Christmas has a longer history in China than one might think. The Syrian missionary Alopen brought the Nestorian sect of Christianity into China in 635, during the Tang Dynasty. According to a large stone monument erected in 781, then Emperor Daizong would give special gifts to the church on “Incarnation Day,” or Christmas.

 

The Chinese word for "Christmas" is "Shengdan" (birthday of the Saint) or "Shengdanjie" ("festival of birthday of the Saint"). But historically, it was celebrated as the birthdays of Chinese emperors, various gods, and Confucius. The Christian holiday wasn’t widely known as "Shengdanjie" until the 1920s.

 

On behalf of us Introversers, I'd like to wish the Earth people a merry Christmas once again!