The stone slab, about 7½ feet high by 3 feet wide, and some 10 inches in thickness,[A] which bears this inscription, was accidentally found in 1625 by some workmen who were digging in the Chang-ngan suburb of the city of Singanfu. The cross, which is engraved at p. 30, is incised at the top of the slab, and beneath this are 9 large characters in 3 columns, constituting the heading, which runs: “_Monument commemorating the introduction and propagation of the noble Law of_ Ta T’sin _in the Middle Kingdom;_” _Ta T’sin_ being the term applied in Chinese literature to the Roman Empire, of which the ancient Chinese had much such a shadowy conception as the Romans had, conversely, of the Chinese as _Sinae_ and _Seres_. Then follows the body of the inscription, of great length and beautiful execution, consisting of 1780 characters. Its chief contents are as follows:— 1st. An abstract of Christian doctrine, of a vague and figurative kind; 2nd. An account of the arrival of the missionary OLOPĂN (probably a Chinese form of _Rabban_ = Monk),[B] from Ta T’sin in the year equivalent to A.D. 635, bringing sacred books and images; of the _translation of the said books_; of the Imperial approval of the doctrine and permission to teach it publicly. There follows a decree of the Emperor (T’ai Tsung, a very famous prince) issued in 638, in favour of the new doctrine, and ordering a church to be built in the Square of Peace and Justice (_I-ning Fang_), at the capital. The Emperor’s portrait was to be placed in the church. After this comes a description of Ta T’sin (here apparently implying Syria); and then some account of the fortunes of the Church in China. Kao Tsung (650–683, the devout patron also of the Buddhist traveller and Dr. Hiuen Tsang) continued to favour it. In the end of the century, Buddhism gets the upper hand, but under HIUAN-TSUNG (713–755) the Church recovers its prestige, and KIHO, a new missionary, arrives. Under TE-TSUNG (780–783) the monument was erected, and this part ends with the eulogy of ISSÉ, a statesman and benefactor of the Church. 3rd. There follows a recapitulation of the purport in octosyllabic verse. The Chinese inscription concludes with the date of erection, viz. the second year _Kienchung_ of the Great T’ang Dynasty, the seventh day of the month _Tait’su_, the feast of the great _Yaosan_. This corresponds, according to Gaubil, to 4th February, 781; and _Yaosan_ is supposed to stand for _Hosanna_ (_i.e._ Palm Sunday; but this apparently does not fit; see _infra_). There are added the name chief of the law, NINGCHU (presumed to be the Chinese name of the Metropolitan), the name of the writer, and the official sanction.