Kircher, along with other scholars of his age, was actively looking for links to connect China with the civilisations of the ancient world. In Prodromus he theorised that there had been ancient "Egyptian or Coptic expeditions into India, China and other parts of Asia", and Coptic colonies in Africa and Asia. He was particularly interested in the Xi'an Stele, which had both Chinese and Syriac inscriptions and was evidence of an early historic Christian presence in China.
