Ancient Chinese Liturgy

These are extracts of the East Syriac Liturgy of Sts. Mari and Addai, the original Christian form of worship in Ancient China, sung to the reconstructed Kun tone of the Tang Dynasty. It is demonstrated here for inspiration and conversation purposes only, as a way to continue our initial discussion about what an historical Chinese Liturgy would sound like.

Flute and gong are used for Chinese Kun Opera context, and would not be included in a reconstructed Christian Liturgy.

Translation for the first quarter of the sung part was done by Dr. David Tam. The middle section is my translation of the diaconal litany. The end is the traditional rendition of the Words of the Lord’s Prayer, according to the Chinese Union Text. An official Chinese liturgy in the ancient form would have to be approved through our Synod before its official liturgical use.

Clergy celebrating the Liturgy of Mari and Addai in the Assyrian context are Fr. Ephrem Alkhas and Dcn. Emanuel Benjamin, pictures taken by me at St. Isaac's Monastery, Modesto, CA, during Easter of 2016.

Special thanks to Fr. Joshua Drake for recording this experiment for us!

(c) Music Copyright, 2018, William Joseph Boyd, All Rights Reserved