Person and Shen身 An Ontological Encounter of “Nestorian” Christianity with Confucianism in Tang China

DOI: 10.5176/2382-5677_PYTT14.28

Authors: Donghua Zhu

Abstract:

The expression of Trinity in the Dunhuang document Zunjing尊經 is traceable back to the ontological speculations of Antiochene theologian Theodore of Mopsuestia. By a comparative study of Theodore's concept of qnoma ܐܡܘܣܩ and the Confucian idea of Shen身, this paper is an attempt to retrieve the original meaning of person as “holistic-qnomic manifestation”, thereby providing a fitting analogical meaning between two central concepts, a Christian concept of person and a Chinese concept of shen身.

Keywords: person; qnoma; Shen身; Jingjiao (“Nestorian” Christianity); Confucianism