Phd FourthDraft 2025 06 05 test1 original academic

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Discovery, Study, and Origins of the SI Temple in the Turfan Area

1.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Numerous instances of Si[^1] were documented in the Gaochang kingdom and during the Tang period. The majority of scholars from China and Japan concur that these Si are Buddhist in nature, although they refrain from conducting individual analyses [^2]. This assumption has resulted in the consolidation of all scholarly inquiries regarding these Si within the framework of Buddhist studies.

Nevertheless, several scholars question the religious identity of these Si from a Zoroastrian perspective [^3]. This thesis seeks to challenge this assumption and is dedicated to examining the religious identities of these Si individually. The term Seng 僧 [monks] will also be included. Rather than making general assumptions, the most effective approach to analyzing the religious identities of these Si involves systematically evaluating each individual case, situating them within specific historical contexts based on both textual and archaeological evidence from the Turfan region (7th–9th centuries).

Turfan has served as a cosmopolitan center where multiple religions coexisted since antiquity. Scholars often presuppose the assumption that the Chinese Si denotes a Buddhist temple rather than a structure associated with other faiths. This essay examines this issue from the perspective of the Church of the East[^4].

Si as a religious building also associated with the institutional aspect of the Church of the East in Turfan[^5] during the 7th to 9th centuries. Its significance has been overlooked by recent scholarship. On the one hand, the ecclesiastical organization of the Church of the East in the Persian realm has been extensively examined through the works of Fiey[^6] and Wilmshurst[^7]. On the other hand, scholars focusing on Central Asia and China have not systematically addressed this particular subject.

Recent scholarly investigations into the Church of the East predominantly concentrate on Chinese materials from Chang'an and Luoyang during the 7th to 9th centuries, or predominantly examine Syriac and Sogdian (some Old Turkish) fragments in Turfan dating from the 8th to 14th centuries, with limited attention to their mutual connections, coexistence, and interactions with other religious traditions [^1], [^2].

The Chinese sources regarding the Church of the East are restricted primarily to the Changan and Dunhuang regions, having not extended to the Turfan area, despite the undisputed existence of archaeological sites and Syriac and Sogdian sources in the region. Recent scholarship remains largely confined to doctrinal, liturgical, spiritual, and practical texts, with no dedicated studies addressing its broader political, social, economic, or institutional dimensions. However, the contents of the Christian Turfan fragments in Berlin offer scant insight into the institutional framework of the Church of the East[^8]. Therefore, this thesis seeks to broaden the scope to Chinese sources, examining the term Si to explore political, economic, and social records.

The designation of the Si constitutes a critical determinant in the formation of religious identity, albeit a multifaceted phenomenon. Family temples (designated as FS) are intended to be sponsored by a family clan and serve to reflect the ethnic and regional identity associated with the temple. A foundational principle of this thesis posits that when a family name aligns with the characteristics of the Sogdian or Persian locality, as discussed in Chapter 3, it is more indicative of the Church of the East and less likely to correspond to a Buddhist temple. Conversely, if the family name corresponds to the attributes of the Central Plains (i.e., Chinese) region, it exhibits a heightened probability of being associated with a Buddhist temple[^1],[^2].

It is insufficient to rely solely on a family name to ascertain an individual's religious affiliation, as religious beliefs are inherently variable and not strictly confined to familial lineages. Consequently, individuals of divergent religious traditions may share the same surname, as evidenced by the Sogdians, who encompassed Zoroastrians, Christians, Manichaeans, and Buddhists (the latter influenced by Mahayana Buddhism of the Central Plains) [^1]. The religious affiliations of Central Plains family names are not necessarily uniform; for instance, archaeological findings at the Tangchao Dun site (唐朝墩) reveal that Buddhist temples and Nestorian Christian churches were situated within a 10-minute walking distance [^9]. Thus, it is conceivable for multiple religious traditions to coexist within the same surname or even within a single family. Therefore, asserting that a structure is Buddhist solely based on its association with Central Plains family names lacks sufficient evidentiary weight.

[^1]: 寺, usually translated as temple in the aspect of religious identity. I will talk about it later in details. [^2]: For example, Yan Yaozhong 1992, 2019; Yao Chongxin 1996, 1999 and 2008. [^3]: Guo Pingliang 1988, Zhang guangda 1999. [^4]: The Church of the East has often been termed 'Nestorian', however, recent scholars tend to call it as the Church of the East, the term adopted for this paper. See Brock 1996, pp.23-35. My focus is the Church of the East, since other two branches, the Melkites and the Miaphysites, play a less important role in Central Asia and China (Cf. Sims-Williams 1991, pp. 330-34). [^5]: In this project, I mainly focus on Turfan area, however, it also associated with other area and sources, such as Semirechye, Turfan, Beiting 北庭, Dunhuang, Xaraxoto and Changan. [^6]: Fiey 1963, 1965, 1968, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1993, 1995a and 1995b. [^7]: Wilmshurst 2000. [^8]: According to the email communication with Dr. Erica Hunter on 20 Dec. 2022, she says: "Regrettably none of the Syriac or Sogdian fragments have any colophons. This is a real disappointment, but that is the situation." The colophons are direct evidence of its institutional aspect, since the colophons from the manuscripts is essential for Wilmshurst's studies about the institutional aspect of the Church of the East during 1318-1913. see: Wilmshurst 2000. [^9]: Ren guan and Wei Jian 2023, p.138.