HY2206: China's Imperial Past

Author(s)

At first glance, the sculpture residing in the Cao’an temple in Jinjiang of the Fujian province seems to be just another statue of Buddha. The stone inscription outside the shrine calls the figure Moniguangfo, or Mani, the Buddha of Light. In the 1950s, locals in the area also told archaeologist Wu Wenliang that the sculpture was indeed Buddha, thinking that the name Śākyamuni (the title of Buddha) was mistakenly translated to Moni.[1] Today, Buddhist monastics care for the temple and use it for Buddhist worship.[2] However, Wu concludes that the statue is not Buddha. For one, the sculpture sports a beard and “does not have any curly hair on his head”.[3] Coupled with other reasons, Wu finds that the sculpture is instead Mani, the founder of Manichaeism.

Stone inscription and stone sculpture of Mani at Cao’an [4]

This raises several questions: Who is Mani? Why does he look like Buddha? How did Manichaeism spread to China? In this essay, I argue that Manichaeism survived and spread in imperial China by co-opting terms and motifs from Chinese Buddhism in Manichaean text and art. In the following sections, I first briefly detail the origin of Manichaeism as a religion, its beliefs, and a timeline of its rise and fall in China. Next, I use the works of various authors to show how Manichaeans borrowed Buddhist terms and motifs by examining Chinese Manichaean texts and artwork. I then provide some concluding remarks.

Manichaeism: Origins, Core Tenets and Spread to China

In 216, contemporaneous with the Han Dynasty in China, the founder of Manichaeism, Mani, was born in Babylon.[5] He was born into the Elchasitic Baptism sect of the Christian faith and practised it for the first 24 years of his life.[6] However, Mani had many disagreements with the sect on food taboos and rituals.[7] For instance, he did not agree with the Baptists’ practice of baptising vegetables as he thought they would damage the light particles within the vegetables.[8] Mani was also said to have received two separate revelations from his spiritual “Twin”, who exposed the “true” nature of the universe to him.[9]

Upon receiving his second revelation at 24, Mani left his sect and began preaching his teachings to different parts of the world. His teachings greatly amalgamated pre-existing world religions. Specifically, Mani saw himself as the final messenger of God, alongside prior messengers of Jesus, the Buddha and Zarathustra (from Zoroastrianism).[10] Mani even gained the patronage of the Sassanian king Shahpur, who used him as the gel for uniting the major religions of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity within the Iranian empire.[11] While royal patronage continued under Shahpur’s son Hormizd I, Mani was later prosecuted by Shahpur’s grandson Bahram I, where he died in captivity after twenty-six days.[12]

The core beliefs of Manichaeism are the “two principles and three epochs”.[13] More specifically, Manichaeans view the world as a constant battle of the two principles of light and darkness across three epochs, namely the primordial, the present and the future. Light and darkness are represented by the opposing forces of God and matter respectively.[14] Hence, Manichaeans aim to quell matter they believe to be evil by abstaining from meat, marriage, sex and reproduction.[15] Manichaeans also worship the sun and moon as vehicles that allow them to access God.[16] The adherents of Manichaeism can be split into a lay following, known as the hearers, and a monastic order known as the elect.[17] In terms of organisation structure, Manichaean authority flows down from the leader to the twelve teachers, to the bishops, to the elders, and finally to members of the elect.[18]

After Mani’s death, Manichaeism began to spread in multiple directions. Spreading West into Rome, it was heavily suppressed by the 4^th Century, with Roman Emperor Theodosius I issuing edicts to persecute Manichaeans beginning in 382.[19] It also spread to Central Asia and China via Sogdian merchants who traded with the Chinese and the Pamirs along the Silk Route.[20] Lieu mentions that the Sogdians were “fervently evangelistic” as they spread Manichaean teachings among the Han Chinese since the 7^th Century.[21] Manichaeism was first reported in China during the Tang dynasty, where a Manichaean cleric was recorded to have visited China during the reign of Emperor Gaozong (650-83).[22] Later in 694, a Persian bishop with the title of Fuduodan presented Empress Wu Zetian with a religious text called the Book of the Two Principles, or erzongjing.[23] Yet, the Manichaeans likely established a presence in China even before the 6th Century.[24] For instance, Manichaean presence is spotted on the funerary monument of Shi Jun, a Sogdian leader who served as caravan leader in the Northern Wei dynasty and died in 579.[25]

