大秦景教三威蒙度讚
In 635 CE, a Persian priest named Alopen arrived at the Tang capital of Chang'an carrying scriptures from the Church of the East. Emperor Taizong received him, had the texts translated, and issued an imperial edict permitting the Luminous Religion — as Nestorian Christianity was known in China — to be propagated throughout the empire. Over the next century and a half, the faith took root, its monks shaving their crowns and growing their beards, worshipping seven times daily in churches built across the realm.
They called God "Aloha" (阿羅訶), the Holy Spirit "Pure Wind King" (淨風王), and the Messiah by his Syriac name: Mishihe (彌施訶). This hymn — a Gloria in Excelsis Deo written in the grammar of Buddhism and Daoism — was composed by the priest Jingjing around 760 CE. It was sealed in the cave library at Dunhuang around 1000 CE and recovered by Paul Pelliot in 1908. The manuscript (Pelliot chinois 3847) is now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
The heavens above bow down in deep reverence,
the great earth holds all in universal peace.
The true nature of humanity finds its refuge —
Compassionate Father of the Three Powers, Aloha.
All virtuous beings offer sincere worship;
all wise natures raise their voices in praise;
all who hold truth within turn to him in devotion —
blessed by holy compassionate light, delivered from demons.
Beyond seeking, beyond reaching — the true and eternal:
Compassionate Father, Bright Son, Pure Wind King.
Among all sovereigns, the Teacher of Sovereigns,
among all World-Honored Ones, the Emperor of the Dharma.
Dwelling always in wondrous light without boundary,
his radiant power surveys all bounded realms.
From the beginning no one has ever seen him,
nor can he be perceived through form or appearance.
His alone is the perfect, crystalline, pure virtue.
His alone is the divine power without equal.
His alone is the unchanging, solemn existence —
the root of all goodness, and without limit.
Now in all things I remember his compassionate grace,
and marvel at the wondrous joy that illumines this land.
The Messiah, universally honored, great and holy Son —
he ferries the vast realm of suffering, saving beyond measure.
The Ever-Living King of Life, the compassionate and joyful Lamb,
taking on great suffering for all, never refusing the labor —
willing to bear the heavy sins heaped up by all living beings,
guarding their true nature so they are freed without condition.
The Holy Son sits upright at the Father's right hand,
that seat surpassing all measure in its height.
The Great Teacher hears the pleas of the multitudes —
he sends down his raft to save them from the river of fire.
The Great Teacher is our Compassionate Father,
the Great Teacher is our Holy Lord,
the Great Teacher is our Dharma King,
the Great Teacher has the power to save all.
The Great Teacher's wisdom and power aid all who are weak,
all eyes gaze up at him and never turn away.
Upon the parched and scorched he sends down sweet dew —
all who receive this blessing find their good roots nourished.
Great and holy, universally honored Messiah —
I praise the Compassionate Father whose mercy is an ocean treasury.
Great and holy, humble is the nature of the Pure Wind —
clear, crystalline, beyond what the ear of the Dharma can conceive.
Notes on the Text
The Jingjiao scriptures are written in a theological pidgin — Christian doctrine expressed through Buddhist and Daoist vocabulary. This was not confusion or compromise. It was the deliberate work of translator-priests who understood that the Chinese language had no native Christian terminology. Every key term is a creative act of theological translation:
阿羅訶 (Āluóhē / Aloha) — God the Father. From Syriac Alaha (ܐܠܗܐ). The characters evoke the Buddhist Arhat (阿羅漢).
彌施訶 (Míshīhē / Mishihe) — The Messiah, Jesus Christ. From Syriac Mshiha (ܡܫܝܚܐ).
淨風王 (Jìng Fēng Wáng) — "Pure Wind King." The Holy Spirit. Rendered in Daoist cosmological vocabulary — wind (風) as the animating breath of heaven.
三威 (Sān Wēi) — "Three Majesties." The Trinity.
三才 (Sān Cái) — "Three Powers." Heaven, Earth, and Humanity — a Confucian and Daoist cosmological term here applied to the triune God as Father of all three realms.
景教 (Jǐngjiào) — "Luminous Religion" or "Religion of Light." The Chinese name for Nestorian Christianity (Church of the East).
大秦 (Dàqín) — "Great Qin." The Chinese name for the Roman/Byzantine Empire, and by extension the lands of the Syriac Church.
法王 (Fǎ Wáng) — "Dharma King." A Buddhist epithet for the supreme teacher, here applied to Christ.
世尊 (Shì Zūn) — "World-Honored One." The standard Buddhist epithet for the Buddha, here used as a category that Christ surpasses.
甘露 (Gān Lù) — "Sweet Dew" or "Ambrosia." A Buddhist term for the nectar of the Dharma that liberates beings. Here applied to divine grace.
苦界 (Kǔ Jiè) — "Realm of Suffering." The Buddhist concept of samsara, here used for the fallen world.
度 (Dù) — "To ferry across." The Buddhist verb for liberation (pāramitā), here meaning Christian salvation.
善根 (Shàn Gēn) — "Good Roots." A Buddhist term for the karmic seeds of virtue, here meaning the innate goodness in human nature that grace nourishes.
Colophon
The Hymn of the Three Majesties (大秦景教三威蒙度讚) was composed by the Nestorian priest Jingjing (景淨) around 760 CE, from scriptures brought to China by the missionary Alopen (阿羅本) in 635 CE. The manuscript survives on Pelliot chinois 3847, recovered from Cave 17 of the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang by Paul Pelliot in 1908, now held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. It is catalogued in the Taisho Tripitaka as T2143, Volume 54, in the External Teachings section (外教部).
Translated from Classical Chinese by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. The translation is independently derived from the source text. Martin Palmer's 2001 English rendering was not consulted.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: 大秦景教三威蒙度讚
Classical Chinese source text from Pelliot chinois 3847, Bibliothèque nationale de France. Presented for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
旡上诸天深敬叹，大地重念普安和，
人元真性蒙依止，三才慈父阿罗诃。
一切善众至诚礼；一切慧性称赞歌；
一切含真尽归仰；蒙圣慈光救离魔。
难寻无及正真常，慈父明子净风王，
于诸帝中为帝师，于诸世尊为法皇。
常居妙明无畔界，光威尽察有界疆，
自始无人尝得见，复以色见不可相。
惟独绝凝清净德，惟独神威无等力，
惟独不转俨然存，众善根本复无极。
我今一切念慈恩，叹彼妙乐照此国；
弥施诃普尊大圣子，广度苦界救无亿。
常活命王慈喜羔，大普耽苦不辞劳，
愿舍群生积重罪，善护真性得无繇。
圣子端在父右座，其座复超无量高，
大师愿彼乞众请，降筏使免火江漂。
大师是我等慈父，大师是我等圣主，
大师是我等法王，大师能为普救度。
大师慧力助诸羸，诸目瞻仰不暂移；
复与枯燋降甘露，所有蒙润善根滋。
大圣普尊弥施诃，我叹慈父海藏慈，
大圣谦及净风性，清凝法耳不思议。
Source Colophon
Pelliot chinois 3847, Bibliothèque nationale de France. Chinese text transcribed from Chinese Wikipedia (zh.wikipedia.org), cross-referenced against the manuscript images on Gallica (gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8303183c). The manuscript was discovered by Paul Pelliot in 1908 in Cave 17 of the Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Gansu Province, China.
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