Christianity came to China in the seventh century with Church of the East missionaries traveling from the Persian Empire. In this series, we discover more about this ancient church, called Jingjiao or the Luminous Teaching, and its legacy for the church in China.
A truly “Christian” Chinese church will not only be thoroughly enculturated, but it will also retain the entire “rule of faith” shared by the rest of the universal church. Finally, Chinese Christians, knowing they are part of the universal church, will continue to seek to share the joys and trials of the indigenous churches of all other cultures. Such a church would be biblical, God-pleasing, and truly Chinese.
![Two young Chinese police officers stand in front of a temple. When [Church of the East] missionaries arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang’an in 635, they understood that Christianity in the Middle Kingdom required government approval…The application was successful, and a government edict allowed the new Luminous Teaching, as it called itself, to be spread in all China, including the building of a church in the capital city.](https://media.chinasource.org/uploads/2024/05/BL240531-header-ChinaSource-Chinese-Christianity-Nestorians-Jingjao-Church-of-the-East-Dynasties-Silk-Road-Three-Self-Patriotic-Movement-Chinese-Church-History-300x150.jpg)
When [Church of the East] missionaries arrived in the Chinese capital of Chang’an in 635, they understood that Christianity in the Middle Kingdom required government approval…The application was successful, and a government edict allowed the new Luminous Teaching, as it called itself, to be spread in all China, including the building of a church in the capital city.
In AD 635 Christian missionaries whose worship language was Syriac traveled thousands of miles down the Silk Road to plant a church in China. The imperial officials examined their teaching and issued a decree (preserved in the stele) allowing the church to be established.