Information AboutManicheanism |
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Manichaeism (in Religion s, originating in Sassanid Persia . Although most of the original writings of the founding Prophet Mani ( Syriac , , c. 210–276 A.D.) have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived. At its height, Manichaeism was one of the most widespread religions in the world, with Manichaean churches and scriptures being found as far east as China, and as far west as the Roman empire. Although its last organized form appears to have died out before the 16th century in southern China, a modern revival has been attempted under the name of Neo-Manichaeism . The original six sacred books of Manichaeism, composed in Syriac Aramaic , were soon translated into other languages to aid in the spread of the religion. As they spread to the east, the writings of the religion passed through Middle Persian , Parthia n, Sogdian , and ultimately Uyghur Turkish and Chinese translations. As they spread to the west, they were translated into Greek , Coptic , and Latin . The spread and success of Manichaeism was seen as a threat to other religions, and it was widely persecuted by Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and later, Islam. ORIGINS Mani lived approximately 210–276 A.D. and resided in (the language of the Talmud ), Mandaean Aramaic (the language of the Mandaean Religion ), and Syriac Aramaic - which was the language of Mani, as well as of the Assyrian Christians . Mani is a Persian name and, found as it is in all three Aramaic dialects, fairly common among its speakers. Mani composed seven writings, six of which were written in Syriac Aramaic. The seventh, the Shabuhragan , was written by Mani in Middle Persian and dedicated to the contemporary King of Sassanid Persia , Shapur I , who was a strong supporter of Manichaeism and encouraged its spread throughout his empire. Mani also created a distinctive version of the Syriac script - Manichaean Script - which was used in all of the Manichaean works written within the Persian Empire, whether they were in Syriac or Middle Persian, and also for most of the works written within the Uyghur Empire , which also included eastern Iranian languages and Uygur Turkish. One of the tenets of Manichaeism was that it presented the complete version of teachings only revealed partially by teachers such as Zoroaster , Buddha , and Jesus . Accordingly, as Manichaeism passed through time, location, and language, it adapted new religious deities from the surrounding religions into the Manichaean scriptures. So, while the original Aramaic texts already contained stories of Jesus, as 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 Yazata s. Thus '' '' ("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 for by the name of the deity '' Zurwān ''. Likewise, the Manichaean primal figure '' '' "The Original Man" was rendered "Ohrmazd Bay", after the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda . This development continued to Manichaeism's ultimate meeting with Chinese Buddhism , where, for example, the original Aramaic "karia" (the "call" from the world of Light to those seeking rescue from the world of Darkness), becomes identified in the Chinese scriptures with Guan Yin (, literally, "hearing sounds the world ", the Bodhisattva of Compassion in Chinese Buddhism). The original six Syriac writings are not preserved, although we have their Syriac names, as well as fragments and quotations from them. A lengthy quotation, brought by the Syrian Nestorian Christian , Theodor bar-Khonai, in the 8th century, shows clearly that in the original Syriac Aramaic writings of Mani there was absolutely no influence of Iranian or Zoroastrian terms. The terms for the Manichaean deities in the original Syriac writings are purely in Aramaic. The adaptation of Manichaeism to the Zoroastrian religion, however, appears to have begun in Mani's lifetime, with his writing of the Middle Persian Shabuhragan , his book dedicated to the King Shapuhr. In it, we find mention of Zoroastrian deities such as Ohrmazd, Ahriman, and Az. Manichaeism is often presented as a Persian religion, mostly due to the vast number of Middle Persian, Parthian, and Soghdian (as well as Turkish) texts discovered by German researchers near Turfan , in the Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) province of China, during the early 1900s. Looking at the phenomenon of Manichaeism from the point of view of its origins, however, it is no more accurate to say that Manichaeism is a Persian or Iranian religion than it is to say that Talmudic Judaism or Babylonian Mandaeism (which were also written in Aramaic in Babylon in roughly the 3rd century A.D.) are Iranian religions. Mani was likely influenced by and Seal Of The Prophets that finalized a succession of men guided by God and included figures such as Zoroaster , Hermes , Plato , Buddha , and Jesus . Another source of Mani's scriptures, was a section of the original Aramaic " Book Of Enoch ", entitled the " Book Of Giants ". This book was quoted directly, and expanded on by Mani, to become one of the original six Syriac writings of the Manichaean Church. Besides brief references by non-Manichaean authors through the centuries, we had no original sources of "The Book of Giants" (which is actually part six of the "Book of Enoch"). Then, with the discovery in the twentieth century of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Judaean Desert, and of the Manichaean writings of the Uyghur Manichaean kingdom in Turfan , we came into possession of some scattered fragments of both the original Aramaic "Book of Giants" (which were analyzed and published by J. T. Milik in 1976), and of the Manichaean version of the same name (analyzed and published by W.B. Henning in 1943). Henning writes there: :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. From a careful reading of the Book of Enoch and Book of Giants, alongside the description of the Manichaean myth, it becomes clear that the "Great King of Glory" of the Manichaean myth (this is a being that sits as a guard to the world of light at the seventh of ten heavens in the Manichaean myth, see Henning, A Sogdian Fragment of the Manichaean Cosmogony, BSOAS, 1948), is identical with the King of Glory sitting on the heavenly throne in the Book of Enoch. In the Aramaic book of Enoch, in the Qumran writings in general, and in the original Syriac section of Manichaean scriptures quoted by Theodor bar-Khonai, he is called "malka raba de-ikara" (the great king of glory). While Manichaeism was spreading, the large existing religious groups such as Christianity and Zoroastrianism were gaining social and political influence. Although having fewer adherents than either group, Manichaeism won the support of many high-ranking political figures. With the aid of the Persian Empire , Mani initiated missionary excursions. After failing to win the favor of the next generation, and having the disapproval of the Zoroastrian clergy, Mani is reported to have died in prison awaiting execution by the Persian Emperor Bahram I . The date of his death is fixed at 276–277 A.D. In Egypt a minuscule Codex was found and became known via antique dealers in Cairo . It was purchased by the University Of Cologne in 1969, and two of its scientists Henrichs and Koenen produced the first edition of this ancient manuscript known since as the Cologne Mani-Codex , which they published in four articles in the ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik''. The content of the small Papyrus manuscript contained a Greek text describing the life of Mani. From this recent discovery, we know much more about the man who founded one of the most influential world religions of the past. THEOLOGY The most striking principle of Manichaean theology is its Dualism . Mani postulated two natures that existed from the beginning: light and darkness. The realm of light lived in peace, while the realm of darkness was in constant conflict with itself. The universe is the temporary result of an attack from the realm of darkness on the realm of light, and was created by the Living Spirit, an emanation of the light realm, out of the mixture of light and darkness. A key belief in Manichaeism is that there is no omnipotent good power. This claim addresses a theoretical part of the (which is composed of Light ) and the bad part is the Body (composed of dark Earth ). The soul defines the person and is incorruptible, but it is under the domination of a foreign power, which addressed the practical part of The Problem of Evil. Humans are said to be able to be saved from this power (matter) if they come to know who they are and identify themselves with their soul. Following Mani's travels to the Kushan Empire (several religious paintings in Bamiyan are attributed to him) at the beginning of his proselytizing career, various Buddhist influences seem to have permeated 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 . (Richard Foltz, ''Religions of the Silk Road'') In some Gnostic writings of the Death of Mani, Mani attains Parinirvana . The word "Buddha" is frequently used in Manichean writings of later centuries according to the same work. Other Indian religions might have influenced Manicheasm. In the 4th century, Ephraim criticized Mani for adopting "the Lie" from India, promoting "two powers which were against each other". In the story of the Death of Mani (according to the Gnostic Bible by Willis Barnstone, here is one of many authenticating references proving the centrality of Buddhism in Mani's formulation of Gnosticism): ::It was a day of pain ::and a time of sorrow ::when the messenger of light ::entered death ::when he entered complete Nirvana " Also, in the Great Song of Mani (13th–14th century) Mani is many times referred to as Buddha Mani . In China Manichaean theology featured structural repetitions of images of woken light liberated from darkness: the Son of God was woken from demonic imprisonment by the Holy Spirit and escaped its darkness; conversion to Manicheanism was depicted both as an awakening and an illumination; and in death the converted spirit would escape the darkness of the body. Converts were only guaranteed salvation if they could continue this repetition and convert another in turn. THE MANICHAEAN COSMOGONY From its inception, one of the striking features of Manichaeism is that it presents an elaborate description of the conflict between the spiritual world of light and the material world of darkness. The beings of the world of darkness all have names, and the beings they attack in the world of light also have names. There are numerous sources for the details of the Manichaean myth (see "Sources for Manichaeism", below). We do have two portions of Manichaean scriptures, however, that are probably as close as we will ever come to the original Manichaean writings in their original languages. These are the Syriac-Aramaic quotation by the Nestorian Christian Theodor Bar-Konai , in his Syriac "Book of Sects" ( 8th Century ), and the Middle Persian sections of Mani's Shabuhragan discovered at Turfan (a summary of Mani's teachings prepared for Shapur I ; published in BSOAS, 1979). It is very likely that these two sections are the