The inscription, in an excellent state of preservation, showed that the tablet had been set up in A.D.781 by Nestorian missionaries, and gave a general idea of the object and scope of the Christian religion.

The genuineness of this tablet was for many years in dispute--Voltaire, Renan, and others of lesser fame, regarding it as a pious fraud--but has now been established beyond any possibility of doubt; its value indeed is so great that an attempt was made quite recently to carry it off to America.

Nestorian Christianity is mentioned by Marco Polo, but disappears altogether after the thirteenth century, without leaving any trace in Chinese literature of its once flourishing condition.
The last emperor of the Ming dynasty meant well, but succumbed to the stress of circumstances.

Eunuchs and over-taxation brought about the stereotyped consequence--rebellion; rebellion, too, headed by an able commander, whose successive victories soon enabled him to assume the Imperial title.

In the capital all was confusion.