The Wind of the Spirit Is Blowing East: Ancestors, Deities, and the Holy Spirit in the Earliest Mission to China

The Wind of the Spirit Is Blowing East: Ancestors, Deities, and the Holy Spirit in the Earliest Mission to ChinaInternational Bulletin of Mission ResearchSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/QXFQ7FUK/tei

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2025-05-20-05:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Jacob ChengweiFengThe Wind of the Spirit Is Blowing East: Ancestors, Deities, and the Holy Spirit in the Earliest Mission to Chinahttp://syriaca.org/cbss/QXFQ7FUKhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/QXFQ7FUKhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/QXFQ7FUKInternational Bulletin of Mission Research49:22025126-138The Church of the East embarked on the earliest mission to China, sending monks to a vibrant land steeped in ancestral worship and a diverse pantheon of deities. This paper will delve into their extant Chinese documents, particularly the <i>xuting mishisuo jing</i> (Book of Righteous Mediator), to explore how the Gospel was contextualized in a culture centered on filial piety and imbued with spiritual beliefs. The argument posits that, as God-fearers (<i>tarsāk</i>, Sogdian), they effectively contextualized their vernacular piety by tapping into Tang China’s spirited world, demonstrating the creative and transformative power of the Holy Spirit. Feng, Jacob Chengwei. “The Wind of the Spirit Is Blowing East: Ancestors, Deities, and the Holy Spirit in the Earliest Mission to China.” International Bulletin of Mission Research 49:2 (2025): 126–38. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241305978. Jacob Chengwei Feng, The Wind of the Spirit Is Blowing East: Ancestors, Deities, and the Holy Spirit in the Earliest Mission to China, International Bulletin of Mission Research 49:2 (2025): 126–38, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/23969393241305978.