Manichaeism
آیینِ مانی 摩尼教
Sealstone of Mani, rock crystal, possibly 3rd century CE, Iraq. Cabinet des Médailles, Paris.[1][2] The seal reads "Mani, messenger of the messiah", and may have been used by Mani himself to sign his epistles.[3][1]
Type	Universal religion
Classification	Iranian religion
Scripture	Manichaean scripture
Theology	Dualistic
Region	Historical: Europe, East Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, Siberia Current: Fujian, Zhejiang
Language	Middle Persian, Classical Syriac, Parthian, Classical Latin, Classical Chinese, Old Uyghur language, Tocharian B, Sogdian language, Greek
Founder	Mani
Origin	3rd century AD Parthian, Sasanian Empire
Separated from	Jewish Christian Elcesaite sect, and the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, and Zoroaster
Separations	Manichaean schisms Chinese Manichaeism

A portrait of a Persian Manichaean. Line drawing copy of two frescoes from cave 38B at Bezeklik Grottoes.

An image of a Manichaean temple with stars and seven firmaments. Line drawing copy of two frescoes from cave 38B at Bezeklik Grottoes.

Manichaeism (/ˌmænɪˈkiːɪzəm/;^[4] in New Persian آیینِ مانی Āyīn-e Mānī; Chinese: 摩尼教; pinyin: Móníjiào) is a former major world religion,^[5] founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian^[6] prophet Mani (216–274 CE), in the Sasanian Empire.^[7]

Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness.^[8] Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Mani's teaching was intended to "combine",^[9] succeed, and surpass the teachings of Platonism,^[10][11] Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism,^[9] Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian and other Mesopotamian religions,^[12] and mystery cults.^[13][14] It reveres Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, the Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ.

Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through Aramaic-speaking regions.^[15] It thrived between the third and seventh centuries, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as the Han Dynasty and as far west as the Roman Empire.^[16] It was briefly the main rival to early Christianity in the competition to replace classical polytheism before the spread of Islam. Under the Roman Dominate, Manichaeism was persecuted by the Roman state and was eventually stamped out in the Roman Empire.^[5]

Manichaeism has survived longer in the east than it did in the west. Although it was thought to have finally faded away after the 14th century in South China,^[17] contemporary to the decline of the Church of the East in Ming China, there is a growing corpus of evidence that shows Manichaeism persists in some areas of China, especially in Fujian,^[18][19] where numerous Manichaean relics have been discovered over time. The currently known sects are notably secretive and protective of their belief system, in an effort to remain undetected. This stems from fears relating to persecution and suppression during various periods of Chinese history.^[20]

While most of Manichaeism's original writings have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived.^[21]

An adherent of Manichaeism is called a Manichaean, Manichean, or Manichee, the last especially in older sources.^{[22][23][further explanation needed]}

History

Life of Mani

Mani was an Iranian^[24][25][a] born in 216 CE in or near Seleucia-Ctesiphon (now al-Mada'in, Iraq) in the Parthian Empire. According to the Cologne Mani-Codex,^[26] Mani's parents were members of the Jewish Christian Gnostic sect known as the Elcesaites.^[27]

Mani composed seven works, six of which were written in the late-Aramaic Syriac language. The seventh, the Shabuhragan,^[28] was written by Mani in Middle Persian and presented by him to Sasanian emperor Shapur I. Although there is no proof Shapur I was a Manichaean, he tolerated the spread of Manichaeism and refrained from persecuting it within his empire's boundaries.^[29]

According to one tradition, Mani invented the unique version of the Syriac script known as the Manichaean alphabet^[30] that was used in all of the Manichaean works written within the Sasanian Empire, whether they were in Syriac or Middle Persian, as well as most of the works written within the Uyghur Khaganate. The primary language of Babylon (and the administrative and cultural language of the Empire) at that time was Eastern Middle Aramaic, which included three main dialects: Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (the language of the Babylonian Talmud), Mandaean (the language of Mandaeism), and Syriac, which was the language of Mani as well as the Syriac Christians.^[31]

While Manichaeism was spreading, existing religions such as Zoroastrianism were still popular and Christianity was gaining social and political influence. Although having fewer adherents, Manichaeism won the support of many high-ranking political figures. With the assistance of the Sasanian Empire, Mani began missionary expeditions. After failing to win the favour of the next generation of Persian royalty and incurring the disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy, Mani is reported to have died in prison awaiting execution by Persian emperor Bahram I. The date of his death is estimated at 276–277 CE.