Since then, the fate of Manichaeism in China oscillated between persecution and proliferation. In 739, the Tang emperor issued an edict banning the practice of Manichaeism by the Han Chinese but allowed the Central Asian “barbarians” to continue practising the religion in private.[26] This changed when leader of the Uighur Turks, Mouyu, converted to Manichaeism in 762 and adopted it as the Uighur state religion.[27] As the Uighurs were an important ally of the Tang, the Tang ban on Manichaeism was lifted and Manichaean temples were built across China.[28] When the Uighurs were defeated by the Kirghiz in 840, the fates of the Manichaeans were again reversed, and Manichaean temples were forced to close.[29] Monastics were also made to disrobe and return to lay life.[30] In 843, Emperor Wuzong’s brutal Anti-Buddhist Persecution campaign implicated foreign Manichaean priests, who were either executed or exiled to the border regions like Gansu.[31]

Manichaeism barely survived, with a Manichaean priest with the title of Hulu Fashi escaping to Quanzhou in the Southern Fujian province and continuing to propagate the religion in secret.[32] Henceforth, the locus of Manichaeism shifted from Northern China to Southern China. Starting from the Tang-Song interregnum in the 10^th Century, Manichaeism became increasingly Chinese and became known as Monijiao or Mingjiao, the Teaching of the Light.[33] It was revived during the Song dynasty, as the Taoist Northern Song emperors were more tolerant than the Buddhist Tang emperors. This allowed Manichaeans to build temples, albeit with a Daoist or Buddhist cover.[34] Hence, Manichaeism came to be heavily syncretised with Buddhism and Daoism.

In 1120, Manichaeans in South China were persecuted as “Vegetarian Demon worshippers” and placed under greater scrutiny by the state for allegedly partaking in the Fang La rebellion.[35] Nonetheless, Lieu notes that Manichaeism continued to “gain converts” even amongst the educated and wealthy.[36] Manichaeism lived on under the Mongol Yuan dynasty, where religious tolerance became a key tenet of Mongol rule.[37] In the Ming dynasty, Manichaeans were severely persecuted, but many continued to practise the religion in secret albeit in small numbers.[38] However, by the Qing dynasty, Manichaeism faded to obscurity, as they ultimately became indistinguishable from Christian Nestorians in the Qing dynasty.[39]

Blending with the Dharma: Buddhist elements in Chinese Manichaeism

To survive persecution and attract the local populace, Manichaeism had to be presented in a known and accepted form. As a result, Manichaeans incorporated elements of Buddhism to attract Chinese adherents. Various textual sources evidence this borrowing. From studying a collection of Manichaean ritual manuals from the Xiapu county of the Fujian province, Ma & Wang find that Manichaean rituals heavily borrowed from Buddhist repentance rituals.[40] For instance, Manichaean rituals contain a section on Venerating the Triratna, or san guiyi. This section is a direct copy of the Buddhist practice of venerating the Buddhist Triple Gems sanbao, namely the Buddha, the Dharma, and the sangha.[41] The Chinese title of the word Buddha fo is also directly used in the manual to refer to the apostles of Manichaeism, namely Nārāyaṇa, Zoroaster, Śākyamuni, Jesus and Mani.[42] As a collective, they are known as the “five Buddhas” or wufo in the manuals. These instances of borrowing signified attempts to make Manichaean rituals attractive and familiar to the Chinese in Fujian.

