Alopen

Alopen (Chinese: 阿罗本 pinyin: Āluóběn) (also "Aleben", "Aluoben", "Olopen," "Olopan," or "Olopuen" and Chinese 景净 (pinyin: jǐng jìng)) is the first recorded Christian missionary to reach China, during the Tang Dynasty. He was a Nestorian, and probably a Syriac-speaker from Persia. He is known exclusively from the Nestorian Stele, which describes his arrival in the Chinese capital of Chang-an in AD 635 and his acceptance by Emperor Taizong. His is the earliest known name that can be attached to the history of Nestorianism in China. Alopen's name is known only from the Chinese of the Nestorian Stele. This may be a transliteration of the Semitic "Abraham". According to the Stele, Alopen and his fellow missionaries came to China from Daqin...