Influences

Mani believed that the teachings of Buddha, Zoroaster,^[32] and Jesus were incomplete, and that his revelations were for the entire world, calling his teachings the "Religion of Light". Manichaean writings indicate that Mani received revelations when he was twelve years old and again when he was 24, and over this period he grew dissatisfied with the Elcesaites, the Jewish Christian Gnostic sect he was born into.^[33] Some researchers also point to an important Jain influence on Mani as extreme degrees of asceticism and some specific features of Jain doctrine made the influence of Mahāvīra's religious community more plausible than even the Buddha.^[34] Fynes (1996) argues that various Jain influences, particularly ideas on the existence of plant souls, were transmitted from Western Kshatrapa territories to Mesopotamia and then integrated into Manichaean beliefs.^[35]

Mani wore colorful clothing abnormal for the time that reminded some Romans of a stereotypical Persian magus or warlord, earning him ire from the Greco-Roman world because of it.^[36]

Mani taught how the soul of a righteous individual returns to Paradise upon dying, but "the soul of the person who persisted in things of the flesh – fornication, procreation, possessions, cultivation, harvesting, eating of meat, drinking of wine – is condemned to rebirth in a succession of bodies."^[37]

Mani began preaching at an early age and was possibly influenced by contemporary Babylonian-Aramaic movements such as Mandaeism, Aramaic translations of Jewish apocalyptic works similar to those found at Qumran (e.g., the Book of Enoch literature), and by the Syriac dualist-Gnostic writer Bardaisan (who lived a generation before Mani). With the discovery of the Mani-Codex, it also became clear that he was raised in the Jewish Christian sect of the Elcasaites and possibly influenced by their writings.^{[citation needed]}

According to biographies preserved by ibn al-Nadim and the Persian polymath al-Biruni, Mani received a revelation as a youth from a spirit, whom he would later call his "Twin" (Imperial Aramaic: תאומא tɑʔwmɑ, from which is also derived the Greek name of Thomas the Apostle, Didymus; the "twin"), Syzygos (Koinē Greek: σύζυγος "spouse, partner", in the Cologne Mani-Codex), "Double," "Protective Angel," or "Divine Self." This spirit taught him wisdom that he then developed into a religion. It was his "Twin" who brought Mani to self-realization. Mani claimed to be the Paraclete of the Truth promised by Jesus in the New Testament.^[38]

Manichaeism's views on Jesus are described by historians:

Jesus in Manichaeism possessed three separate identities:
(1) Jesus the Luminous,
(2) Jesus the Messiah and
(3) Jesus patibilis (the suffering Jesus).

(1) As Jesus the Luminous ... his primary role was as supreme revealer and guide and it was he who woke Adam from his slumber and revealed to him the divine origins of his soul and its painful captivity by the body and mixture with matter.

(2) Jesus the Messiah was a historical being who was the prophet of the Jews and the forerunner of Mani. However, the Manichaeans believed he was wholly divine, and that he never experienced human birth, as the physical realities surrounding the notions of his conception and his birth filled the Manichaeans with horror. However, the Christian doctrine of virgin birth was also regarded as obscene. Since Jesus the Messiah was the light of the world, where was this light, they reasoned, when Jesus was in the womb of the Virgin? Jesus the Messiah, they believed, was truly born only at his baptism, as it was on that occasion that the Father openly acknowledged his sonship. The suffering, death and resurrection of this Jesus were in appearance only as they had no salvific value but were an exemplum of the suffering and eventual deliverance of the human soul and a prefiguration of Mani's own martyrdom.

(3) The pain suffered by the imprisoned Light-Particles in the whole of the visible universe, on the other hand, was real and immanent. This was symbolized by the mystic placing of the Cross whereby the wounds of the passion of our souls are set forth. On this mystical Cross of Light was suspended the Suffering Jesus (Jesus patibilis) who was the life and salvation of Man. This mystica crucifixio was present in every tree, herb, fruit, vegetable and even stones and the soil. This constant and universal suffering of the captive soul is exquisitely expressed in one of the Coptic Manichaean psalms.^[39]

Augustine of Hippo also noted that Mani declared himself to be an "apostle of Jesus Christ".^[40] Manichaean tradition is also noted to have claimed that Mani was the reincarnation of religious figures from previous eras such as the Buddha, Krishna, and Zoroaster in addition to Jesus himself.

