Thomas the Apostle

=== Possible visit to China ===
Thomas's alleged visit to China is mentioned in the books and church traditions of [[Saint Thomas Christians]] in India{{sfn|Bays|2011|p=|loc=Ch. 1}} who, for a part, claim descent from the early Christians evangelized by Thomas the Apostle in AD 52. For example, it is found in the Malayalam ballad ''Thoma Ramban Pattu'' (The Song of the Lord Thomas) with the earliest manuscript being from the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jtbYEAAAQBAJ |title = The Ramban Pattu |isbn = 9781087913766 |last1 = Curtin|first1 = D. P.|last2 = Nath|first2 = Nithul.|date = May 2017|publisher = Dalcassian Publishing Company }}</ref> The sources clearly have Thomas coming to India, then to China, and back to India, where he died.{{sfn|Bays|2011|p=|loc=Ch. 1}}

In other attested sources, the tradition of making Thomas the apostle of China is found in the "Law of Christianity" (Fiqh al-naṣrāniyya),{{sfn|Hoenerbach|Spies|1956|p=}} a compilation of juridical literature by [[Ibn al-Ṭayyib]] ([[Nestorianism|Nestorian]] theologian and physician who died in 1043 in [[Baghdad]]). Later, in the [[Nomocanon]] of [[Abdisho bar Berika]] (metropolitan of Nisibis and Armenia, died in 1318) and the breviary of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church|Chaldean Church]]{{sfn|Gilman|Klimkeit|2016|p=}} it is written:
{{Blockquote|text=
1. Through St. Thomas the error of idolatry vanished from India.

2. Through St. Thomas the Chinese and Ethiopians were converted to the truth.

3. Through St. Thomas they accepted the sacrament of baptism and the adoption of sons.

4. Through St. Thomas they believed in and confessed the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.

5. Through St. Thomas they preserved the accepted faith of the one God.

6. Through St. Thomas the life-giving splendors rose in all India.

7. Through St. Thomas the Kingdom of Heaven took wing and ascended to '''China'''.|author=Translated by [[Athanasius Kircher]] in [[China Illustrata]] (1667)|title=''Office of St. Thomas for the Second Nocturn''|source=Gaza of the Church of St. Thomas of Malabar, Chaldean Breviary}}

In its nascent form, this tradition is found at the earliest in the [[Zuqnin Chronicle]] (AD 775) and may have originated in the late [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] period.{{sfn|Tubach|1995|pp=397–430}}{{sfn|Takahashi|2011}} Perhaps it originated as a 3rd-century pseudepigraphon where Thomas would have converted the Magi (in the [[Gospel of Matthew]]) to Christianity as they dwelled in the land of Shir (land of [[Serica|Seres]], [[Tarim Basin]], near what was the world's easternmost sea for many people in antiquity).{{sfn|Andrade|2018|pp=58–59}} Additionally, the testimony of [[Arnobius|Arnobius of Sicca]], active shortly after AD 300, maintains that the Christian message had arrived in India and among the Persians, Medians, and Parthians (along with the [[Serica|Seres]]).{{sfn|Arnobius of Sicca|1949|p=125}}