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them 'Persian monasteries' (Po-Ssu ssu §†). In order that the true origin of these so-called 'Persian monasteries' may be known, the monasteries in the two capitals are to be re-named 'Syrian monasteries' (Ta-ch'in ssu). The same change is to apply to the monasteries in other prefectures and districts.
This imperial decree seems to have been connected with a Nestorian mission from Mesopotamia which arrived in Ch'ang-an in 744, some months earlier, and received an impressive imperial compliment. We learn of this mission from the Sian tablet inscription:
In the third year [of the Tien-pao period], in the country of Syria (Ta-ch'in) there was the monk Chi-ho. Gazing at the stars he turned towards reformation; looking at the sun he came to do reverence to the emperor. The emperor decreed that the priests Lo-han, P'u-lun and others, seven in all, along with bishop Chi-ho, should cultivate merit in the Hsing-ching palace. The emperor then composed a motto for the monastery, and its name-board carried the dragon-writing. The precious ornament was like a gem or a kingfisher, and was bright with the vermilion glow of sunset clouds.'
Two separate sources, therefore, state that in 744 and 745 Hsuan-tsung showed interest in the official terminology of the Nestorian church in China. According to one source he ordered all Nestorian monasteries to be renamed; according to the other he supplied the Nestorian monastery in Ch'ang-an's I-ning ward with a sample of his calligraphy, in the distinctive vermilion ink reserved for emperors. Obviously the two accounts are connected. Chi-ho's mission, for whatever reason, resulted in a decision by the imperial authorities to have all Nestorian monasteries renamed 'Syrian monasteries'. The emperor also paid the Nestorian monastery in Ch'ang-an the compliment of personally writing out its new name, Ta-ch'in ssu § , 'Syrian monastery', for reproduction on the monastery's wooden name-board.
The change of name in 745 came at a time when the Chinese government was more than usually interested in western geography. Chinese armies had wrested control of the Tarim Basin from the