Academics note that much of what is known about Manichaeism comes from later 10th- and 11th-century Muslim historians like al-Biruni and ibn al-Nadim in his al-Fihrist; the latter "ascribed to Mani the claim to be the Seal of the Prophets."^[41] However, given the Islamic milieu of Arabia and Persia at the time, it stands to reason that Manichaens would regularly assert in their evangelism that Mani, not Muhammad, was the "Seal of the Prophets".^[42] In reality, for Mani the metaphorical expression "Seal of Prophets" is not a reference to his finality in a long succession of prophets as it is used in Islam, but rather as final to his followers (who testify or attest to his message as a "seal").^[43][44]

Other sources of Mani's scripture were the Aramaic originals of the Book of Enoch, 2 Enoch, and an otherwise unknown section of the Book of Enoch entitled The Book of Giants. The latter was quoted directly and expanded upon by Mani, and became one of the original six Syriac writings of the Manichaean Church. Beside brief references by non-Manichaean authors through the centuries, no original sources of The Book of Giants (which is actually part six of the Book of Enoch) were available until the 20th century.^[45]

Scattered fragments of both the original Aramaic Book of Giants (which were analyzed and published by Józef Milik in 1976)^[46] and the Manichaean version of the same name (analyzed and published by Walter Bruno Henning in 1943)^[47] were discovered along with the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judaean desert in the 20th century and the Manichaean writings of the Uyghur Manichaean kingdom in Turpan. Henning wrote in his analysis of them:

It is noteworthy that Mani, who was brought up and spent most of his life in a province of the Persian empire, and whose mother belonged to a famous Parthian family, did not make any use of the Iranian mythological tradition. There can no longer be any doubt that the Iranian names of Sām, Narīmān, etc., that appear in the Persian and Sogdian versions of the Book of the Giants, did not figure in the original edition, written by Mani in the Syriac language.^[47]

By comparing the cosmology of the books of Enoch to the Book of Giants, as well as the description of the Manichaean myth, scholars have observed that the Manichaean cosmology can be described as being based, in part, on the description of the cosmology developed in detail within the Enochic literature.^[48] This literature describes the being that the prophets saw in their ascent to Heaven as a king who sits on a throne at the highest of the heavens. In the Manichaean description, this being, the "Great King of Honor", becomes a deity who guards the entrance to the World of Light placed at the seventh of ten heavens.^[49] In the Aramaic Book of Enoch, the Qumran writings, overall, and in the original Syriac section of Manichaean scriptures quoted by Theodore bar Konai,^[50] he is called malkā rabbā d-iqārā ("the Great King of Honor").^{[citation needed]}

Mani was also influenced by writings of the gnostic Bardaisan (154–222 CE), who, like Mani, wrote in Syriac and presented a dualistic interpretation of the world in terms of light and darkness in combination with elements from Christianity.^[51]

Mani was heavily inspired by Iranian Zoroastrian theology.^[32]

Noting Mani's travels to the Kushan Empire (several religious paintings in Bamyan are attributed to him) at the beginning of his proselytizing career, Richard Foltz postulates Buddhist influences in Manichaeism:

Buddhist influences were significant in the formation of Mani's religious thought. The transmigration of souls became a Manichaean belief, and the quadripartite structure of the Manichaean community, divided between male and female monks (the "elect") and lay followers (the "hearers") who supported them, appears to be based on that of the Buddhist sangha.^[52]

The Kushan monk Lokakṣema began translating Pure Land Buddhist texts into Chinese in the century prior to Mani arriving there, and the Chinese texts of Manichaeism are full of uniquely Buddhist terms taken directly from these Chinese Pure Land scriptures, including the term "pure land" (Chinese: 淨土; pinyin: jìngtǔ) itself.^[53] However, the central object of veneration in Pure Land Buddhism, Amitābha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, does not appear in Chinese Manichaeism, and seems to have been replaced by another deity.^[54]

Spread

Roman Empire

Manichaeism reached Rome through the apostle Psattiq by 280, who was also in Egypt in 244 and 251. It was flourishing in the Faiyum in 290.

Manichaean monasteries existed in Rome in 312 during the time of Pope Miltiades.^[55]

In 291, persecution arose in the Sasanian Empire with the murder of the apostle Sisin by Emperor Bahram II and the slaughter of many Manichaeans. Then, in 302, the first official reaction and legislation against Manichaeism from the Roman state was issued under Diocletian. In an official edict called the De Maleficiis et Manichaeis compiled in the Collatio Legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum and addressed to the proconsul of Africa, Diocletian wrote:

We have heard that the Manichaeans have set up new and hitherto unheard-of sects in opposition to the older creeds so that they might cast out the doctrines vouchsafed to us in the past by the divine favour for the benefit of their own depraved doctrine. They have sprung forth very recently like new and unexpected monstrosities among the race of the Persians – a nation still hostile to us – and have made their way into our empire, where they are committing many outrages, disturbing the tranquility of our people and even inflicting grave damage to the civic communities. We have cause to fear that with the passage of time they will endeavour, as usually happens, to infect the modest and tranquil of an innocent nature with the damnable customs and perverse laws of the Persians as with the poison of a malignant (serpent) ... We order that the authors and leaders of these sects be subjected to severe punishment, and, together with their abominable writings, burnt in the flames. We direct their followers, if they continue recalcitrant, shall suffer capital punishment, and their goods be forfeited to the imperial treasury. And if those who have gone over to that hitherto unheard-of, scandalous and wholly infamous creed, or to that of the Persians, are persons who hold public office, or are of any rank or of superior social status, you will see to it that their estates are confiscated and the offenders sent to the (quarry) at Phaeno or the mines at Proconnesus. And in order that this plague of iniquity shall be completely extirpated from this our most happy age, let your devotion hasten to carry out our orders and commands.^[56]

