25. Pointed Arch Headstone
Yuan dynasty (1272—1368)
Quanzhou Maritime Museum
Ricci 25 KP 082 Z19

The pointed arch-shaped headstone shows a cross above an extensive cloud design set within a plain border following a curved outline. There are several headstones with this design in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum collection.

The presence of Christian tombstones such as this in Quanzhou was first noted by the Jesuit Manuel Dias (1574--1659) in the 17th century; and he published woodcuts of those he had seen. It was not until the 1940s, however that Chinese archaeologists brought to light tombstones with multilingual inscriptions that confirmed the complex religious makeup of the foreign merchant community—which included Hindus, Muslims, Manichaeans as well as Eastern and Latin Christians --a complexity that was noted by Marco Polo, the Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta, and Chinese sources as well.