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Buddhism was a foreign import, yet over the centuries gained prominence and became thoroughly Sinicized and adopted in China. Could syncretic forms of Christianity or Islam do the same? I'm not talking about Nestorians or Hui here, religious minorities who themselves have assimilated into Chinese culture. I'm talking about perhaps Muslim rebels taking control and starting a dynasty, or perhaps a Qing emperor converting to Catholicism, or some other similar scenario. In other words, an Abrahamic religion gains power from a top-down process. And of course, in order for the religion to have any staying power, it would have to adapt to the Chinese culture and be compatible with Confucianism to become slowly more acceptable to the common people?

I ask this because it seems like while Confucianism, occasionally reformed or mixed with Legalist aspects, was almost always the guiding school of thought in the state, Daoism and Buddhism alternatively saw periods of popularity. Some emperors favored one, or the other; some emperors favored one at the expense of the other. And if Buddhism was a foreign religion that could "become Chinese", why not Christianity or Islam?

Super-challenge for someone who can finagle a Khazar-style adoption of Judaism by an emperor.

Scenario similar to this: early Uyghur conquer China, bring Manichaeism into the Confucian/Daoist/Buddhist mix.
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