View source for East Syriac Christianity

{{Infobox
|Name= {{i|EastChrist}} East Syriac Christianity {{i|EastChrist}}
|NativeName= {{ILSize|Arabic-icon.png|Arabic Language}}: المسيحية السريانية الشرقية
|founded= 410
|predicon= Christi
|onlypredecessor= Christianity
|ended= 
|nexticon= 
|onlysuccessor= 
|image= East Syriac Christianity.png
|Caption=
|Alias= {{I|FSA}} [[Syria|Syrian Christianity]]<br>Eastern Christianity<br>{{I|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism]] (used interchangeably)<br>{{i|EastChrist}} [[Church of the East]]<br>{{Alias|China-icon.png|China|Jingjiao/Jing Religion (景教)}}
|Alignments= {{I|Religion}} {{CL|#02a9f4|:Category:Religions|'''Religions'''}}
|Collectives= {{I|Christi}} {{CL|#002868|:Category:Christianity|'''Christian'''}}
|Achievements= 
*{{I|Asia}} [[Asia|Influence on Christians of Asia]]
|Origin= {{i|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire]]
|Influenced By= {{i|Antiochene School}} [[Antiochene School]]<br>{{i|Christi}} [[Christianity]]<br>{{i|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism]]
|Influenced= {{I|Islam2}} [[Islam]]
|Variations=
|Notable People= 
*{{I|StThomasAp}} [[Thomasism|St. Thomas]] (5-76, according to tradition)
*{{I|EastChrist}} [[Church of the East|Babai the Great]] (551-628)
|Notable Examples= 
*{{I|Lakhmid}} [[Lakhmid Kingdom]] (c. 268–602)
*{{I|Keraites}} [[Keraites]] (11th century-13th century)
|Likes= {{I|SyriacL}} [[Syriac Language|Syriac]]<br>Steles<br>{{i|Tang}} [[Tang Dynasty]] {{i|ChineFolk}}<br>{{I|EnlightAb}} [[Enlightened Absolutism|Taizong of Tang]]
|Dislikes= {{i|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire|Persecutors]] {{i|Zoroastrianism}} (many)<br>{{i|Islam2}} [[Islam|Invaders]] {{i|IslamTheo2}}<br>{{I|Buddhophobia}} [[Buddhophobia|Wuzong of Tang]]
|Preceded= {{AL|{{i|Christi}} [[Christianity]]<br>{{I|AncientSem}} [[Ancient Semitic Religion]]}}
|Succeeded= 
|themecolor= #EFE4B0
|textcolor= #583725
}}{{Quote|The {{I|EastChrist}} [[Church of the East]], dwelling apart in the mountains and plains of {{I|4ballME}} [[Mesopotamia]], lived its life with little aid from the great powers of {{I|ChrTheo}} [[Christian Theocracy|Christendom]]. Again and again it was crushed by {{I|War}} [[War|sword]] and {{I|Arson}} [[Arsonism|flame]], yet it rose with a vitality that astonished its adversaries. It carried the {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Gospel]] across the breadth of {{I|Asia}} [[Asia]], not by force of {{I|Imp}} [[Imperialism|empire]] but by the endurance and {{I|Fideism}} [[Fideism|devotion]] of its monks and teachers, who journeyed across deserts and steppes to preach {{I|Jesus}} [[Jesusism|Christ]] where even the {{I|Catholicism}} [[Catholicism|Roman]] or {{I|Orthodoxy}} [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Byzantine]] name had never been heard.|{{I|Anglicanism}} [[Anglicanism|William Ainger Wigram]]}}'''East Syriac Christianity''' is one of three major branches of Eastern {{I|Nicene Creed}} [[Nicene Creed|Nicene Christianity]] that arose from the {{I|Christology}} [[Christology|Christological]] controversies in the 5th century and the 6th century. He split from mainstream {{i|Christi}} [[Christianity]] following the Council of {{i|AncGreece}} [[Ephesus]] in 431 AD that settled the relationship between {{I|Jesus}} [[Jesusism|Jesus]]'s {{i|0ball}} [[Divine Beings|divine]] and {{i|HomoSapiens}} [[Humankind|human]] natures. East Syriac went eastward without writing home, dodging both {{I|Papal States}} [[Papal States|popes]] and {{I|Imp}} [[Imperialism|emperors]], and planted crosses as far as {{i|India}} [[Satavahana Dynasty|India]], {{i|MongolEmp}} [[Mongol Empire|Mongolia]], and {{I|Tang}} [[Tang Dynasty|China]] while being called a heretic by {{i|Rome}} [[Rome]] and {{i|Constantinople}} [[Constantinople]]. 

