The Anglican Church of St. Simon in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz houses a replica of the famous stone tablet of Singanfu, the former capital of China. The stone was discovered in 1623 A.D. This stone tablet was carved around 781 A.D. and is 9 feet high, 3 and � feet wide, and 1 foot thick. It has some 1900 Chinese characters and 700 Syrian names with Chinese translations. (Exact replicas are also found in the Lateran Museum in Rome and Mount Koya in Japan.)
The stone records Persian and Chinese Christian activities following the arrival of the Persian missionary, Alopen, at the Court of the Emperor in 635 A.D. According to the Stone, the Emperor built a monastery for Alopen and 21 monks. (Alopen was his Chinese name. His Persian name was possibly Abraham or Yabh-allaha.) He was warmly received by the Chinese emperor Tai-tsung. Alopen was declared to be a highly virtuous man by the emperor who investigated �the way�. The emperor was convinced by his good character and truthfulness and gave orders for the propagation of his faith as well as translation of some of the scriptures into the Chinese language.
In 1638 the first Christian church was built in the capital Changan which claimed to be the largest city in the world at that time. In the following years there is a record of at least eleven other such churches but there may have been many more. A reference which might have been exaggerated, states that there was a church in every district area of China which means there were 368 churches. Different Persian and Chinese documents show that these Chinese followers believed in the basic Christian doctrines such as original sin, the substitutionary atonement, the virgin birth, the cross, the Ten Commandments, repentance from eternal punishment, and salvation by faith not works. They knew they must be subject to governing authorities, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for widows and orphans.
The title of the stone was �A Monument Commemorating the Propagation of the Tachin (Syrian) Lominous Religion in China�. The entire English translation can be found at
www.jacobs-source.net/hestorian_stone_translation.html. Listed below is a poetic rendering
of one section of the Stone:
One Holy Person of the Trinity, the Christ of God,
the light of heaven and earth,
As man appeared among the sons of men;
concealed His glorious majesty and worth,
The angels in the world above rejoiced:
the vault of heaven rang with joy and mirth
To shepherds watching in the fields at night
they brought the tidings of His Holy birth
From a pure virgin by Divine command
appeared the light that lighteneth man�s days.
A brilliant star proclaimed the glad event:
in the far heaven shone its ardent blaze.
The Persian Magi saw the effulgent star,
illuminating the sky like solar rays.
Towards Bethlehem with joyful steps they sped
to offer Him their precious gifts and praise.
Because of Persian missionaries, China received witness of salvation ithrough our Lord Jesus Christ for several centuries. few hundred years after the Singanfu stone was inscribed the Christian community in China disappeared. Some probable reasons for this were the persecution of the church and possible religious, theological, mythology, and political problems. The book, A History of Christianity in Asia, volume I by Samuel Hugh Moffett gives the detailed historical background along with some sources.