First up: Quanzhou’s Muslims, who today still live in scattered towns.

The extent mosque dates to 11th c. Reputedly as early as 618 Mohammed’s disciples came evangelising to the port.

A Tang shrine encloses their hill tombs, and extensive Arabic epigraphy has been found. 2/11

But things get more exciting....

There is ample evidence of a once thriving Hindu community - dumped in drains and foundations, Tamil epigraphy describing a Shiva shrine, religious friezes, a stone linga, and even a glorious statue of Vishnu.

But there’s more.... 3/11

For there’s clear evidence Quanzhou once had a full Hindu temple.

Discarded sculptures can be recombined into architectural elements.

And when Ming rebuilt blockbuster Kaiyuan Temple 开元寺, they reused a Hindu frieze of sphinxes; and two columns from the original temple. 4/11

The columns are fascinating for the clearly recognisable Hindu stories and style - this is no ‘interpretatio Sinica’ mediation.

Also, a glorious elephant with linga frieze; and a tentative reconstruction of the temple.

But the best is yet to come... 5/11

Quanzhou also had sizeable 11th-14th c. Christian community, Catholic and Nestorian (revived from near extinction by the Yuan).

Literary sources (including a letter in France’s Bibliothèque Nationale) attest to multiple churches, amply backed up by cross-bearing tombstones. 6/11

The 1326 letter’s writer was Andrew of Perugia, Franciscan priest and third bishop to Quanzhou.

He speaks of Italian and Armenian Christian communities in the city, and work supporting the Archbishop of Mongol Khanbaliq (Beijing).

His Latin tombstone was found in 1946. 7/11

Some tombstones also carry stylised angels, fusing Catholic and Nestorian imagery with local winged spirits (eg Buddhist).

The Ming dynasty reconstruction of Kaiyuan temple features unique wooden apsaras on the roofing which seem to be inspired by these Christian images. 8/11

And one more jump....! https://twitter.com/antiokhose/status/1305819697632296960