Born out of {{i|EarlyChrist}} [[Early Christianity|early Christian communities]] in the Mesopotamia region of the {{i|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire|Persian Empire]], East Syriac Christianity took the road not taken by {{i|Catholicism}} [[Catholicism|Roman Catholics]] and {{i|Orthodoxy}} [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]], figuratively and literally. East Syriac Christianity developed outside the {{i|RomeEmp}} [[Roman Empire]], which is super important. Because he was based in the Persian Empire, he avoided the theological and political tug-of-war between Rome and Constantinople. That also meant that when Roman Christians started debating over {{I|AncGreece}} [[Ancient Greece|Greek philosophy]] and {{I|Christology}} [[Christology]], the East Syriac Church was busy surviving under {{i|Zoroastrianism}} [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] kings and later, {{i|Islam}} [[Islam|Muslim]] caliphates.

==History==
===Early Origins===
East Syriac Christianity trace his roots to the 1st-2nd centuries AD, not long after the birth of {{i|Christianity}} [[Christianity]] himself. He grew out of {{i|EarlyChrist}} [[Early Christianity|early Christian communities]] speaking {{i|SyriacL}} [[Syriac Language|Syriac]], a dialect of {{i|AramaicL}} [[Aramaic Language|Aramaic]] — the same language {{i|Jesus}} [[Jesusism|Jesus]] would have spoken. According to {{I|Tradition}} [[Traditionalism|tradition]], the leader of the East Syriacs, the Catholicos-Patriarch of the East, is continuing a line that stretched back to {{I|StThomasAp}} [[Thomasism|Thomas the Apostle]] in the first century.

===Persian/Sassanid Rule===
The {{i|EastChrist}} [[Church of the East]], church of the East Syriacs, first achieved official state recognition from the {{i|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire]] in the 4th century with the accession of {{i|Moderatism}} [[Moderatism|Yazdegerd I]] (reigned 399-420) to the throne. The policies of the Sasanian Empire, which encouraged syncretic forms of {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity]], greatly influenced the East Syriac branch.

In 410, the Council of {{i|Iraq}} [[Al-Mada'in|Seleucia-Ctesiphon]], held at the Sasanian capital, allowed leading bishops to elect a formal Catholicos (leader). Catholicos {{i|EastChrist}} [[Al-Mada'in|Isaac]] was required both to lead the Easy Syriac Christian community and to answer on their behalf to the Sasanian emperor. Thus, East Syriac was officially organized. Meanwhile, in the {{i|RomeEmp}} [[Roman Empire]], the {{I|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Schism]] of the years 431 to 544 had led many of {{I|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism|Nestorius]]' supporters to relocate to the Sasanian Empire.

Now firmly established in the Persian Empire, with centers in {{I|Turkey}} [[Nusaybin|Nisibis]], {{I|Iraq}} [[Ctesiphon]], {{I|Iran}} [[Gundeshapur]], and several metropolitan sees, East Syriac Christianity began to branch out beyond the Empire. However, through the 6th century the church was frequently beset with internal strife and persecution from the {{I|Zoroastrianism}} [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrians]]. The infighting led to a schism, which lasted from 521 until around 539, when the issues were resolved.  However, immediately afterward, the {{I|ByzEmp}} [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]-Persian conflict led to a renewed persecution of East Syriac by the Sasanian emperor {{I|AuthPac}} [[Authoritarian Pacifism|Khosrau I]]; this ended in 545. East Syriac Christianity survived these trials under the guidance of Patriarch {{I|EastChrist}} [[Church of the East|Aba I]], who had converted to Christianity from Zoroastrianism.

