Biblical Magi their authenticity. In the Eastern churches, Ethiopian Christianity, for instance, has "Hor", "Karsudan", and "Basanater", while the Armenian Catholics have "Kagpha", "Badadakharida" and "Badadilma". Many Chinese Christians believe that one of the magi came from China. The phrase "from the east" (ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν), more literally "from the rising [of the sun]", is the only information Matthew provides about the region from which they came. The Parthian Empire, centered in Persia, occupied virtually all of the land east of Judea and Syria (except for the deserts of Arabia to the southeast). Though the empire was tolerant of other religions, its dominant
Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition The Way of the Gods according to the Confucian Tradition (Chinese: 儒宗神教 "Rúzōng Shénjiào"), also called the Luandao (鸾道 "Phoenix Way" or 鸾门 "Luánmén", "Phoenix Gate") or Luanism (鸾教 "Luánjiào") or—from the name of its cell congregations—the phoenix halls or phoenix churches (鸾堂 "luántáng"), is a Confucian congregational religious movement of the Chinese traditional beliefs. The first phoenix hall was established in Magong, the capital of the Penghu Islands, in 1853, and from there the movement spread throughout mainland China and Taiwan. Other names of the movement are Rumen (儒门 "Confucian