By 354, Hilary of Poitiers wrote that Manichaeism was a significant force in Roman Gaul. In 381, Christians requested Theodosius I to strip Manichaeans of their civil rights. Starting in 382, the emperor issued a series of edicts to suppress Manichaeism and punish its followers.^[57]

Augustine of Hippo (354–430) converted to Christianity from Manichaeism in the year 387. This was shortly after the Roman emperor Theodosius I had issued a decree of death for all Manichaean monks in 382 and shortly before he declared Christianity to be the only legitimate religion for the Roman Empire in 391. Due to the heavy persecution, the religion almost disappeared from western Europe in the fifth century and from the eastern portion of the empire in the sixth century.^[58]

According to his Confessions, after nine or ten years of adhering to the Manichaean faith as a member of the group of "hearers", Augustine of Hippo became a Christian and a potent adversary of Manichaeism (which he expressed in writing against his Manichaean opponent Faustus of Mileve), seeing their beliefs that knowledge was the key to salvation as too passive and not able to effect any change in one's life.^[59]

I still thought that it is not we who sin but some other nature that sins within us. It flattered my pride to think that I incurred no guilt and, when I did wrong, not to confess it ... I preferred to excuse myself and blame this unknown thing which was in me but was not part of me. The truth, of course, was that it was all my own self, and my own impiety had divided me against myself. My sin was all the more incurable because I did not think myself a sinner.^[60]

Some modern scholars have suggested that Manichaean ways of thinking influenced the development of some of Augustine's ideas, such as the nature of good and evil, the idea of hell, the separation of groups into elect, hearers, and sinners, and the hostility to the flesh and sexual activity, and his dualistic theology.^[61]

Central Asia

Some Sogdians in Central Asia believed in the religion.^[62][63] Uyghur khagan Boku Tekin (759–780) converted to the religion in 763 after a three-day discussion with its preachers,^[64][65] the Babylonian headquarters sent high rank clerics to Uyghur, and Manichaeism remained the state religion for about a century before the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840.^{[citation needed]}

China

In the east it spread along trade routes as far as Chang'an, the capital of Tang China.^[66][67]

After the Tang dynasty, some Manichaean groups participated in peasant movements. The religion was used by many rebel leaders to mobilise followers. In Song and Yuan China, remnants of Manichaeism continued to leave a legacy contributing to sects such as the Red Turbans. During the Song dynasty, the Manichaeans were derogatorily referred by the Chinese as Chīcài shìmó (Chinese: 吃菜事魔, meaning that they "abstain from meat and worship demons").^[68][69]

An account in Fozu Tongji, an important historiography of Buddhism in China compiled by Buddhist scholars during 1258–1269, says that the Manichaeans worshipped the "White Buddha" and their leader wore a violet headgear, while the followers wore white costumes. Many Manichaeans took part in rebellions against the Song government and were eventually quelled. After that, all governments were suppressive against Manichaeism and its followers and the religion was banned in Ming China in 1370.^[70][69] While it had long been thought that Manichaeism arrived in China only at the end of the seventh century, a recent archaeological discovery demonstrated that it was already known there in the second half of the 6th century.^[71]

The nomadic Uyghur Khaganate lasted for less than a century (744- 840) in the southern Siberian steppe, with the fortified city of Ordu-Baliq on the Upper Orkhon River as its capital.^[72] Before the end of the year (763), Manichaeism was declared the official religion of the Uyghur state. Boku Tekin banned all the shamanistic rituals that had previously been in use. It is likely that his decision was accepted by his subjects. That much results from a report that the proclamation of Manichaeism as the state religion was met with enthusiasm in Ordu-Baliq. In an inscription in which the Kaghan speaks for himself, he promised to the Manichaen high priests (the "Elect") that if they would give orders, he would promptly follow them and respond to their requests. A fragmentary manuscript found in the Turfan Oasis gives Boku Tekin the title of zahag-i Mani ("Emanation of Mani" or "Descendant of Mani"), a title of majestic prestige among the Manichaeans of Central Asia.

