To The Baron Von Richthofen I Am No
Less Indebted For The More Complete Rubbing Which Has Afforded The
Plate Now Published.
A tolerably full account of this inscription is
given in Cathay, p. xcii.
Seqq., and p. clxxxi. seqq., but the
subject is so interesting that it seems well to introduce here the
most important particulars: -
The stone slab, about 7-1/2 feet high by 3 feet wide, and some 10
inches in thickness,[A] which bears this inscription, was
accidentally found in 1625 by some workmen who were digging in the
Chang-ngan suburb of the city of Singanfu. The cross, which is
engraved at p. 30, is incised at the top of the slab, and beneath this
are 9 large characters in 3 columns, constituting the heading, which
runs: "Monument commemorating the introduction and propagation of the
noble Law of Ta T'sin in the Middle Kingdom;" Ta T'sin being the
term applied in Chinese literature to the Roman Empire, of which the
ancient Chinese had much such a shadowy conception as the Romans had,
conversely, of the Chinese as Sinae and Seres. Then follows the
body of the inscription, of great length and beautiful execution,
consisting of 1780 characters. Its chief contents are as follows: -
1st. An abstract of Christian doctrine, of a vague and figurative
kind; 2nd. An account of the arrival of the missionary OLOPAN
(probably a Chinese form of Rabban = Monk),[B] from Ta T'sin in the
year equivalent to A.D. 635 bringing sacred books and images, of the
translation of the said books, of the Imperial approval of the
doctrine and permission to teach it publicly.
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