attitudes of early Nestorians toward Chinese religions and thought, namely, suppressing Buddhism, extolling Daoism, and connecting with Confucianism. According to the interreligious relations and the writing details, this thesis dates the manuscript to the reign of Emperor Tang Taizong 太宗.