These three rubbings document some of the interesting history of Judaism and Jewish people in China.  The steles date from the 15th through 17th century in Kaifeng—a city which was home to a Jewish community for many hundreds of years.

重建清真寺記 (Chong jian Qing zhen si ji)

重建清真寺記（清末拓本）
金鍾撰 ; 曹佐書
明弘治二年五月吉日[1489]開封 金瑛, 金禮立石
碑石原立於開封一賜樂業清真寺(猶太教), 現存河南開封博物館

“Record of the synagogue reconstruction”
By Jin Zhong ; calligraphy by Cao Zuo
Stele erected in 1489 in Kaifeng by Jing Ying and Jin Li, rubbing produced in the late Qing dynasty
Stele originally located at a synagogue in Kaifeng, now held at the Kaifeng Museum of Jewish History

This rubbing is from the oldest of the three steles.  Its contents are in three sections; one explains the origin and history of Judaism, another describes the rituals and worship of Chinese Jews around the time of the stele construction, and the last tells of a past imperial audience.

尊崇道經寺記 (Chen Fa Sun Jiagan zhi Shandong mou tong nian you shu zha he ji)

尊崇道經寺記 （清末拓本）
左唐撰 ; 高考書
明正德七年[1512]七月甲子日開封刻 尊崇道經寺
碑石原立於開封一賜樂業清真寺(猶太教), 現存河南開封博物館

“History of the Daojing synagogue”
By Zuo Tang ; calligraphy by Gao Kao
Stele carved in 1512 in Kaifeng, rubbing produced in the late Qing dynasty
Stele originally located at a synagogue in Kaifeng, now held at the Kaifeng Museum of Jewish History

This rubbing is from the second oldest of the three steles, which dates from 1512 and details the religious practices of the Jews in China at that time.

祠堂述古碑記 (Ci tang shu gu bei ji)

祠堂述古碑記 （清末拓本）
趙承基撰 ; 韓尚武, 程銀鐫刻
清康熙十八年[1679]開封刻石
碑石原立於開封一賜樂業清真寺(猶太教), 現存河南開封博物館

“Stone record of the temple history”
By Zhao Chengji ; engraved by Han Shangwu and Cheng Yin
Stele carved in 1679 in Kaifeng, rubbing produced in the late Qing dynasty
Stele originally located at a synagogue in Kaifeng, now held at the Kaifeng Museum of Jewish History

This is the third and most recent of the Jewish stele rubbings held at UW.

大秦景教流行中國碑（民國拓片）
景凈撰 ; 呂秀巖書
唐建中二年[781]1月7日立碑
原碑現藏陝西西安碑林

“Nestorian Monument” (Rubbing, Republic of China period)
By Jing Jing ; Calligraphy by Lü Xiuyan
Stele erected in 781, now held in the Xi’an Forest of Steles

These rubbings are from a stele known as the Nestorian Monument, about Christianity in China in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The inscription was written by Jing Jing, a Buddhist monk active in the Tang Dynasty, and the calligraphy was done by Lü Xiuyan, a Tang dynasty official. The stele was erected on the 7th day of the 1st month of the 2nd year of the Jianzhong period in the Tang Dynasty (that is, 781).

The Nestorian Monument was unearthed in the town of Zhouzhi in Shaanxi Province in 1623 A.D. (Ming dynasty). The monument, now stored in the Forest of Steles in Xian, was erected by the earliest known Christian missionary to China, a Nestorian monk, Olopen, who came to China in 635 A.D. The Nestorian faith was known to the Chinese as jing jiao. Olopen built a temple in Chang’an, called the Da Qin Temple.

The original stone monument, measuring 2.36 meters tall, 0.86 meters wide and 0.25 meters thick was carved in 781 A.D. The text at the top reads ‘(Let’s) praise (the Lord) that the Da Qin faith has been popular in China.’ The inscription on the monument was written by a follower called Lü Xiuyan and was about 1780 characters long. It mentions the early activities of Christianity in China and the Christian doctrine. On two sides of the bottom of the monument, the names of 128 followers are listed in Syriac script. The contents of the monument have been translated into many languages and the monument is invaluable to the study of the spread and development of Christianity in China.