Besides Xiapu ritual manuals, one significant Manichaean text that thoroughly adopted Buddhist elements is the hymn scroll, or the Monijiao xiabuzan, translated by Daoming in the 8^th Century. [43] The hymn scroll incorporates Buddhism in a myriad of ways. Firstly, the first two volumes of the Manichaean hymn scrolls strategically co-opted the names of Buddhist monsters such as yaksha yecha and rakshasa luocha from the Buddhist classic, the Guanyin pumenpin chapter of the Lotus Sutra miaofalianhuajing, to describe the Manichaean ideas of evil.[44] By incorporating these terms strategically, Kósa makes the case that Jesus or Yishu, a divine being in Manichaeism, was identified with Buddhist Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, or Guanyin.[45] Hence, borrowing the term for Buddhist monsters was a purposeful endeavour to elevate the status of Manichaeism by leveraging the Buddhist cult of saviour Guanyin, who was widely worshipped during the Tang dynasty.[46]

Secondly, the hymn scroll borrows vocabulary from the Buddhist Pure Land scriptures to illustrate the Manichaeist paradise or the Light-world. The Pure Land scriptures come from the Pure Land school of Chinese Buddhism or Jingtuzong. Followers of this school believe in a Buddha called Amitābha or Amituofo, who resides in Sukhavatī, the Land of Bliss, a place where enlightenment is easier to attain. The goal of Pure Land Buddhists is hence to be reborn in the Pure Land by chanting Amitābha’s name sincerely to invoke his vows.[47] Similar to the cult of Guanyin, the Pure Land school was popular within Chinese Buddhism, especially after the An Lushan Rebellion in 755.[48]

Thus, as Mikkelson shows, Daoming appropriates the imagery of the Pure Land described in the three Pure Land sūtras to exploit the popularity of the Buddhist Pure Land among the Chinese.[49]. While the Buddhist Pure Land has “pearl nets and jewelled curtains cover the seven-jewelled trees”, the Light word and its countries are said to be “marvellously adorned with jewels and have jewel earth or soil of diamond that glitters in countless colours”.[50] Additionally, while the Pure Land is said to be “vast and has no boundaries”, the Light-world is described as “boundless”.[51] It is also no coincidence that the Chinese name for the Light-world jileshijie is the same for Amitabha’s Pure Land.[52] Once again, Daoming rides on an eminent Buddhist school to boost Manichaeism’s appeal.

Finally, Wang notes that Daoming co-opts the Buddhist term dharmarāja or fawang in the hymn scroll. In a Buddhist setting, fawang is used as an honourific to describe Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.[53] In the hymn scroll, fawang describes both Mani himself and Manichean saviour saint Jesus yishu. By using the familiar term fawang in the hymn scroll, Daocheng helps Chinese readers to understand the qualities of the more unfamiliar Manichaean figures using the more familiar Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Therefore, Manichean texts, specifically the Xiapu ritual manuals and the Manichean hymn scroll, show how the appropriation of Buddhist terms and motifs into Manichaeism was an intentional act to capitalise on the Chinese familiarity with Buddhism.

Beyond textual borrowing, Buddhist motifs have also been borrowed in Manichean art. As Wang posits, with key Manichaean texts like the Traité and the hymn scroll being so heavily infused with Buddhist elements, Manichaean art styles would undoubtedly have been influenced as well.[54] In studying newly uncovered Manichaean silk road paintings in Japan from the Song and Yuan dynasties, she finds that Manichean saints are portrayed in typical Buddhist motifs because the Manichean idea of the saint is foreign to Chinese Buddhists.[55] In a painting from the 13^th Century, Jesus is portrayed in the style of Buddha, with a Buddha-like halo and a seated position. Nonetheless, the Manichean Cross of Light that Jesus wields is distinctly Manichaean.[56]

A Manichaean hanging scroll of the Buddha Jesus Yishu Fozheng[57]

