A window on China. An introduction

Abstract

In May-June 2015, I was invited by the Confucius Institute and the Beijing Normal University to conduct research on the spread of Nestorian Christianity in China, and I was asked by the Beijing Normal University to give a lecture on the subject. That invitation was the earliest stage of links woven between the Faculty of History at Beijing Normal University (now one of the top five universities in China) and the History department of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Balamand. Close cooperation between the two universities is underway with the enthusiastic support of the Dean, Prof. Georges Dorlian, having in view, among other things, to encourage the exchange of students and teaching staff between our two respective universities. A delegation from a Chinese university was sent to UOB for the first time in April 20 16. The delegation was composed of five professors from Beijing Normal University: two of its faculty members agreed to give two lectures on topics chosen jointly by the responsible of the two universities and which were of great significance for both. One was on the history of the Silk Road and the other on the origins of Christianity in China. We are pleased to present these two texts.