original Syriac and Middle Persian written by Mani himself. From these alone we can derive a short example of the detailed nature of the Manichaean vision: At one point, the God of Light sends a representative ("original man", in Aramaic), 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, which he loses to the forces of darkness in the ensuing battle. A call is then issued from the world of Light to the Original Man ("call" thus becomes a Manichaean deity), and an answer ("answer" becoming another Manichaean deity) returns from the Original Man to the world of Light. The myth continues with many details of how light is captured into the world of matter, and eventually liberated by entrapping some great demons and causing them to become sexually aroused by "Twelve Virgins of Light", and expelling, against their will, the light from within their bodies. The light, though, is again entrapped in the world of darkness and matter, and the myth continues, eventually arriving to the creation of living beings in the material world, Adam and Eve, and Jesus appearing at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. The complete Manichaean story of the creation and purpose of the universe, from beginning to end, has been reconstructed from numerous original Manichaean sources, and can be read about in the works in the bibliography and in the external links (below). SOURCES FOR MANICHAEISM Until discoveries in the 1900s of original sources, the only sources we had for Manichaeism were descriptions and quotations from non-Manichaean authors, either Christian, Muslim, or Zoroastrian. While these writers were often criticizing Manichaeism, they also brought many quotations directly from Manichaean scriptures. Thus we have always had quotations and descriptions in Greek and Arabic, as well as the long quotations in Latin by Saint Augustine, and the extremely important quotation in Syriac by Theodor bar-Khonai. Then, in the early 1900s, German scholars excavated at the ancient site of the Manichaean Uyghur Kingdom near Turfan, in Chinese Turkestan (destroyed around 1300 A.D.). While most of the writings they uncovered were in very bad shape, there were still hundreds of pages of Manichaean scriptures, written in three Persian languages - Middle Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian, as well as in old Turkish. These writings were taken back to Germany, and were analyzed and published at the Preußische Akademie Der Wissenschaften in Berlin. While the vast majority of these writings were written in a version of the Syriac script known as Manichaean Script , the German researchers, perhaps for lack of suitable fonts, published most of the writings using Hebrew letters (which could easily be substituted for the 22 Syriac letters). Perhaps the most comprehensive of these publications was ''Manichaeische Dogmatik aus chinesischen und iranischen Texten'' (''Manichaean Dogma from Chinese and Iranian texts''), by Waldschmidt and Lentz, published in Berlin in 1933. More than any other research work published before or since, this work printed, and then discussed, the original key Manichaean texts in the original scripts, and consists chiefly of sections from Chinese texts, and Middle Persian and Parthian texts transcribed with Hebrew letters. (It is interesting to note that after the Nazi party attained power in Germany, while the Manichaean writings continued to be published during the remainder of the 1930s, the publishers no longer used Hebrew letters, but instead transliterated the texts into Latin letters.) Additionally, in the early 1900s, German researchers in Egypt found a large body of Manichaean works in Coptic. Though damaged as well, many complete pages survived and were also published in Berlin before World War II. Unfortunately, some of these Coptic Manichaean writings were destroyed during the war. After the success of the German researchers, French scholars went into China and discovered perhaps the most complete set of Manichaean writings ever, written in Chinese. These three Chinese writings are today kept in London, Paris, and Beijing. The original studies and analyses of these writings, along with their translations, originally appeared in French, English, and German, before and after World War II. The complete Chinese texts themselves were originally published in Tokyo, Japan in 1927, in the Taisho Tripitaka, volume 54. While in the last 30 years or so they have been republished in both Germany (with a complete translation into German, alongside the 1927 Japanese edition) and China, the Japanese publication still remains the standard reference for the Chinese texts. In the latter part of the 20th century another Manichaean work, written in Greek and describing the life of Mani, was discovered. MANICHAEAN SACRED BOOKS There were seven (or according to other lists, eight) books originally written by Mani, which contained the teachings of the religion. Only scattered fragments and translations of the originals remain. Originally written in Syriac
Originally written in Middle Persian
Other books
Non-Manichaean works preserved by the Manichaean Church Later works In later centuries, as Manichaeism passed through eastern Persian speaking lands and arrived to the Uyghur Empire , and ultimately the Uyghur kingdom of Turfan (destroyed around 1335), there were also long hymn cycles and prayers composed in Middle Persian and Parthian. A translation of one of these produced the Manichaean Chinese Hymnscroll (the 下部贊), which we have today in its entirety (see the external links section). EXPANSION |
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