In a separate article, Wang details another Manichaean painting that incorporated Buddhist motifs. In this painting which shows Mani’s birth, there is an allusion to the legend of Buddha’s birth, where Mani is depicted raising one hand to the sky and pointing the other hand to the ground.[58] However, no version of Mani’s birth records him being in this pose.[59] On the contrary, this pose has strong links to the legend of the Buddha’s birth. In Buddhist canon, the Buddha was said to have taken seven steps when he was born while pointing up to the heavens and down below, saying “in the heavens above and the earth below, I alone am honoured tianxiatianshang weiwoweizun”.[60]  Today, the Buddhist ritual of bathing the Buddha still uses a sculpture of the baby Buddha in this pose.[61] From the two broad examples, the incorporation of famous Buddhist motifs in Manichaean art make it easier for Chinese to understand Manichaeism and relate to it. Nevertheless, the paintings are still unique enough to preserve essence of Manichaeism.

The incorporation of Buddhism in Manichaean art also gave rise to Manichaean statues and sculptures. The earliest mention of a Manichean art piece is found in the Minshu, which notes that a sculpture of Mani was bought during the Song dynasty in either 995 or 997 CE, from a divination shop in the capital Bianjing (Kaifeng), by a man named Li Tingyu.[62] However, Wang argues that this art piece was a painting instead, as the Manichaean doctrine strongly prohibited hearers (lay devotees) from engaging in idol worship.[63] However, Buddhist statues at that time were already prevalent. Hence, as Manichaeism adopted increasing amounts of Buddhist elements in the later Yuan and Ming dynasties, they also adopted the Buddhist art style of statues.[64] Resultantly, Manichean statues also came to exhibit strong Buddhist styles.

Conclusion

As clearly shown, Manicheans were not opposed to the idea of borrowing from existing religions like Buddhism. It was even beneficial to do so as it allowed Manichaeism as a foreign religion to survive various persecutions over the years. This borrowing also made Manichaeism relevant and attractive to the Chinese who were already familiar with Buddhism. Nevertheless, while I only detailed the incorporation of Buddhist elements in this essay, Manichaeism incorporated elements from other folk traditions such as Daoism as well. The Manicheans from South China even maintained that Mani was a reincarnation of Laozi, the founder of Daoism.[65] Despite these flexible strategies, Manichaeism was ultimately unable to survive the increasing persecutions by the imperial government and was subsumed under Buddhism and Daoism. Yet, the Buddha of Light in Cao’an serves as a reminder of this great religion that once existed in China.

Endnotes

[1] Samuel N. C. Lieu, “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast,” Vigiliae Christianae 34, no. 1 (1980): 81.

[2] Matthew Bossons, “China’s Forgotten Faith: How Did a 3rd Century Religion from Iran Make It to China’s Southeast Coast?,” RADII, March 16, 2020, accessed November 18, 2021, https://radiichina.com/manichaeism-chinas-forgotten-faith/.

[3] Lieu, “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast,” 81.

[4] Bossons, “China’s Forgotten Faith.”

[5] Michel Tardieu, Manichaeism (Urbana, Ill: University of Illinois Press, 2008), 1-2.

[6] Ibid., 8-9.

[7] Iain Gardner and Samuel N. C. Lieu, eds., Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire (Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 30.

[8] Ibid., 4.

[9] Geo Widengren, Mani and Manichaeism, trans. Charles Kessler (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), 26.

[10] Gardner and Lieu, eds., Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire, 10.

[11] Ibid, 6.

[12] Widengren, Mani and Manichaeism, 41.

[13] Zhongjian Mou and Jian Zhang, Handbook of the History of Religions in China 1: From the Beginnings until the Period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, trans. Zhen Chi, Chinesische Perspektiven Geschichte Band 2 (Stuttgart: ibidem Verlag, 2020), 395.

[14] Gardner and Lieu, eds., Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire, 179.

[15] Ibid., 181.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid., 24.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Samuel N. C. Lieu, Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China, 2nd ed. (Mohr Siebeck, 1992), 142-8.

