Orlentat ons Volume 46 Number 5 JUNE 2015

Chin ese Bronze Crosses:A lingjiao Phenomenon of the Middle AgesFLorian Knothe

The Univers ty of Hong Kong (llKU) has the world'sII [argest colLection of Yuan dynasty (,1271 1368)

Nestor an crosses.The 979 crosses were assembled

by F. A. Nixon who served as a Brrtish postaI

commissioner in Beijing ln the 'T 930s and 1940s.

Measur ng between 3 and 8 centimetres ln herght,

they are elaborate plaque l ke bronze ornamentswlth an outl ne n h gh relief and a looponthe back,

suggesting that they were used as personal seals and

weTe woTn on the body, attached to a belt or garment(F gs '1 and 2)

Such bronze crosses were cast n the Ordos region

in northwest China ( nner MongoIia) in the Yuan

dynasty (Peiliot,'1 931, pp 1-2'1.The fine motifs of the

cast Chr stian and Buddhist symbols and the unusualpresence of red ink deposits in intermittent lower

parts ofthe design polnt to the use ofthese ob,1ects

also as seals. Although allare cast a process used

for the repeated product on of the same slze and

design each Nestorian cross rs unique: indeed, they

are noteworthy for the r individual des gns. F S. Drake

exp[ains that duplrcation was purposefully avoided,

perhaps for security reasons, suggesting that each

des gn may have represented an ind v dual owner,

family or group (Drake, 1962, p. 14). Stylisticalty, the

crosses fall nto four categor es, lrrany with a m x of

Christian and Buddhlst motifs rn the same artefact(see \rlenzies, 1934). N4ost are executed jn cruclflx

form hence the group descrptlon as'crosses' with

either flat or round ends. Other'crosses' n fact take

the shape of anlmals, predominantty birds, but also

hares and fish, as well as geometric patterns. such as

sun-like designs and mlsce[aneous Chrnese sea[ [ike

tor-s F g:3a-d. -a d .

F-igs 1 and 2 F-ront and reverse of Nestorian crossesCh na,Yuan dynasty (1271 1368)

B ro nz,.

Un vers ty Museum and Art Gallery,The Unrvers ty of llong Kong (FlKU.B.1 961.0243b)Formerly in the collect on of E A. Nixon, a Br tish postal commissicner n

Belj ng n the 1 930s and 1 940s, donated by the Lee Hysan Foundatlon, 1 961

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Early cructform shapes appeared in euanzhouin Fuj an province, as welt as jn the Ordos region.as part of the stylistic repertoire jn Manichaeisrn.a modern Persian religton originally founded by thelraniar orophet Mani(c. 216-276 CE) in the Sasan anempire, that, like Nestorianism, preached WesternChristian beliefs, and declined after the l4th century(the Franciscans also had convents rn Quanzhou rn

the 14th century;see Moule,1931, p.g4).The brolzeplaques are predominantly Maltese crosses with fourequally long arms extending from a centre square orcirc[e. Other important examptes are Syrian crosses inwhrch the aTms are connected w th curved or straightbars. 0ne recurrent motif on Nestorian crosses ts theswastika-both teft- and right-turntng_a symbolfound in Buddhism srnce the 1st century. The swasttka

rs regu larly represented as the centraL part of thecross that thereby becomes hybrld in character andsp-^cific to the Nestorians (for comparison, see Moule,1 931, p. B1 ). n many of the cruciform shapes, bandsconnect the four extremitres, or petals, of the cross.These seem to symbotize radiating sunbeams and,if so, make reference to the Chrnese name or literarytranslation of Nestorianism as JlngTioo. or,tuminousreligion'(see Yeung Chun-tong, p. 7O).

Other'crosses' recal[ the shapes of birds_singteor double-as one btrd with two heads or as a pair ofrntertwined birds (Paulpell ot describes the bird as a

symbolof the Hoty Spirit tn Christian religion and as ajivamjivo in Buddhrsm !-ivo meanrng'lrfel 'selfl or,soul,l;see Peliiot, 1931, p. 2). Both the double headed designand the double birds repeat the strict symmetry of

-igs 3a and b Nestorian cTosseslhrna, Yuan dynasty (1 271 1 369)3ronze,heights3 8cm.Jnivers ty N,4useum and Art GalLery,-he [lniversity of llong Kong=ormerly in the coltectton of F-. A.'.' o .oB,, rpo o o^.i:,,or^.n Beillng in the T g30s and 1940s

--lonated by the Lee iysan Foundatton.r 96'r (! KU. B.t 961.0243b) s*

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Orientations Volume 46 Number 5 JUNE 2015

the cruciform shapes as well as echoing the geometryknown in Pers an art.Therefore, this stylistic featuremay also be a possible cultural inf luence introducedto Chlna by Silk Road travellers and known to theOrdos Nestorians.

Ti e \^.ror an Ch -rcr -o so ^-o^F as Lr e Ass,. arII Church ofthe East (or the East Syrian Church or

anc ent Church of Persia)-follows the doctlne ofNestorius (about 386 450), a Persian Christian whoserved as Archb shop of Constantinople (modern daylstan bu l) f rorn 428 u ntil 431 , when h is u nderstand rng

and teaching of the Christian reIigion led to hrs

denunciatlon and consequent exite to Northern Egypt(Bernard Hung-bay Luk, 1 981, p 1 1 1 ). Throughout theMiddle Ages, Nestorianrsm comprised the Christian

community in lran,lraq and South West ndia, andIts beliefs were tolerated by a contiguous slamtcpoputation (Joseph. 'l 961; and Drake 'l 961, p. I 6).

