A history of cultural exchange

In what is now Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, there sits an ancient Christian cemetery. Its gravestones are marked with a Nestorian cross over a lotus blossom. The inscription on one says, “This is the grave of Jeremiah, the believer.” It gives the Western calendar year of the man’s death as well as “the year of the sheep.” That is the year according to the Chinese Zodiac.

Wait. Why is there a Christian gravestone in Central Asia? Why does it have a Buddhist sacred flower and the Chinese Zodiac year on it? These graves are examples of a process called syncretism. Syncretism is when different belief systems fuse to form something new. Hybrid versions of religions, cultures, and ways of thinking emerge. They spread. Syncretism can happen when trade networks or changes in political power bring different groups of people into contact. Let’s consider some historical examples from this era.

We can start along the winding trade routes of the Silk Road. They connected the Mediterranean with Central and East Asia. Silk and spices weren’t the only things carried along these routes. Nomadic merchants brought philosophies and faiths, too. These ways of thinking changed the communities they encountered. In turn, the communities changed the ideas themselves.

Trade networks and the expansion of classical empires

Throughout history, the growth of empires made the exchange of cultures and ideas more possible. The empires’ trade routes grew and improved as well. That created more ways for cultures to intersect.

During the Roman Empire, Christianity spread and changed. Early missionaries used Roman roads and the vast imperial trade network. By the eleventh century CE, one-third of the world’s Christians lived in Asia.

As Christianity spread, it adapted to local cultures. For starters, the language changed. In the early Christian Church, believers in Jerusalem and Antioch worshipped and wrote their scriptures in Aramaic or Syriac, as well as Greek. As the religion spread west to Rome, worshippers there used Latin. The western church and the eastern church started to differ from each other.

By the sixth century CE, many of the Syriac-speaking Christians on the eastern edge of the Empire were Nestorians. They stressed the independence of the divine and human natures of Jesus Christ. The pope in Rome called these beliefs heresy. In other words, he judged that they were out of line with accepted teachings.

Nestorian merchants took Christianity farther into Asia. As it went, it adapted to other belief systems. For example, a monument from 781 CE in the Chinese imperial capital describes the meaning of Jesus. It is written in Syriac and Chinese. It also uses key Buddhist teachings.

Buddhism itself was transformed as it spread. The philosophy moved right along the Silk Road, carried by traders and merchants.

Along the way, Buddhist practices were adopted within the context of local communities. The Mahayana form of Buddhism was much more popular in China than it was in India. Buddhist monks in India followed stricter practices and placed a higher value on meditation. On the other hand, Mahayana was more flexible. A follower could reach enlightenment in many ways, including paying for prayers. In short, Mahayana Buddhism adapted more easily to existing cultures.

Merging of political and religious authority

For both Christianity and Buddhism, political and religious authority were often mixed. In the early fourth century CE, the Roman emperor Constantine I made it legal for Christians to practice their faith openly. About 70 years later, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity Rome’s official religion. Christians were now able to hold positions of power in government. The religion gained acceptance. During this time, conversions to Christianity dramatically increased in the empire.

Likewise, Buddhism spread and transformed as a result of political power. In the third century BCE in India, the Mauryan emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism. He did this possibly as a way of uniting his citizens around a common belief system. He also sent out missionaries to neighboring kingdoms, eventually reaching Southeast Asia.

Why does this matter? Well, these missionaries acted as official spokespersons for the philosophy of the imperial government. This authority gave them access to the rulers in the cities they visited. When a ruler likes what you have to say, it’s pretty much the BCE version of having a celebrity re-share your post on social media. You get a lot more followers.

History is full of examples of the syncretism of cultures and traditions. Hinduism is a highly syncretic religion. It developed centuries before Buddhism. It spread throughout South Asia. In the ancient Middle East, Mesopotamian culture and laws influenced the development of Judaism. Greek civilization influenced Judaism as well.

So, let’s go back to that Nestorian cemetery in Central Asia. Now we can see why gravestones had both a cross and a lotus. We can understand why they included both a Western calendar year and a Chinese Zodiac year. Traders to Silk Road networks exchanged ideas and beliefs as well as goods.