[20] Samuel N. C. Lieu, Manichaeism in Central Asia and China, Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies 45 (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 1998), 220-221.

[21] Lieu, “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast,” 74.

[22] Gunner B. Mikkelsen, “Religious Convergence in Sogdian Funerary Art from Sixth-Century North China,” in Between Rome and China: History, Religions and Material Culture of the Silk Road, ed. Samuel N. C. Lieu and Gunner B. Mikkelsen, Silk Road studies XVIII (Turnhout, Belgium: Sydney, NSW, Australia; Brepols; Ancient Cultures Research Centre, MacQuarie University, 2016), 122.

[23] Ibid.; Werner Sundermann, “Manichaeism on the Silk Road: Its Rise, Flourishing and Decay,” in Between Rome and China: History, Religions and Material Culture of the Silk Road, ed. Samuel N. C. Lieu and Gunner B. Mikkelsen, Silk Road studies XVIII (Turnhout, Belgium : Sydney, NSW, Australia: Brepols ; Ancient Cultures Research Centre, MacQuarie University, 2016), 81; Lin Shitian 林世田, Guojia tushuguancang monijiaojing de wenxianjiazhi 国家图书馆藏《摩尼教经》的文献价值 (National Library of China, 2011), http://www.nlc.cn/newhxjy/wjsy/zg/zgdq/201104/P020110427449213607392.pdf.

[24] See for instance Ts’un-Yan Liu, “Traces of Zoroastrian and Manichaean Activities in Pre-T’ang China,” in Selected Papers from the Hall of Harmonious Wind, ed. Ts’un-Yan Liu (Leiden: Brill, 1976).

[25] Mikkelsen, “Religious Convergence in Sogdian Funerary Art from Sixth-Century North China,” 113.

[26] Mou and Zhang, Handbook of the History of Religions in China 1, 398.

[27] Ibid.

[28] Lieu, “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast,” 74-5.

[29] Ibid., 75; Mou and Zhang, Handbook of the History of Religions in China 1, 399.

[30] Peter Bryder, The Chinese Transformation of Manichaeism: A Study of Chinese Manichaean Terminology (Löberöd: Bokförlaget Plus Ultra, 1985), 9.

[31]  Lieu, “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast,” 75; Lieu, Manichaeism in Central Asia and China, 115, 129-30.

[32] Lieu, Manichaeism in Central Asia and China, 131.

[33] Mou and Zhang, Handbook of the History of Religions in China 1, 395.

[34] Ibid., 133

[35] Lieu, Manichaeism in Central Asia and China, 136

[36] Lieu, “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast,” 76.

[37] Ibid., 74.

[38] Wang Jianchuan 王見川, Congmonijiao Dao Mingjiao 從摩尼教到明教 (Taipei: Xinwenfeng chubanshe, 1992), 352.

[39] Ibid.; Lieu, Manichaeism in Central Asia and China, 155.

[40] Xiaohe Ma and Chuan Wang, “On the Xiapu Ritual Manual Mani the Buddha of Light,” Religions 9, no. 7 (July 9, 2018): 212.

[41] Lu Lizhi 鲁立智 , “Dunhuang foqu sanguiyi kaobian 敦煌佛曲‘三皈依’考辨,” Wenxian 2 (2012): 30–3.

[42] Ma and Wang, “On the Xiapu Ritual Manual Mani the Buddha of Light,” 212.

