It is said that Church of the East (Madenkha) Christianity was out to an end in China by the The Huichang Persecution of Buddhism (841–845) that was targeted at Buddhism but decided their justification for going after Buddhism also applied to the other foreign religions like Christianity, Manicheanism and Zoroastrianism.
Buddhism survived and during some parts of the persecutions, Christians, Zoroastrians and Manicheans were forced to dress like and act like Buddhist Monks. After the persecution was over, Christianity was essentially done in China proper tho it extended from Sogdian to the Gansu in some form, overshadowed by Manicheanism that managed to survive in China as well and Zoroastrianism was gone.
What if this never occured.
How do they do this? Well, Confucians thought too many people were in monastries escaping doing real work and paying taxes. The author of the book that made ur world says Buddhist monasticism emphacized the community supporting the Monastries to a far greater extent than Christian Monasticism while other says the Christians were too dependant on the Emperor not establishing deep roots. What if they both did more work to establish deep roots among the people and are able to convince the Emperor that their monastries were not a drain on society, a special taxation agreement,? To be isolated hermits away from villages(really doubt this one),? Convince the Emperor that Christians have the way of getting immortality?.
The persecutions were driven by general societal resentment of foreigners so I don't think it is possible to completely butterfly them.
Whatever it is, Christianity remains in the East, I don't think they'll convert all of China, that Buddhism and Manicheanism survived better suggests they'll do better, Buddhism especially but it makes for an earlier and more established church making its way into the Eastern steppe. Now Christianity adopted alot of Buddhist language like in Western Eurasia it adopted alot of Greek language, I think corrections from Mesopotamia or Central Asia will reduce the extent of terminological Buddhification, as certainly some examples of this borrowing of terminology seemed to veered on syncretism rather than inculturation and that'll be grounds for a correction but I don't think Mesopotamia would ever be strong enough or to purge even most Buddhist terminology, they may not even be inclined to as parts of central Asia was also doing similarly with Buddhist terminology.
So Christianity will come to the Eastern steppe from both Central Asia and China. What are the chances of some other Mongolian scripts directly based on Sogdian and another on Chinese appearing,? I think a Chinese based script is more likely. But Certainly the Mongols would be more Christianized, the Keriates were probably the leading dynasty of the Zubu confederacy that preceded the Mongols and they were Christian so the Onguts, Keriates and Naimans were the main Christian Mongol nations OTL, what happens when Christian monastries from China be setting up in Mongolia? How many more tribes be converted, maybe the conversions would happen earlier and the Khitans would be converted. As the Nations that converted in OTL were more south west, closer to Sogdia-Gansu, so with Christian monastries scattered across the north, maybe venturing into Barbarian territory to escape periodic Chinese Xenophobia, they also convert the other para-Mongolic peoples closer to the settled area in the East like the Tatars and Khitans?.
I think following on the conclusions of the book that made ur world, Christian monasteries as they did in Ireland and most Roman France-Germany become part of the state institutions of the Zubu state, I don't think Buddhists ever did similar until Tibetan Buddhism which the Mongols won't adopt until later(someone correct me if I am wrong), so maybe Khitans but certainly Zubu-Keriates would be a state partially run by Madenkha(primarily Chinese due to China's population but also of the various central Asia ethnicities) Churchmen and maybe the Mongol Empire would be Christian? Maybe. I don't think they even had much Buddhists yet in OTL, but that's where I stop for you guys to continue.
Question Inspired by
CHRISTIAN RESPONSES TO BUDDHISM IN PRE-MEDIEVAL TIMES by DAVID SCOTT
The Book that Made your World by Vishal Mangalwadi
Buddhism survived and during some parts of the persecutions, Christians, Zoroastrians and Manicheans were forced to dress like and act like Buddhist Monks. After the persecution was over, Christianity was essentially done in China proper tho it extended from Sogdian to the Gansu in some form, overshadowed by Manicheanism that managed to survive in China as well and Zoroastrianism was gone.
What if this never occured.
How do they do this? Well, Confucians thought too many people were in monastries escaping doing real work and paying taxes. The author of the book that made ur world says Buddhist monasticism emphacized the community supporting the Monastries to a far greater extent than Christian Monasticism while other says the Christians were too dependant on the Emperor not establishing deep roots. What if they both did more work to establish deep roots among the people and are able to convince the Emperor that their monastries were not a drain on society, a special taxation agreement,? To be isolated hermits away from villages(really doubt this one),? Convince the Emperor that Christians have the way of getting immortality?.
The persecutions were driven by general societal resentment of foreigners so I don't think it is possible to completely butterfly them.
Whatever it is, Christianity remains in the East, I don't think they'll convert all of China, that Buddhism and Manicheanism survived better suggests they'll do better, Buddhism especially but it makes for an earlier and more established church making its way into the Eastern steppe. Now Christianity adopted alot of Buddhist language like in Western Eurasia it adopted alot of Greek language, I think corrections from Mesopotamia or Central Asia will reduce the extent of terminological Buddhification, as certainly some examples of this borrowing of terminology seemed to veered on syncretism rather than inculturation and that'll be grounds for a correction but I don't think Mesopotamia would ever be strong enough or to purge even most Buddhist terminology, they may not even be inclined to as parts of central Asia was also doing similarly with Buddhist terminology.
So Christianity will come to the Eastern steppe from both Central Asia and China. What are the chances of some other Mongolian scripts directly based on Sogdian and another on Chinese appearing,? I think a Chinese based script is more likely. But Certainly the Mongols would be more Christianized, the Keriates were probably the leading dynasty of the Zubu confederacy that preceded the Mongols and they were Christian so the Onguts, Keriates and Naimans were the main Christian Mongol nations OTL, what happens when Christian monastries from China be setting up in Mongolia? How many more tribes be converted, maybe the conversions would happen earlier and the Khitans would be converted. As the Nations that converted in OTL were more south west, closer to Sogdia-Gansu, so with Christian monastries scattered across the north, maybe venturing into Barbarian territory to escape periodic Chinese Xenophobia, they also convert the other para-Mongolic peoples closer to the settled area in the East like the Tatars and Khitans?.
I think following on the conclusions of the book that made ur world, Christian monasteries as they did in Ireland and most Roman France-Germany become part of the state institutions of the Zubu state, I don't think Buddhists ever did similar until Tibetan Buddhism which the Mongols won't adopt until later(someone correct me if I am wrong), so maybe Khitans but certainly Zubu-Keriates would be a state partially run by Madenkha(primarily Chinese due to China's population but also of the various central Asia ethnicities) Churchmen and maybe the Mongol Empire would be Christian? Maybe. I don't think they even had much Buddhists yet in OTL, but that's where I stop for you guys to continue.
Question Inspired by
CHRISTIAN RESPONSES TO BUDDHISM IN PRE-MEDIEVAL TIMES by DAVID SCOTT
The Book that Made your World by Vishal Mangalwadi
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