Mission and Revolution in Central Asia - Svenska Missionskyrkan

through Eastern Turkestan on his way to China. In spite of his thorough investigations, he
found no traces of Christian life there. 202
The Swedish missionaries also tried to find possible traces of those early Christian times.
They actually found some reminiscences. For instance the Muslims often decorated Mosques
and other buildings with a cross. When asked why they did so, the answer was that their
ancestors had always done so. 203 It is of course possible that this Christian symbol has been
kept from the Nestorian Church up to modern times. Wilhelm van Ruysbroek says that he
even met people in heathen temples with a cross tattooed on their hands. 204 The Nestorians
taught that by drawing the sign of a cross on ones forehead, one could protect oneself against
diseases. 205 Maybe the sign of the cross still served a magic purpose during the mission era,
although at that time it was no more than a meaningless custom. Percy Sykes, the British
Consul-General in Kashgar, says that he looked for traces of the Nestorian Church while he
was in Eastern Turkestan. He too had met with the cross symbol. When a horse-dealer failed
to sell a horse, says Sykes, he marked it with a cross on its forehead, hoping to give this horse
a better chance on the next market day. This was done in order to protect the horse from “the
evil eye”, says Sykes. 206 Another possible remnant, mentioned by missionary Arell, was
observed at a Christian wedding at one of the Mission stations. When the wedding ceremony
was over, an elderly Muslim exclaimed, “What a wedding! My parents have told me that long
ago our ancestors had wedding ceremonies of this kind.” 207 Yet another possible reminiscence
was mentioned by Högberg in a letter from the 1920s. By then he had left the Mission field,
but he wrote to Raquette, asking him to explore the possibility of there being traces of Syrian
Christians in Eastern Turkestan. He mentioned a place where “most people are monogamous
and where the customs are not at all like those of the Muslims…They are a Mohammedan
sect, but what lies behind all this?” 208 However, no such investigation was ever made.
Christianity came to an end, once and for all, with the coming of Islam. Already in the 8 th
century, armed Muslim armies had reached China by way of Asia Minor and Persia.
Everywhere people were forced to surrender. In Central Asia the Turkish and Mongolian
peoples were conquered. But it was not until the middle of the 11 th century that the country
was altogether permeated with the religion of Mohammed. By the time the Swedish
missionaries arrived there, 300 years later, they found a population totally dominated by
Islam.
Islam in Eastern Turkestan was not an altogether homogenous phenomenon. There were
numerous different factions, as has already been mentioned. And among these Muslim
factions, there was constant tension and friction. During times of unrest they even waged war
upon each other, slaughtering their brothers mercilessly.
The Chinese religions did not harbour the same tension and hostility. They could, for
instance, very well share temples and yet these were different religions.
Between Islam and the Chinese religions there was animosity and disdain. The Muslims
looked upon the Chinese with loathing, “those detestable Idolaters”. The Chinese on the other
hand behaved in a modest way, almost timidly confronted with the large number of Muslims.
202 Ibid., 1916, p. 124.
203 The Missionsförbundet, 1896, p. 11.
204 Schildt, 1961, p. 109.
205 Ibid., note, p. 109.
206 Sykes, 1920, p. 323.
207 Palmaer, 1932, p. 143.
208 Högberg to Raquette, March 10th, 1920.
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