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a transliteration from the Syriac. If this is correct, it would provide serious evidence of historical contacts between Taoism (Lü Tung-pin) and Nestorianism.
However, besides the doubt concerning the actual language of these stanzas, another difficulty lies in some of the terminology used in the transcription of Syriac: in the stanzas quoted, the Chinese transliteration of 'Jesus' is I-sha-ho. Although a variety of Chinese characters may be used to transliterate the same foreign terms or expressions, some doubt can be expressed in this case, since in other Nestorian texts, translated into Chinese, the more common transliteration for 'Jesus' is I-shu #(a) or I-shu **(b).45 Therefore, since the presence and meaning of these enigmatic verses remain so far unsolved, it is premature to conclude to a positive Nestorian influence.
Lü Tung-pin's possible contacts with Nestorianism are not limited to these verses. Although he is better known under his Taoist name, his personal name was Lü Yen, and has been identified by Saeki with Lü Hsiu-yen & who wrote the calligraphy for the text on the Nestorian Monument in 781.46 If this identification is correct, Lü Yen (born in 755)47 was at that time a junior official in the imperial civil service.
Lu's contacts with Nestorianism are nowhere else positively attested. In his biography, however, there are passages that could be interpreted as doctrinal borrowings from Christianity: examples are stories told about Lü similar to narratives in the Gospels, such as the transformation of wine into water, or the feeding of a large group of monks with only a little food.49
If Lü Tung-pin's contacts with Nestorianism can be historically established, there still is a long way to go before the main theme of this paper can be affected by it. There is, however, another sinologist, who has tried to link Taoism and Nestorianism. L. Wieger50 claims that the "Mystic Taoism" of the T'ang dynasty was connected with Basilides.
He further states that in 741 (or 742?) Lao Tzu appeared to emperor Hsuan-tsung with the message that his statue would be found at Chou-chih near Ch’ang-an.51 After the emperor received the statue a Nestorian service was celebrated in the palace by seven priests. All this again is circumstantial evidence suggesting that
T
110
JULIAN F. PAS
a transliteration from the Syriac. If this is correct, it would provide serious evidence of historical contacts between Taoism (Lü Tung- pin) and Nestorianism.
However, besides the doubt concerning the actual language of these stanzas, another difficulty lies in some of the terminology used in the transcription of Syriac: in the stanzas quoted, the Chinese transliteration of 'Jesus' is I-sha-ho. Although a variety of Chinese characters may be used to transliterate the same foreign terms or expressions, some doubt can be expressed in this case, since in other Nestorian texts, translated into Chinese, the more common transliteration for 'Jesus' is I-shu #Я (a) or I-shu ** (b),45 Therefore, since the presence and meaning of these enigmatic verses remain so far unsolved, it is premature to conclude to a posi tive Nestorian influence.
Lü Tung-pin's possible contacts with Nestorianism are not limited to these verses. Although he is better known under his Taoist name, his personal name was Lü Yeng, and has been identified by Saeki with Lü Hsiu-yen & who wrote the calli- graphy for the text on the Nestorian Monument in 781.46 If this identification is correct, Lü Yen (born in 755)47 was at that time a junior official in the imperial civil service.
Lu's contacts with Nestorianism are nowhere else positively attested. In his biography, however, there are passages that could be interpreted as doctrinal borrowings from Christianity: examples are stories told about Lü similar to narratives in the Gospels, such as the transformation of wine into water, or the feeding of a large group of monks with only a little food.49
If Lü Tung-pin's contacts with Nestorianism can be historically established, there still is a long way to go before the main theme of this paper can be affected by it. There is, however, another sinolo- gist, who has tried to link Taoism and Nestorianism. L. Wieger50 claims that the "Mystic Taoism" of the T'ang dynasty was connect- ed with Basilides.
He further states that in 741 (or 742?) Lao Tzu appeared to emperor Hsuan-tsung with the message that his statue would be found at Chou-chih near Ch’ang-an 51 After the emperor received the statue a Nestorian service was celebrated in the palace by seven priests. All this again is circumstantial evidence suggesting that
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