The conference was organised jointly by The Association of Dunhuang and Turfan Studies of China, Sun Yat-sen University and Cultural Relics Bureau of Xinjiang. Our venue was Turfan Museum, a majestic new building reflecting traditions of medieval architecture of the Silk Road.
Focus on Jingjiao: Syriac Christianity in medieval China
The international meeting focused on the history of Syriac Christianity in China and the neighbouring countries during the Middle Ages. It brought together over 50 scholars including archaeologists, historians, philologists and social scientists from East Asia (China, Mongolia and Japan) and Western Europe. The papers covered a wide variety of topics from the study of Christian manuscripts and artifacts discovered in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Southeastern China to the spread of Christianity in Tibet and Kazakhstan. A number of papers dealt with translation studies with a focus on Jingjiao (Church of the East) theological and doctrinal texts rendered in the Chinese language using some concepts of the Buddhist and Taoist teaching. Some scholars demonstrated a microhistory approach when they traced the history of one Christian Mongolian family throughout the Yuan period. Of great interest was a discussion of Syriac medical and pharmacological texts unearthed at a Christian site in Turfan. These fragments demonstrate the influence of Classical Greek and Roman medicine, primarily of Hippocrates and Galen, thus providing clear evidence of the cultural contacts along the Silk Roads.
Recent archaeological investigations of two medieval Christian sites
The most fascinating, however, were the papers that showcased the results of recent archaeological investigations of two medieval Christian sites, a church building in the ancient city of Tangchaodun (115 km north of Turfan, on the northern slopes of the Tian Shan mountains) and a ruined monastery of the Church of the East in Xipang, Turfan Oasis. This latter was the site where hundreds of Christian manuscript fragments were discovered during the Second and Third German Turfan Expeditions (1904–1907). Since 2021, the monastery has been systematically excavated by a team of Chinese archaeologists and historians lead by Professor Liu Wensuo of Sun Yat-sen University. Their profound study has revealed the architectural structures of the monastery in their dynamics for over 400 years and brought to light thousands of new artifacts, murals and manuscript fragments. Radiocarbon dating performed on many artifacts provided a reliable date range for the existence of the monastery, from 770s until 1210s, that is from the middle Tang period throughout the Uyghur Kingdom of Qocho.
Research trips within the Turfan Oasis
After the conference, delegates visited the ruins of the Xipang monastery as well as some other important historical sites, such as the ruined cities of Gaochang (Qocho) and Jiaohe (Yarkhoto) and the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves. Apart from the Christian and Buddhist remains, scholars were able to see some remnants of Manichaeism that was once a predominant religion in this area. As a special treat, the participants enjoyed some delicious grapes grown in Turfan. The extensive vineyards throughout the oasis are watered by the ancient underground irrigation system called karez.
Natalia Smelova presented a paper entitled “Syriac fragments from Turfan and Qara Qoto (Heicheng): a comparative study of magical and calendrical texts.” Thanks to the conference, she has got better understanding of the processes behind the spread of Christianity in Turfan as well as its chronological boundaries. This enhanced knowledge will be applied in a chapter of her thesis dealing with the subject.