By the end of the 5th century and the middle of the 6th, the area occupied by the East Syriacs included all the countries to the east and those immediately to the west of the {{I|River}} [[Euphrates River|Euphrates]], including the Sasanian Empire, the {{I|ArabP}} [[Arabian Peninsula]], with minor presence in the {{I|Africa}} [[Horn of Africa]], {{I|Yemen}} [[Socotra]], {{I|4ballME}} [[Mesopotamia]], {{I|Iran}} [[Media]], {{I|Iran}} [[Bactria]], {{I|Turkmenistan}} [[Hyrcania]], and {{I|India}} [[Gupta Empire|India]]. Beneath the {{I|Patriarchy}} [[Patriarchy|Patriarch]] in the hierarchy were nine metropolitans and clergy, who were recorded among the {{I|Hun}} [[Hunnic Empire|Huns]], in {{I|Armenia}} [[Sasanian Armenia|Persarmenia]], Media, and the island of Socotra in the {{I|Water}} [[Indian Ocean]].

East Syriac Christianity also flourished in the {{I|Lakhmid}} [[Lakhmid Kingdom]] (c. 268–602) until the {{I|Islam2}} [[Islam|Islamic conquest]], particularly after the ruler {{I|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism|al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir]] officially converted in c. 592.

===Islamic Rule===
After the 7th-century {{I|Islam2}} [[Islam|Islamic]] conquests in which the {{i|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire]] was conquered by Muslim {{I|ArabP}} [[Arabs]] in 644, East Syriac Christians came under first the rule of the {{I|Rashidun}} [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]], then {{I|Umayyad}} [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]], and later {{I|Abbasid}} [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] caliphates. While Islamic authorities recognized {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Christians]] as dhimmi (protected {{i|Religion}} [[Religion|religious]] minorities), East Syriac communities were subject to special taxes, including the jizya, and had certain social restrictions.

East Syriac Christians made substantial contributions to the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, particularly in translating the works of the {{I|AncGreece}} [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] philosophers to {{I|SyriacL}} [[Syriac Language|Syriac]] and {{I|Arabic}} [[Arabic Language|Arabic]].

===Expansion===
After the split with the {{I|Europe}} [[Europe|Western World]] and synthesis with {{I|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism]], East Syriac Christianity expanded rapidly due to missionary works during the medieval period. Between 500 and 1400, the geographical horizon of the Church extended well beyond his heartland in present-day northern {{I|Iraq}} [[Iraq]], northeastern {{I|FSA}} [[Syria]] and southeastern {{I|Turkey}} [[Türkiye]]; communities sprang up throughout Central Asia, and missionaries from {{I|Assyria}} [[Assyrian Homeland|Assyria]] and {{I|4ballME}} [[Mesopotamia]] took the {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Christian]] faith as far as {{I|China}} [[China]].

East Syriac Christianity is said to have thrived in {{I|Anuradhapura}} [[Anuradhapura Kingdom|Sri Lanka]] with the patronage of {{I|Agrarianism}} [[Agrarianism|King Dathusena]] during the 5th century. There are mentions of involvement of {{I|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire|Persian]] Christians with the Sri Lankan royal family, and over seventy-five ships carrying {{I|AbAust}} [[Ngaiawang|Murundi]] soldiers from {{I|India}} [[Mangaluru|Mangalore]] are said to have arrived in the Sri Lankan town of {{I|Sri Lanka}} [[Chilaw]] most of whom were Christians. King Dathusena's daughter was married to his nephew {{I|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism|Migara]] who is also said to have been a Nestorian Christian, and a commander of the Sinhalese army. {{I|Christi}} [[Christi|Maga Brahmana]], a Christian priest of Persian origin is said to have provided advice to King Dathusena on establishing his palace on the {{I|Sri Lanka}} [[Sigiriya|Sigiriya Rock]].

