A Select Bibliography of Chinese and Japanese Language Publications on Syriac Christianity: 2000-2019

China and Japan have historically and contemporaneously played a role of central importance in the study of Syriac Christianity. In the case of China, since the 17th Century numerous Jǐngjiào 景教 (E. Syriac Christian) relics have been excavated and countless studies on Jǐngjiào manuscripts and related literaure have been published. Many scholars have already pulished their studies in Western languages; however, a large number of Chinese language publications remain basically unnoticed by the West. In the case of Japan, the work of Peter Yoshirō Saeki (J. Saeki Yoshirō 佐伯好郎, 1871-1965), Junjirō Takakusu (J. Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎, 1866-1945) and others was foundational for the modern study of the religion and its presence in East Asia. Despite this, there are few means for scholars in the West to access bibliographical information regarding recent Japanese language publications in the field.

This bibliography contains two parts; a select bibliography of Chinese language publications published between 2000 and 2019, and a select bibliography of Japanese language publications published during the same period. The compilers searched for the Chinese keywords Jǐngjiào 景教, Sānyíjiào 三夷教 (E. The three Persian religions of the Tang Dynasty; Manichaeism, Jǐngjiào and Zoroastrianism), and Yělǐkěwēn 也里可温 (E. Christianity and Christians during the Yuán Dynasty, 1271-1368CE), the Japanese terms Keikyō 景教 (E. Syriac Christianity) and Nesutoriusuha ネストリウス派 (E. Nestorianism), and related terminology in both languages in a number of bibliographies and online databases including the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the Index to Taiwan Periodical Literature System, WorldCat, the Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator (CiNii) of Japan’s National Institute of Informatics, and the National Diet Library Online (NDL Online). In light of the huge quantities of Chinese language studies published between 2000-2019, the compilers selected the most pertinent texts from mainstream and university journals, such as The Western Regions Studies (C. Xīyù yánjiū 西域研究), Historical Research (C. Lìshǐ yánjiū 历史研究), and Dunhuang Research (C. Dūnhuáng yánjiū 敦煌研究), alongside monographs and book chapters, as well as pieces regularly cited in other sources. On the other hand, since there have been significantly fewer publications in Japanese, the compilers have sought to include any relevant Japanese language texts that they have located. The English translations are mostly provided by the compilers of this bibliography, but it should be noted that to locate these studies, the transliterations of the titles given in Hànyǔ Pīnyīn and Modernized Hepburn may be more helpful.