The church expelenced a prosperous period ofexpans on during the 7ih to the 'l 0th century, whenNestorian Chrlstianity extended from the Middte Eastnto Chlna and spread within west and south Ch na

throughout the Tang dynasty (6,1 8-907) (Lo Hsiangl n, pp. '1 -8, and Jo h nson, 201 1 ). The d ispersedcharacter of the ch u rch and the nomad ic l festyteof many of its members resulted largely from thepersecution of retrgions by the Tang admrnlstrationfrom the year 845 onwards (Taylor, 1938, pp.57 5B).

Consequent[y. many followers fled to the northwestregions during the Song (960-1 279) and the Yuanperiod, eventua[y settl ng along the great northern

F-igs 3c and d Nestor an cTossesChina Yuan dynasty (1271 1368)Bronze, heights 3-B cmUnivers ty Museum and Art Gallery.The Univers ty of Hong KongFormerly n the coltection of F. A.

N .or.. Br - r po. o. .o ( o1ein Be jing n the I 930s and 1 940sDonated by the Lee Hysan

F-oundation. 1 961 (HKU.

B.'t 961.0243b)

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F gs 4a d lmpress ons/rubb ngs of Nestor an crosses n the HKU collection(After Menz es. 1934. llls 52-61.639 46.735 48 and 973 B4)

loop of the Yetlow River. There, the Keraits and Onguts,tVongoltribes that converted to Nestonanism in

the early 1'1th century (Philtrps, 1 998, p. 123: andNewton, 1996, p. 182) inhabited the Ordos region,from whrch the bronze crosses originate. (During

the Yuan dynasty, Western traveLters, incLudingFrancrscan friars and Sitk Road merchants. deLiveredreports to their patrons back in Europe about theChristian community and its well-betng under therule of the Mongot Khans;see Mingana, 1925, pp.

2 41.) mpressions of all of the individuatdesignsof E A. N ixon's coltection were f irst pubtished byJames Me[[on Menzies as a special issue of 'Chinese

Nestorlan Bronze Crosses' in Cheeloo LJniversity

JournaL, nos 3-5, in December l93a (Figs 4a-d). Thecotlection was acquired by the Lee Hysan Foundationand donated to the university rn '1 96'1 . lt wrI be on viewin an extensive re dispiay at HKU, cotnciding with an'l nternational Conference on J i ng Jiao (Nestorianlsm),planned for 10-'l 2June 2018.

Florion Knothe ts Director of the tJniversity Museumond Art Goliery otThe IJniversity of Hong Kong.

Selected bibliogrophy

F. S. Drake,'Nestolan Crosses and NestorianChristians in China under the Mongols', in JournoLof the Royol Asiotlc Society Hong Kong Bronch,vol.2.1962

lan Grtlman,'Franciscan Envoys to Medieval China,,in Roberto Benedetto, ed.,Ihe New WestminsterDictionory of Church History, vot. l, Lou svt[e, 2OOB,

pp 255 56

John Joseph, The Nestortans ond Their MusLim

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Neighbors:A Study of Western lnfLuence on TherrRelotions, Princeton, 'l 961.

Lo Hs ang-lin, Nestorionism in the T'ong oncJ yuan

Dynostles, Hong Kong, 1 966.Bernard lung bay Luk.'From Anc ent Heresres

to Medreval Reltgions: a Guide to the Study ofNestorianism',Theotogy Annua[,vo1.5, .T

9B'] : 'l 'l

124

James MeILon Menzies,'Chinese Nestorian BronzeCrosses', Cheeloo University Journol, nos 3-5,December '1 934: 56 60.

Alphonse Mingana,'Ear[y Spread of Chnstianity inCentralAsia and the Far East', Bulletin of the JohnRylonds Librory Monchester, vol. g, no. 2,Jlly lgZS:ao- a- 1LJ/-a/ t.

Arthur Christopher Moule,'The Use of the Cross amongthe Nestorlans in China', T'oung poo,2nd series, vol.28, no. 1-2,1 93'1 : 7B-86.

Arthur Percival Newton. Trovel ond TroveLLers of theMiddle Ages. New York, 't gg6.

Paul PeIrot.'Sceaux Amulettes de Bronze avec Croix etCotombes provenant de Ia Boucle du Fleuve Jaune,,Reyue des orts osiatiques, vot. 7, no. 1, 1g3'l : 1 g.

John Roland Seymour Phtll ps, The Medievol Exponsronof Europe,Oxford (second editron), 19g8, p. .l

23.Angelo Tartuferi and Francesco D'Arellt, eds, L,orte di

Froncesco:CopoLavori d'orte itoLiano e terre d'AsiodoLXlll oLXV secolo. Ftorence, 2Ol 5, pp. 67-75 and105 13.

W. R. Taylor,'Nestorian Crosses in China', The AmericonJournol of Semitic Longuoges ond Literoture,vol.55, no. 1 (January 1 938): 56-60.

Yeung Chun-tong,'A Study of the Nestorian BronzeCrosses found in the 0rdos region', Soochol.r,University Jou rnoL of Chinese Art H rstory. vol. B,

June 1978: 6'1 71.

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