The Anuradhapura Cross discovered in 1912 is also considered to be an indication of a strong Nestorian Christian presence in Sri Lanka between the 3rd and 10th century in the then capitol of Anuradhapura of Sri Lanka

Around 650, Patriarch {{I|Patriarchy}} [[Patriarchy|Ishoyahb III]] solidified East Syriac Christianity's jurisdiction in {{I|India}} [[Indian Civilization|India]]. East Syriac Christianity in India is closely tied with {{I|StThomasAp}} [[Saint Thomas Christians]] in {{I|Kerala}} [[Kerala]], whose earliest known organized presence dates to 295/300 when Christian settlers and missionaries from {{I|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire|Persia]] headed by Bishop {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|David of Basra]] settled in the region.

The Nestorian Stele (also known as the {{I|Chinese}} [[Xi'an]] Stele or the Jingjiao Stele), set up on 7 January 781 at the then-capital of {{i|ChineFolk}} [[Chang'an]], attributes the introduction of East Syriac Christianity to a mission under a Persian cleric named {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Alopen]] (阿羅本) in 635, in the reign of {{I|EnlightAb}} [[Enlightened Absolutism|Emperor Taizong]] during the {{I|Tang}} [[Tang Dynasty]]. The inscription on the Nestorian Stele, whose dating formula mentions the patriarch {{I|Patriarchy}} [[Patriarchy|Hnanisho II]] (773–780), list the names of several prominent Christians in China and around seventy monks.

East Syriac Christianity, or "Jingjiao" (景教) as he was called locally, thrived in China for approximately 200 years, but then faced {{I|Christophobia}} [[Christophobia|persecution]] from {{I|Buddhophobia}} [[Buddhophobia|Emperor Wuzong]] (reigned 840-846). He suppressed all foreign {{I|Religion}} [[Religion|religions]], including {{I|Buddhism}} [[Buddhism]] and Christianity, causing the church to decline sharply in China. A {{I|FSA}} [[Bilad al-Sham|Syrian]] monk visiting China a few decades later described many churches in ruin. East Syriac Christianity disappeared from China in the early 10th century, coinciding with the collapse of the Tang Dynasty and the tumult of the next years (Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period).

In the 12th century, the East Syriacs of India engaged the Western imagination in the figure of {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Prester John]], supposedly a Nestorian ruler of India who held the offices of both king and priest. The geographically remote Saint Thomas Christians survived the decay of the East Syriac hierarchy elsewhere, enduring until the 16th century when the {{I|KOPortugal}} [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] arrived in India. With the establishment of Portuguese power in parts of India, the clergy of that empire, in particular members of the {{I|Jesuits}} [[Society of Jesus]] (Jesuits), determined to actively bring the Saint Thomas Christians into full communion with the {{I|CathChurch}} [[Catholic Church]].

East Syriac Christianity in China experienced a significant revival during the {{I|MongolEmp}} [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]]-created {{I|Yuan}} [[Yuan Dynasty]], established after the Mongols had conquered China in the 13th century. {{I|RoVenice}} [[Republic of Venice|Marco Polo]] in the 13th century and other medieval Western writers described many Nestorian communities remaining in China and Mongolia; however, they clearly were not as active as they had been during Tang times.

East Syriac Christianity enjoyed a final period of expansion under the {{I|MongolEmp}} [[Mongol Empire]] in the 12th to 13th centuries. Several Mongol tribes had already been converted by East Syriac missionaries in the 7th century, and Christianity was therefore a major influence in the Empire. {{I|Khan}} [[Khanism|Genghis Khan]] was a {{I|Shamanism}} [[Shamanism|shamanist]] and {{I|Tengrism}} [[Tengrism|Tengrist]], but his sons took Christian wives from the powerful {{I|Keraites}} [[Keraites|Kerait clan]], as did their sons in turn. 

