Religious Encounters along the Silk Road: Connections, Competitions, and Comparisons

Author:   Huaiyu Chen
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN:  

9781666943887


Pages:   280
Publication Date:   19 February 2026
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

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Religious Encounters along the Silk Road: Connections, Competitions, and Comparisons


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Full Product Details

Author:   Huaiyu Chen
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.00cm
Weight:   0.540kg
ISBN:  

9781666943887


ISBN 10:   1666943886
Pages:   280
Publication Date:   19 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments List of Figures Maps Introduction 1. The Shared Political Community: State Ideology, True Portraits, and Creating the Church 2. The Shared Textual Community: Shared Vocabulary and Different Doctrines 3. The Shared Ritual Community: Scripture Pillars and Amulets 4. The Shared Heavenly Community: Politics, Religions, and Science along the Silk Road Epilogue Bibliography Index

Reviews

Huaiyu Chen's Religious Encounters along the Silk Road: Connections, Competitions, and Comparisons is a delight to behold. It masterfully examines Buddhism, Christianity, and Daoism, the three major religious traditions of medieval Central Asia, while also paying due regard to less prominent faiths of the period and place such as Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Judaism, and Islam. Solidly grounded in textual and epigraphical sources and amply illustrated with primary manuscripts and inscriptions, this trustworthy work of detailed scholarship transports the reader back a millennium and more to Dunhuang, Turfan, and other sites where these ancient texts, amulets, and portraits were the focus of vibrant communities of believers, now brought to life by the dedicated scholarship of the author. * Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania * This ambitious work provides a detailed account of the political and cultural developments of Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity (Nestorianism) in medieval China and Central Asia, based on newly discovered sources. Those who read this book from cover to cover will find their existing understanding challenged and transformed. * Takata Tokio, Kyoto University *


Huaiyu Chen's Religious Encounters along the Silk Road: Connections, Competitions, and Comparisons is a delight to behold. It masterfully examines Buddhism, Christianity, and Daoism, the three major religious traditions of medieval Central Asia, while also paying due regard to less prominent faiths of the period and place such as Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Judaism, and Islam. Solidly grounded in textual and epigraphical sources and amply illustrated with primary manuscripts and inscriptions, this trustworthy work of detailed scholarship transports the reader back a millennium and more to Dunhuang, Turfan, and other sites where these ancient texts, amulets, and portraits were the focus of vibrant communities of believers, now brought to life by the dedicated scholarship of the author. * Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania *


Huaiyu Chen's Religious Encounters along the Silk Road: Connections, Competitions, and Comparisons is a delight to behold. It masterfully examines Buddhism, Christianity, and Daoism, the three major religious traditions of medieval Central Asia, while also paying due regard to less prominent faiths of the period and place such as Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Judaism, and Islam. Solidly grounded in textual and epigraphical sources and amply illustrated with primary manuscripts and inscriptions, this trustworthy work of detailed scholarship transports the reader back a millennium and more to Dunhuang, Turfan, and other sites where these ancient texts, amulets, and portraits were the focus of vibrant communities of believers, now brought to life by the dedicated scholarship of the author. * Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania * This ambitious work provides a detailed account of the political and cultural developments of Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity (Nestorianism) in medieval China and Central Asia, based on newly discovered sources. Those who read this book from cover to cover will find their existing understanding challenged and transformed. * Takata Tokio, Kyoto University * In this eye-opening work, Chen shows that even though Buddhism, Daoism, and Nestorian Christianity were political rivals, they used the same vocabulary, rituals, and devotional objects. Their leaders were often Persian or Sogdian, lived near each other in Chang’an, and were part of a textual community whose lingua franca was Chinese. * Keith N. Knapp, Professor of History at The Citadel and co-editor of the Cambridge History of China, Volume 2: The Six Dynasties (220-589) *


Author Information

Huaiyu Chen is Professor of Buddhism and Chinese Religions at Arizona State University, USA.

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