Nonetheless, and despite the apparently willing conversion of the Uyghurs to Manichaeanism, traces and signs of the previous shamanistic practices persisted. For instance, in 765, only two years after the official conversion, during a military campaign in China, the Uyghur troops called forth magicians to perform a number of specific rituals. Manichaean Uyghurs continued to treat with great respect a sacred forest in Otuken.^[72] The conversion to Manichaeism led to an explosion of manuscript production in the Tarim Basin and Gansu (the region between the Tibetan and the Huangtu plateaus), which lasted well into the early 11th century. In 840 the Uyghur Khaghanate collapsed under the attacks of the Yenisei Kyrgyz, and the new Uyghur state of Qocho was established with a capital in the city of Qocho.

Al-Jahiz (776–868 or 869) believed that the peaceful lifestyle that Manicheism brought to the Uyghurs was responsible for their later lack of military skills, and eventual decline. This, however, is contradicted by the political and military consequences of the conversion. After the migration of the Uyghurs to Turfan in ninth century, the nobility maintained Manichaean beliefs for a while, before converting to Buddhism. Traces of Manicheism among the Uyghurs in Turfan may be detected in fragments of Uyghur Manichaean manuscripts. In fact, Manicheism continued to rival the influence of Buddhism among the Uyghurs until the 13th century. It was the Mongols that gave the final blow to the Manichaeism among the Uyghurs.^[72]

Tibet

Manichaeism spread to Tibet during the Tibetan Empire. There was a serious attempt made to introduce the religion to the Tibetans as the text Criteria of the Authentic Scriptures (a text attributed to Tibetan Emperor Trisong Detsen) makes a great effort to attack Manichaeism by stating that Mani was a heretic who engaged in religious syncretism into a deviating and inauthentic form.^[73]

Iran

Manichaeans in Iran tried to assimilate their religion along with Islam in the Muslim caliphates.^[74] Relatively little is known about the religion during the first century of Islamic rule. During the early caliphates, Manichaeism attracted many followers. It had a significant appeal among the Muslim society, especially among the elites. A part of Manichaeism that specifically appealed to the Sasanians was the names of the Manichaean gods. The names Mani had assigned to the gods of his religion show identification with those of the Zoroastrian pantheon, even though some divine beings he incorporates are non-Iranian. For example, Jesus, Adam or Eve were, respectively, given the names Xradesahr, Gehmurd or Murdiyanag. Because of these familiar names, Manichaeism did not feel completely foreign to the Zoroastrians.^[75] Due to the appeal of its teachings, many Sasanians adopted the ideas of its theology and some even became dualists.

Not only were the citizens of the Sasanian Empire intrigued by Manichaeism, but so was the ruler at the time of its introduction, Sabuhr l. As the Denkard states, Sabuhr, the first king of kings, was very well known for gaining and seeking knowledge of any kind. Because of this knowledge, Mani knew that Sabuhr would lend an ear to his teachings and accept him. Mani had specifically stated, while introducing his teachings to Sabuhr, that his religion should be seen as a reform of Zarathrusta's ancient teachings.^[75] This was of great fascination to the king, as it perfectly fit Sabuhr's dream of creating a large empire that incorporated all people and their different creeds. Thus, Manichaeism became popular and flourished throughout the Sasanian Empire for thirty years. An apologia for Manichaeism ascribed to ibn al-Muqaffa' defended its phantasmagorical cosmogony and attacked the fideism of Islam and other monotheistic religions. The Manichaeans had sufficient structure to have a head of their community.^[76][77][78]

Tolerance towards Manichaeism decreased after the death of Sabuhr I. His son, Ohrmazd, who became king, still allowed for Manichaeism in the empire, but he also greatly trusted the Zoroastrian priest, Kirdir. After Ohrmazd's short reign, his oldest brother, Wahram I, became king. Wahram I held Kirdir in high esteem as well, and he also held much different religious ideals than Ohrmazd, and his father, Sabuhr I. Due to influence from Kirdir, Zoroastrianism was strengthened throughout the empire, which in turn caused Manichaeism to be diminished and weakened. Wahram sentenced Mani to prison, and he died there.^[75]

Arab world

Under the eighth-century Abbasid Caliphate, Arabic zindīq and the adjectival term zandaqa could denote many different things, though it seems primarily (or at least initially) to have signified a follower of Manichaeism, however its true meaning is not known.^[79] In the ninth century, it is reported that Caliph al-Ma'mun tolerated a community of Manichaeans.^[80]

During the early Abbasid period, the Manichaeans underwent persecution. The third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, persecuted the Manichaeans, establishing an inquisition against dualists who if being found guilty of heresy refused to renounce their beliefs, were executed. Their persecution was finally ended in 780s by Harun al-Rashid.^[81][82] During the reign of the Caliph al-Muqtadir, many Manichaeans fled from Mesopotamia to Khorasan from fear of persecution and the base of the religion was later shifted to Samarkand.^[58][83]