===Decline===
The expansion of Easy Syriac Christianity was followed by a decline. When {{I|Timur}} [[Timurism|Timur]], the {{I|Sunni}} [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] leader of the {{I|Timurid Empire}} [[Timurid Empire]], came to power in 1370, he set out to {{I|Genocide}} [[Genocide|cleanse]] his dominions of {{I|Islamophobia}} [[Religion|non-Muslims]], thus he annihilated Christianity in Central Asia. There were 68 cities with resident bishops in the year 1000; in 1238 there were only 24, and at the death of Timur in 1405, only seven.

The centuries that followed brought further setbacks. In many regions, the {{I|MongolEmp}} [[Mongol Empire]]'s early {{I|Pacifism}} [[Pacifism|tolerance]] had allowed East Syriac communities to survive, but this shifted as later Mongol rulers adopted {{I|Fundamentalism}} [[Fundamentalism|stricter religious policies]]. Political instability, {{I|War}} [[War|warfare]], and shifting alliances left Christian communities vulnerable.

East Syriac churches also faced growing {{I|Isolationism}} [[Isolationism|isolation]]. As trade routes across Central Asia weakened and many urban centers declined, previously thriving dioceses became scattered and disconnected. Without strong communication or support networks, many communities slowly disappeared.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, surviving East Syriac Christians became increasingly concentrated in northern {{I|4ballME}} [[Mesopotamia]] and the mountainous areas around {{I|4ballME}} [[Hakkari]]. Internal divisions, including disputes over leadership and succession, further weakened their cohesion. By the early modern period, the once vast East Syriac world that had stretched from the {{I|Water}} [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] to {{I|China}} [[China]] had contracted into only a few core regions.

===Schisms===
From the middle of the 16th century, and throughout following two centuries, East Syriac Christianity was affected by several internal schisms. Some of those schisms were caused by individuals or groups who chose to accept union with the {{I|Catholicism}} [[Catholicism|Catholics]]. Other schisms were provoked by rivalry between various fractions within. Lack of internal unity and frequent change of allegiances led to the creation and continuation of separate {{I|Patriarchy}} [[Patriarchy|patriarchal]] lines.

The Schism of 1552 happened when some East Syriac bishops disagreed with the hereditary leadership of the patriarch from the {{I|EastChrist}} [[Eliya Family]]. They elected {{I|Catholicism}} [[Catholicism|Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa]] as a new patriarch and got support from the {{I|Papal States}} [[Papal States|Pope]] in {{I|Rome}} [[Rome]]. This split the church into two groups: the traditional Eliya line and the new Shimun line, which later became the {{I|ChaldeanCathChurch}} [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]. The split was caused by both church {{I|Politics}} [[politics]] and the desire of some bishops to gain support and recognition from Rome.

==Beliefs==
===Christology===
Like all {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Christians]], East Syriac Christianity believes in the doctrine of the {{I|Trinity}} [[Trinitarianism|Trinity]], with the {{I|YHWH}} [[YHWHism|Father]], the {{I|Jesus}} [[Jesusism|Son]], and the {{I|HolySpirit}} [[Holy Spiritism|Holy Spirit]] as three persons of God. However, unlike most Christians, East Syriac rejects the Council of {{i|AncGreece}} [[Ephesus]] and believes that Christ's two natures, {{I|HomoSapiens}} [[Humankind|human]] and {{I|0ball}} [[Holy Beings|divine]], are separate, while acting as one person. This school of {{I|Christology}} [[Christology]] is known as {{I|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism]], which has become an interchangeable term to refer to East Syriac Christianity.

===Scripture===
East Syriac Christianity use the Peshitta, a {{I|SyriacL}} [[Syriac Language|Syriac]] translation of the {{I|Bible}} [[Bible]], in some cases lightly revised and with missing books added, as his standard holy scripture. Syriac is also his liturgical and theological language.

