Dingjian Xie

Thesis title: Jingjiao Theology: Translation, Doctrine and Religious Practice in Tang China (618-907)

Background

Dingjian, or James, was born and raised in Fujian, China. He studied philosophy and religions at Shandong University, China, and then obtained a Master of World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh, UK. His PhD project at the University of Edinburgh is on Christianity in Tang China. He also took courses in Hong Kong (Institute of Sino-Christian Studies) in 2015 and in Minnesota, US (Saint John’s University) in 2019.

Undergraduate teaching

History of Christianity as a World Religion (2019-2020) [SEM I & II]

Christian Theology: Doctrines and Debates (2020-2021) [SEM I]

Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding (2020-2021) [SEM II]

Research summary

His research interests include Christianities in China, Syriac Christianities, and Sinology.

Past project grants

UncoverEd - a collaborative student-led archival project at the University of Edinburgh (http://uncover-ed.org/).

Conference details

The World Christianity & History of Religions with the theme 'Currents, Perspectives and Methodologies for the Study of World Christianity and its Interactions with Other Religions' (Virtual Conference, Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, US, 3–6 March 2021).

The 2021 Yale-Edinburgh Conference with the theme 'Oral, Print, and Digital Cultures in World Christianity and the History of Mission' (Virtual Conference, Centre for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 22–24 June 2021).

The 2021 Annual Meeting of American Academy of Religion: Chinese Christianities Unit (San Antonio, Texas US, 20–23 November 2021)

Papers delivered

'The Earliest Biblical Translation by East Syriac Christians in Tang China' at the Princeton Theological Seminary's World Christianity Conference, 2021.

'Change of Medium and the Spread of the Xi'an Inscription' at the 2021 Yale-Edinburgh Conference.

'The Changing Face of Jing 經 as Seen from Christianity in Tang China (618–907)' at the 2021 AAR Chinese Christianities Unit.

Peer-reviewed papers

'Creation and the Great Parent: The Thought of Yang Tingyun a Chinese Christian in Late Ming China'. Studies in World Christianity 29, no. 3 (2023): 268–288.

'"Jingjiao": Naming "Christianity" in the Realm of the Tang Empire (618–907)'. Archiv orientální 91, no. 2 (2023): 255–278.

Book chapters

Co-author, 'Decolonising University Histories: Reflections on Research into African, Asian and Caribbean Students at Edinburgh', in Scotland’s Transnational Heritage, Edinburgh University Press, 2022, 185–199.

Translation

Jidujiao lishi zhong de xuanjiao yundong, Edinburgh: Latreia Press, 2020. Translated from Andrew F. Walls. The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1996.

Book reviews

'Song Gang. 2019. Guilio Aleni, Kouduo Richao, and Christian-Confucian Dialogism in Late Ming Fujian. Oxford / New York: Routledge, pp. xvi + 418, Hb £175.00. ISBN-13: 9781138589124'. Studies in World Christianity 27, no. 2 (2021): 199–200.

'Visions of Salvation: Chinese Christian Posters in an Age of Revolution. Edited by Daryl R. Ireland. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2023. Pp. xxvii + 277. Hardcover, $69.99'. Religious Studies Review, 50, no. 1 (2024): 180.

Online publications

'Christianity in Tang China, also known as "Luminous Religion", "Nestorian Christianity", "Jingjiao 景教"'. In Database of Religious History, University of British Columbia, October 2021. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0404472

'Wong Fun'. In UncoverED. Retrieved from https://www.ed.ac.uk/global/uncovered/1800-1859/wong-fun

'Lim Boon Keng'. In UncoverED. Retrieved from https://www.ed.ac.uk/global/uncovered/1860-1900/lim-boon-keng