Cathay large Christian population, while the Jesuits in China had not found any Christians there. In retrospect, the Central Asian Muslim informants' idea of the Ming China being a heavily Christian country may be explained by numerous similarities between Christian and Buddhist ecclesiastical rituals – from having sumptuous statuary and ecclesiastical robes to Gregorian chant – which would make the two religions appear externally similar to a Muslim merchant. This may also have been the genesis of the Prester John myth. To resolve the China-Cathay controversy, the India Jesuits sent a Portuguese lay brother, Bento de Góis on an overland expedition
The Cathay The Cathay The Cathay is a mixed-use 17-storey cinema, shopping mall and apartment building located at Handy Road and Mount Sophia in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. Owned and managed by Cathay Organisation, the original building was opened in 1939 as Cathay Building. In 2000, it was closed and partially demolished for redevelopment. Elements of the old Cathay Cinema, including its facade which was conserved as a national monument, together with a modern-day design by Paul Tange of Tange Associates Japan and RDC Architects Pte Ltd Singapore, were incorporated into the new building. The Cathay was opened on 24