The {{I|Judaism}} [[Judaism|Old Testament]] of the Peshitta was translated from {{I|HebrewL}} [[Hebrew Language|Hebrew]], although the date and circumstances of this are not entirely clear. The translators may have been Syriac-speaking {{I|Jew}} [[Jews]] or early {{I|JewChrist}} [[Jewish Christianity|Jewish converts]] to {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity]]. The translation may have been done separately for different texts, and the whole work was probably done by the second century. Most of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament are found in the Syriac, and the Book of Sirach is held to have been translated from Hebrew and not from the {{I|GreekL}} [[Greek Language|Septuagint]].

The New Testament of the Peshitta, which originally excluded certain disputed books (Second Epistle of {{I|StPeter}} [[Petrine Primacy|Peter]], Second Epistle of {{I|StJohn}} [[Johnnine Theology|John]], Third Epistle of John, Epistle of {{I|StThaddeus}} [[Thaddeusism|Jude]], Book of Revelation), had become the standard by the early 5th century.

==Quotes==
{{QuoteSlider
|s1={{QSfit|{{Quote|The luminous {{I|Religion}} [[religion]] was brought to our land in the time of the illustrious {{I|EnlightAb}} [[Enlightened Absolutism|Emperor Taizong]]. The {{I|Bible}} [[Bible|Scriptures]] were translated, and churches were built. The sound of the Gospel filled the court, and its blessings spread over the {{I|Tang}} [[Tang Dynasty|empire]]. The {{I|Fideism}} [[Fideism|faithful]] gathered in reverence, and countless people received baptism. Its way is unchanging, its teaching pure and bright. It offers salvation to the living and deliverance to the souls of the departed.|{{I|Chinese}} [[Xi'an|Xi'an Stele]]}}}}

|s2={{QSfit|{{Quote|From {{I|4ballME}} [[Mesopotamia]] to the {{I|China}} [[China|Great Wall]], their bishops and monks traversed deserts and mountains to plant the {{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Gospel]] in distant lands.|{{I|Christi}} [[Christianity|Elizabeth Anna Gordon]]}}}}
}}

==Relationships==
===Friends===
*{{i|ChineFolk}} [[Chinese Folk Religion]] - Thanks for recognizing us in the {{i|Tang}} [[Tang Dynasty]]!
**{{Alias|ChineFolk-icon.png|Chinese Folk Religion|It's a pity that you were lost. Christian churches {{I|Catholicism}}{{I|Orthodoxy}}{{I|Protestantism}} [[Catholicism|no]][[Eastern Orthodoxy|w he]][[Protestantism|re]] were introduced one by one later.}}
*{{i|Nestorianism}} [[Nestorianism]] - {{i|Jesus}} [[Jesusism|Jesus]]' {{i|HomoSapiens}} [[Humankind|human]] and {{i|0ball}} [[Holy Beings|divine]] natures are completely separate.
*{{I|Khan}} [[Khanism]] - Thank you for making me thrive again! Wish I could say the same about your successors…

===Frenemies===
*{{i|Zoroastrianism}} [[Zoroastrianism]] - I am tolerated in {{i|Sassanid}} [[Sassanid Empire|his clay]] but he persecutes me when he fears I'll align with {{i|Catholicism}} [[Catholicism|Rome]].

===Enemies===
*{{i|Manichaeism}} [[Manichaeism]] - My rival along the Silk Road.
*{{I|Catholicism}} [[Catholicism]] - Causer of schisms! Stop trying to make me go in communion with you!
*{{i|Islam2}} [[Islam]] - Invaders! He forced me to remove all iconography from my churches. <s>I influenced you though.</s>
*{{I|Timur}} [[Timurism]] - VILE BUTCHER

==How to draw==
{{Flag|EastChrist cross.png|East Syrian cross}}
{{DrawDif|easy}}
# Draw a ball.
# Fill it with beige.
# Draw a brown Christian cross in the middle.
# Add two branches split off from each point of the cross.
# Add eyes and done.
{{FlagColour
|c1= Brown
|h1= #583725
|c2= Beige
|h2= #EFE4B0
}}

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