Bactria

The first indications and signs of Manichaeism in Bactria were actually during Mani's lifetime. While he never physically traveled there, he did send a disciple, by the name of Mar Ammo, to spread his word. Mani "called (upon) Mar Ammo, the teacher, who knew the Parthian language and script, and was well acquainted with lords and ladies and with many nobles in those places..."^[84]

Mar Ammo indeed did travel to the old Parthian lands of eastern Iran, which bordered Bactria. A translation of Persian texts state the following from the perspective of Mar Ammo: "They had arrived at the watch post of Kushān (Bactria), then the spirit of the border of the eastern province appeared in the shape of a girl, and he (the spirit) asked me 'Ammo what do you intend? From where have you come?' I said, 'I am a believer, a disciple of Mani, the Apostle.' That spirit said 'I do not receive you. Return from where you have come.'"

Despite the initial rejection Mar Ammo faced, we are told in these same Persian texts that Mani's spirit appeared to Mar Ammo in a spirit form and requested him to persevere and read the chapter, "The Collecting of the Gates" from The Treasure of the Living. Once he did this, spirit returned, converted, and said, "I am Bag Ard, the frontier guard of the Eastern Province. When I receive you, then the gate of the whole East will be opened in front of you." It seemed that this "border spirit" was a reference to the local Eastern Iranian goddess, Ard-oxsho, who was incredibly prevalent in Bactria.^[85]

Syncretism and translation

Manichaeism claimed to present the complete version of teachings that were corrupted and misinterpreted by the followers of its predecessors Adam, Abraham, Noah,^[9] Zoroaster, the Buddha, and Jesus.^[86] Accordingly, as it spread, it adapted new deities from other religions into forms it could use for its scriptures. Its original Eastern Middle Aramaic texts already contained stories of Jesus.

When they moved eastward and were translated into Iranian languages, the names of the Manichaean deities (or angels) were often transformed into the names of Zoroastrian yazatas. Thus Abbā ḏəRabbūṯā ("The Father of Greatness", the highest Manichaean deity of Light), in Middle Persian texts might either be translated literally as pīd ī wuzurgīh, or substituted with the name of the deity Zurwān.

Similarly, the Manichaean primal figure Nāšā Qaḏmāyā "The Original Man" was rendered Ohrmazd Bay after the Zoroastrian god Ohrmazd. This process continued in Manichaeism's meeting with Chinese Buddhism, where, for example, the original Aramaic קריא qaryā (the "call" from the World of Light to those seeking rescue from the World of Darkness) is identified in the Chinese-language scriptures with Guanyin (觀音 or Avalokiteśvara in Sanskrit, literally, "watching/perceiving sounds ", the bodhisattva of Compassion).^{[citation needed]}

Manichaeism influenced some writing and traditions of proto-orthodox and other forms of Christianity, as well as doing the same for branches of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam.^[87]

Persecution and suppression

Manichaeism was repressed by the Sasanian Empire.^[74] In 291, persecution arose in the Persian empire with the murder of the apostle Sisin by Bahram II, and the slaughter of many Manichaeans. In 296, the Roman emperor Diocletian decreed all the Manichaean leaders to be burnt alive along with the Manichaean scriptures and many Manichaeans in Europe and North Africa were killed. It was not until 372 with Valentinian I and Valens that Manichaeism was legislated against again.^[88]

Theodosius I issued a decree of death for all Manichaean monks in 382 AD.^[89] The religion was vigorously attacked and persecuted by both the Christian Church and the Roman state, and the religion almost disappeared from western Europe in the fifth century and from the eastern portion of the empire in the sixth century.^[58]

In 732, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang banned any Chinese from converting to the religion, saying it was a heretic religion that was confusing people by claiming to be Buddhism. However, the foreigners who followed the religion were allowed to practice it without punishment.^[91] After the fall of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840, which was the chief patron of Manichaeism (which was also the state religion of the Khaganate) in China, all Manichaean temples in China except in the two capitals and Taiyuan were closed down and never reopened since these temples were viewed as a symbol of foreign arrogance by the Chinese (see Cao'an). Even those that were allowed to remain open did not for long.^[67]

The Manichaean temples were attacked by Chinese people who burned the images and idols of these temples. Manichaean priests were ordered to wear hanfu instead of their traditional clothing, which was viewed as un-Chinese. In 843, Emperor Wuzong of Tang gave the order to kill all Manichaean clerics as part of the Huichang persecution of Buddhism, and over half died. They were made to look like Buddhists by the authorities, their heads were shaved, they were made to dress like Buddhist monks and then killed.^[67]

Although the religion was mostly forbidden and its followers persecuted thereafter in China, it survives within syncretic sects throughout Fujian in a form of Chinese Manichaeism also called Mingjiao.^[18][19] Under the Song dynasty, its followers were derogatorily referred to with the chengyu 吃菜祀魔 (pinyin: chī cài sì mó) "vegetarian demon-worshippers".