[43] The hymn scroll is one of three significant Chinese Manichaean texts discovered from the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, with the other two being the Traité Monijiao canjing 摩尼教残经and Compendium Moniguangfo jiaofayilu 摩尼光佛教法仪略. It was taken from the caves by British explorer Aurel Stein in 1907 and currently resides in the British Library. The hymn scroll contains liturgical verses to be sung or recited during Chinese Manichaiest rituals. For a summary of the Chinese Manichaean texts from the Mogao Caves, see Lin Shitian 林世田, Guojia tushuguancang monijiaojing de wenxianjiazhi 国家图书馆藏《摩尼教经》的文献价值 (National Library of China, 2011), http://www.nlc.cn/newhxjy/wjsy/zg/zgdq/201104/P020110427449213607392.pdf;

Gábor Kósa, “Buddhist Monsters in the Chinese Manichaean ‘Hymnscroll’ and the Guanyin Chapter of the ‘Lotus Sutra,’” The Eastern Buddhist 44, no. 1 (2013): 30.

[44] Ibid., 45.

[45] Note that this Jesus is conceptually separate from Jesus Christ yesu 耶稣; Ibid., 31.

[46] Ibid., 69.

[47] Robert H. Sharf, “On Pure Land Buddhism and Ch’an/Pure Land Syncretism in Medieval China,” T’oung Pao 88, no. 4/5 (2002): 292-3.

[48] Ibid., 283.

[49] Ibid., 209.

[50] Gunner Mikkelsen, “Sukhāvatī And The Light-World: Pure Land Elements In The Chinese Manichaean Eulogy Of The Light-World,” New Light on Manichaeism (January 1, 2009): 203–5.

[51] Ibid.

[52] Ibid., 204.

[53] Wang Yuanyuan 王媛媛, “Tangdaihanwen monijiao ziliaosuojianzhi fawang 唐代汉文摩尼教资料所见之‘法王,’” in Hailu jiaotong yu shijie wenming 海陆交通与世界文明, by Chen Chunsheng 陈春声 (Beijing: Shangwuyinshuguan, 2013), 215–28.

[54] The Traité, or the Monijiao canjing 摩尼教残经, was recovered from the Mogao Caves by Chinese scholar Luo Zhenyu 罗振玉after English explorer Aurel Stein and French sinologist Paul Pelliot removed other important Manichaeist texts from the same cave. It currently resides in the National Library of China in Beijing. For more on the Traité, see Lieu, Manichaeism in Central Asia and China, 59; Wang Yuanyuan 王媛媛, “Duiribencang jiangnanmonijiaohuihua de yidiansikao  对日本藏‘江南摩尼教绘画’的一点思考,” Haijiaoshiyanjiu 3 (2019): 56-7.

[55] Ibid. 58

[56] Zsuzsanna Gulácsi, “A Manichaean ‘Portrait of the Buddha Jesus’: Identifying a Twelfth or Thirteenth–Century Chinese Painting from the Collection of Seiun-Ji Zen Temple,” Artibus Asiae 69, no. 1 (2009): 136.

[57] Ibid., 113.

[58] Wang Yuanyuan 王媛媛, “Ricang Monijiaojiangdantu Zaijiedu 日藏 ‘摩尼降诞图’再解读,” Xihuoyanjiu 3 (2014): 77-80

[59] Ibid.

[60] Ibid.

[61] S Horton, “Śākyamuni: Still Alive in This World,” in Living Buddhist Statues in Early Medieval and Modern Japan. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 23-4.

[62] The Minshu was a book compiled and published in 1629 during the Ming dynasty. Written by He Qiaoyuan 何喬遠 (1558-1632), it details various themes on the Fujian (Min) region such as history and geography;

Zsuzsanna Gulácsi, Mani’s Pictures: The Didactic Images of the Manichaeans from Sasanian Mesopotamia to Uygur Central Asia and Tang-Ming China (Brill, 2016), 211; Wang Yuanyuan 王媛媛, “Bianjing busi yu monijiaoshenxiang rumin 汴京卜肆与摩尼教神像入闽,” Gugongbyuyuan yuankan 3 (2009): 97.

[63] Wang, “Bianjing busi yu monijiaoshenxiang rumin,” 100.

[64] Ibid., 101-5.

[65] Lieu, “Nestorians and Manichaeans on the South China Coast,” 76.