Inscriptions · Twentieth-century rubbing of an inscription dated 781 CE
The Xi’an Christian Stele: A Later Rubbing
This paper rubbing records an ancient inscription associated with Christianity in Tang China. The Smithsonian dates the inscription to 781 but the surviving rubbing to the twentieth century: two dates describe two different material witnesses.
Date / dating
Twentieth-century rubbing of an inscription dated 781 CE
Historical region
China; ancient inscription associated with Tang-era Chang’an, now Xi’an
Holding collection / site
National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution; F1976.28.1a-c
Material
Ink on paper; a rubbing, not the ancient stone
Language / script
Chinese; the original monument also has Syriac inscriptions
Place the object in time
Historical setting
The original monument presents a Christian community’s history through Chinese and Syriac language. Research connects it with East Syriac networks and the translation of Christian identity into a Chinese public setting. The Smithsonian rubbing came from Peking University and entered the permanent collection in 1976; its exact making date is not specified.
Observe before interpreting
Look closely
Separate what belongs to the paper impression from what it records about the earlier carved surface.
Ask how script, language, and monumental form could make a community’s identity publicly legible.
History, Scripture, and theology
Why it matters
The inscription widens Christian history beyond a Europe-centered story and invites careful study of migration, language, and public self-presentation. Acts 2 offers a contextual comparison about speaking across languages, not evidence that the monument records that event. The rubbing itself also teaches how replicas and impressions can preserve access while differing from the objects they reproduce.
What the record can establish
Evidence and limits
This catalog entry concerns a modern paper rubbing; 781 CE dates its model, and 1950 is only a twentieth-century ordering estimate.
A commemorative community narrative is not a neutral census; ‘Nestorian’ in older catalog titles should not flatten the Church of the East’s identity.
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