Many Manichaeans took part in rebellions against the Song dynasty. They were quelled by Song China and were suppressed and persecuted by all successive governments before the Mongol Yuan dynasty. In 1370, the religion was banned through an edict of the Ming dynasty, whose Hongwu Emperor had a personal dislike for the religion.^[67][69][92] Its core teaching influences many religious sects in China, including the White Lotus movement.^[93]

According to Wendy Doniger, Manichaeism may have continued to exist in the Xinjiang region until the Mongol conquest in the 13th century.^[94]

Manicheans also suffered persecution for some time under the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad. In 780, the third Abbasid Caliph, al-Mahdi, started a campaign of inquisition against those who were "dualist heretics" or "Manichaeans" called the zindīq. He appointed a "master of the heretics" (Arabic: صاحب الزنادقة ṣāhib al-zanādiqa), an official whose task was to pursue and investigate suspected dualists, who were then examined by the Caliph. Those found guilty who refused to abjure their beliefs were executed.^[81]

This persecution continued under his successor, Caliph al-Hadi, and continued for some time during reign of Harun al-Rashid, who finally abolished it and ended it.^[81] During the reign of the 18th Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir, many Manichaeans fled from Mesopotamia to Khorasan from fear of persecution by him and about 500 of them assembled in Samarkand. The base of the religion was later shifted to this city, which became their new Patriarchate.^[58][83]

Manichaean pamphlets were still in circulation in Greek in 9th-century Byzantine Constantinople, as the patriarch Photios summarizes and discusses one that he has read by Agapius in his Bibliotheca.

Later movements associated with Manichaeism

During the Middle Ages, several movements emerged that were collectively described as "Manichaean" by the Catholic Church, and persecuted as Christian heresies through the establishment of the Inquisition in 1184.^[95] They included the Cathar churches of Western Europe. Other groups sometimes referred to as "neo-Manichaean" were the Paulician movement, which arose in Armenia,^[96] and the Bogomils in Bulgaria and Serbia.^[97] An example of this usage can be found in the published edition of the Latin Cathar text, the Liber de duobus principiis (Book of the Two Principles), which was described as "Neo-Manichaean" by its publishers.^[98] As there is no presence of Manichaean mythology or church terminology in the writings of these groups, there has been some dispute among historians as to whether these groups were descendants of Manichaeism.^[99]

Manichaeism could have influenced the Bogomils, Paulicians, and Cathars. However, these groups left few records, and the link between them and Manichaeans is tenuous. Regardless of its accuracy, the charge of Manichaeism was leveled at them by contemporary orthodox opponents, who often tried to make contemporary heresies conform to those combatted by the church fathers.^[97]

Whether the dualism of the Paulicians, Bogomils, and Cathars and their belief that the world was created by a Satanic demiurge were due to influence from Manichaeism is impossible to determine. The Cathars apparently adopted the Manichaean principles of church organization. Priscillian and his followers may also have been influenced by Manichaeism. The Manichaeans preserved many apocryphal Christian works, such as the Acts of Thomas, that would otherwise have been lost.^[97]

Legacy in present-day

Some sites are preserved in Xinjiang, Zhejiang, and Fujian in China.^[100][101] The Cao'an temple is the most widely known, and best preserved Manichaean building,^{[39]: 256–257} though it later became associated with Buddhism.^[102] Other temples in China, solely associated with Manichaeism also exist, such as the Xuanzhen Temple noted for its stele.

Chinese Manichaeans continue to practice the faith, mainly in Fujian and Zhejiang.^{[18][19][103]} Some platforms on the internet and social media are trying to spread some of its teachings. Some people are registered in these electronic sources, and some scholars and students in the field of religious studies and the arts continue to study Manichaeism.^[104]

Teachings and beliefs

General

Mani's teaching dealt with the origin of evil, by addressing a theoretical part of the problem of evil by denying the omnipotence of God and postulating two opposite powers. Manichaean theology teaches a dualistic view of good and evil. A key belief in Manichaeism is that the powerful, though not omnipotent good power (God), was opposed by the eternal evil power (devil). Humanity, the world, and the soul are seen as the by-product of the battle between God's proxy, Primal Man, and the devil.^[105]

