关于景教研究的问题意识与反思

Problematics and Reflection on the Research of Nestorian Church

景教研究是古代中西交通史或中外文化交流史研究的一个重点,但令人遗憾的是,当西方基督教史研究已经在波斯教会和聂斯脱利派研究方面取得许多新认识的时候,国内的景教研究学者对这个团体一些基本特点的叙述仍停留在理雅各和左伯好郎的时代,甚至因袭以往对该派基督教形象特点的定义而提出错误的问题进而引向偏颇的结论。充分了解这群唐代来华的基督教宣教士所属母会的来龙去脉,充分了解早期基督教史,对于理解并评价景教徒在中国的活动,对于深入分析汉文景教文献的特点,都是不可或缺的前提。本文通过对四个具体问题的辨析而挑战和质疑中古景教研究专家们的一些疏漏,意在引起国内景教研究专家们的注意,认识到有关基督教史研究的丰富研究成果对于唐代景教研究不无裨益,也希望景教研究在当前语境下应有的一个新定位能够更受重视——景教研究不再单纯是针对出土文献的古代语言研究,还是一项需要多种知识结合的文化研究和宗教研究。

To many contemporary western scholars who study the history of early Christianity or the Christianity history in Asia,'Nestorian Church' is a wrong and misinterpreted title for the church developing in Persia for such a long time.However,most Chinese scholars who pay attention to the topic of Christianity in the Tang Dynasty,one of the focal points of the field of medieval Sino-western cultural relationship,still base their studies on the inaccurate or even completely wrong conceptions of the so-called 'Nestorian Church' which were formed almost one hundred years ago.It's a pity that they seem to have no interest on the new advancement of 'other' disciplines.I think it is quite necessary for the researchers of Christianity in the Tang Dynasty to learn and absorb the achievement of the study on history of western Christianity and probably some other disciplines,because in contemporary context,the study of 'Nestorian Church' is no longer a pure philology study based merely on the excavated literature,it is some kind of synthetic culture study and religious study combining a variety of knowledge.In this paper,the author tries to present and arouse the attention of the above mentioned problem according to the analysis of four mistaken statements being used to be followed by Chinese scholars,which could have been revised many years ago if referring to the achievement of other disciplines.