This edited collection, which had its genesis at a conference on the Church of the East held in Hong Kong in June of 2015, offers readers the most recent research in the field from a number of noted experts. It is edited by professors Samuel Lieu and Glen Thompson, who are themselves senior scholars in an emerging field of study addressing the Church of the East and Christianity along the Silk Road. Sumptuously presented and beautifully illustrated with color plates, this volume presents recent research from some of the most notable scholars currently working in this growing and exciting field.

The volume itself is divided into three distinct parts that analyze the textual and material culture of the Church of the East placed within the larger context of the history of Christianity along the Silk Road. Part one examines the Church of the East and Central Asia, part two offers five articles on the Church of the East in Tang and Yuan China, while the art and iconography of the Church of the East are the subject of the last section. With such a well thought out editorial approach and excellent collection of contributors, it is hard to find fault with this volume.

The first section of this volume on the Church of the East in Central Asia features new research by three of the top philologists in the field. A terrific article by Erica CD Hunter is notable in her analysis of the MK III 45 Syriac manuscript, the “jewel in the crown” of the Syriac documents from the Bulayiq monastery in Turfan. Hunter's article is followed by that of Nicholas Sims-Williams, who not only surveys the Sogdian biblical manuscripts from Turfan but also highlights important new work on the Christian E5 manuscript by other scholars such as Chiara Barbati and Curt Peters. The section is completed by Hidemi Takahashi, whose masterful analysis of texts from the Tang and Mongol periods in China leads him to conclude that, while Syriac held “special symbolic value” for Syriac-rite Christians in China during these periods, advanced knowledge of the language was likely limited to bishops and clerics sent from the Middle East and was not widespread (63). This conclusion perfectly segues with the articles on the Church of the East in Tang and Yuan China found in the following section.

The section on the Church of the East in China features an article by Huaiyu Chen, who examines common themes between Buddhist, Christian, and Daoist texts in Tang China. Max Deeg's refreshing examination of the “Jesus the Messiah Sutra” concentrates on the title, content, and some terminology to “reopen the philological and contextual discussion” surrounding this important text (111). Echoing Takahashi's position on the scarce Syriac usage among Christians in China, Samuel Lieu provides a fresh analysis of the famous Xi'an Stele as a bilingual and transcultural document; he importantly suggests that, when reevaluated, rather than providing an example of bilingual inculturation, it instead highlights the gap between Chinese and Syriac use in Tang China (137–138). This runs counter to the positions argued by prior scholars and authors—namely that Syro-Aramaic written culture passed “unsullied” to China (Saeki) or that Chinese Christianity quickly assimilated the approach of other faiths (Palmer)—and opens the discussion that Chinese Christianity remained distinct, even foreign (124–125, 136–138). This discussion, which emerges as a key takeaway from this volume, is notably advanced in following articles by Glen Thompson and David Wilmshurst. Wilmhurst, in particular, demonstrates that, in addition to remaining distinct, the number of so-called Nestorian Christians grew from only a few thousand during the Tang dynasty to no more than thirty thousand under the Mongol Yuan and was effectively dormant in China for long periods in between (165–166). Christianity in China, even at the height of its power, remained somewhat to one side.

The volume concludes with three articles highlighting the material culture and art history of the Church of the East in China. Nui Ruji examines a bronze mirror with Syriac inscriptions recently discovered in Inner Mongolia and presently held in the National Museum in Beijing. Ken Parry then discusses imagery from the Church of the East, highlighting some issues encountered by contemporary scholars from both a textual and art historical perspective, where a lack of systematic records, the lack of “a database of all known finds,” and the huge geographic territory encompassed by the Church of the East all continue to challenge contemporary scholars (197). Parry's article features several excellent plates showing the architectural uses of the bema in the Middle East and Central Asia (209–212). Patrick Taveirne finishes the volume with a contextualization of the Ordos “Nestorian bronze crosses,” which includes a discussion and plates identifying the various types of cross found (226–227, 232).

This edited volume is a strong contribution to furthering the understanding of the Church of the East in China and the Silk Road. It is completely in step with modern scholarship and in several instances advances that scholarship significantly. Given the expertise of the contributors, this is not surprising, and this work can be recommended for any readers with an interest in the history of religions along the Silk Road.