The human person is seen as a battle-ground for these powers: the soul defines the person, but it is under the influence of both light and dark. This contention plays out over the world as well as the human body—neither the Earth nor the flesh were seen as intrinsically evil, but rather possessed portions of both light and dark. Natural phenomena (such as rain) were seen as the physical manifestation of this spiritual contention. Therefore, the Manichaean view explained the existence of evil by positing a flawed creation in the formation of which God took no part and which constituted rather the product of a battle by the devil against God.^[105]

Cosmogony

Manichaeism presents an elaborate description of the conflict between the spiritual world of light and the material world of darkness. The beings of both the world of darkness and the world of light have names. There are numerous sources for the details of the Manichaean belief. These two portions of the scriptures are probably the closest thing to the original writings in their original languages that will ever be available. These are the Syriac quotation by the Church of the East Christian Theodore bar Konai in his 8th century Syriac scholion, the Ketba de-Skolion,^[50] and the Middle Persian sections of Mani's Shabuhragan discovered at Turpan (a summary of Mani's teachings prepared for Shapur I).^[28]

From these and other sources, it is possible to derive an almost complete description of the detailed Manichaean vision^[106] (a complete list of Manichaean deities is outlined below). According to Mani, the unfolding of the universe takes place with three creations:^{[citation needed]}

The First Creation

Originally, good and evil existed in two completely separate realms, one the World of Light (Chinese: 明界), ruled by the Father of Greatness together with his five Shekhinas (divine attributes of light), and the other the World of Darkness, ruled by the King of Darkness. At a certain point, the Kingdom of Darkness notices the World of Light, becomes greedy for it, and attacks it. The Father of Greatness, in the first of three "creations" (or "calls"), calls to the Mother of Life, who sends her son Original Man (Imperial Aramaic: Nāšā Qaḏmāyā) to battle with the attacking powers of Darkness, which include the Demon of Greed.

The Original Man is armed with five different shields of light (reflections of the five Shekhinas), which he loses to the forces of darkness in the ensuing battle, described as a kind of "bait" to trick the forces of darkness, as the forces of darkness greedily consume as much light as they can. When the Original Man comes to, he is trapped among the forces of darkness.

The Second Creation

Then the Father of Greatness begins the Second Creation, calling to the Living Spirit, who calls to his five sons, and sends a call to the Original Man (Call then becomes a Manichaean deity). An answer (Answer becomes another Manichaean deity) then returns from the Original Man to the World of Light. The Mother of Life, the Living Spirit, and his five sons begin to create the universe from the bodies of the evil beings of the World of Darkness, together with the light that they have swallowed. Ten heavens and eight earths are created, all consisting of various mixtures of the evil material beings from the World of Darkness and the swallowed light. The sun, moon, and stars are all created from light recovered from the World of Darkness. The waxing and waning of the moon is described as the moon filling with light, which passes to the sun, then through the Milky Way, and eventually back to the World of Light.

The Third Creation

Great demons (called archons in bar-Konai's account) are hung out over the heavens, and then the Father of Greatness begins the Third Creation' Light is recovered from out of the material bodies of the male and female evil beings and demons, by causing them to become sexually aroused in greed towards beautiful images of the beings of light, such as the Third Messenger and the Virgins of Light. However, as soon as the light is expelled from their bodies and falls to the earth (some in the form of abortions – the source of fallen angels in the Manichaean myth), the evil beings continue to swallow up as much of it as they can to keep the light inside of them. This results eventually in the evil beings swallowing huge quantities of light, copulating, and producing Adam and Eve. The Father of Greatness then sends Jesus the Splendour to awaken Adam, and to enlighten him to the true source of the light that is trapped in his material body. Adam and Eve, however, eventually copulate, and produce more human beings, trapping the light in bodies of mankind throughout human history. The appearance of the Prophet Mani was another attempt by the World of Light to reveal to mankind the true source of the spiritual light imprisoned within their material bodies.

Cosmology

In the sixth century, many Manichaeans saw "the earth" as "a rectangular parallelepiped enclosed by walls of crystal, above which three domes" existed, with the other two being above and larger than the first one and second one, respectively.^[107] These represented the "three heavens" in Chaldean religion.^[107]

Outline of the beings and events in the Manichaean mythology

Beginning with the time of its creation by Mani, the Manichaean religion has had a detailed description of deities and events that took place within the Manichaean scheme of the universe. In every language and region that Manichaeism spread to, these same deities reappear, whether it is in the original Syriac quoted by Theodore bar Konai,^[50] or the Latin terminology given by Saint Augustine from Mani's Epistola Fundamenti, or the Persian and Chinese translations found as Manichaeism spread eastward. While the original Syriac retained the original description that Mani created, the transformation of the deities through other languages and cultures produced incarnations of the deities not implied in the original Syriac writings. Chinese translations are especially syncretic, borrowing and adapting terminology common in Chinese Buddhism.^[108] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Manichæans
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