Manichaeism

== Primary sources ==
[[File:Image of Buddha on a Manichaean Pictorial Roll.jpg|thumb|upright|An image of the [[Buddha]] as one of the primary prophets on a Manichaean pictorial roll fragment from [[Gaochang|Chotscho]], 10th century.]]
Mani wrote [[Seven Treatises of Manichaeism|seven books]], which contained the teachings of the religion. Only scattered fragments and translations of the originals remain, most having been discovered in Egypt and Turkistan during the 20th century.<ref name="EB-2023" />

The original six Syriac writings are not preserved, although their Syriac names have been. There are also fragments and quotations from them. A long quotation, preserved by the eighth-century [[Nestorianism|Nestorian Christian]] author [[Theodore Bar Konai]],<ref name="Konai">Original Syriac in: Theodorus bar Konai, ''Liber Scholiorum, II'', ed. A. Scher, ''Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium scrip. syri'', 1912, pp. 311–8, {{ISBN|978-90-429-0104-9}}; English translation in: A.V.W. Jackson, ''Researches in Manichaeism'', New York, 1932, pp. 222–54.</ref> shows that in the original Syriac Aramaic writings of Mani there was no influence of Iranian or [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] terms. The terms for the Manichaean deities in the original Syriac writings are in Aramaic. The adaptation of Manichaeism to the Zoroastrian religion appears to have begun in Mani's lifetime however, with his writing of the Middle Persian ''[[Shabuhragan]]'', his book dedicated to the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian emperor]], [[Shapur I]].<ref name="Shabuhragan"/>

In it, there are mentions of Zoroastrian divinities such as [[Ahura Mazda]], [[Angra Mainyu]], and Āz. Manichaeism is often presented as a Persian religion, mostly due to the vast number of Middle Persian, Parthian, and [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] (as well as Turkish) texts discovered by German researchers near [[Turpan]] in what is now [[Xinjiang]], China, during the early 1900s. However, from the vantage point of its original Syriac descriptions (as quoted by Theodore Bar Khonai and outlined above), Manichaeism may be better described as a unique phenomenon of Aramaic Babylonia, occurring in proximity to two other new Aramaic religious phenomena, [[Talmudic Academies in Babylonia|Talmudic Judaism]] and [[Mandaeism]], which also appeared in Babylonia in roughly the third century.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

The original, but now lost, six sacred books of Manichaeism were composed in [[Syriac language|Syriac Aramaic]], and translated into other languages to help spread the religion. As they spread to the east, the Manichaean writings passed through [[Middle Persian]], [[Parthian language|Parthian]], [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]], [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian]], and ultimately [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] and [[Chinese language|Chinese]] translations. As they spread to the west, they were translated into [[Greek language|Greek]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]], and [[Latin]]. Most Manichaean texts survived only as Coptic and Medieval Chinese translations of their original, lost versions.{{sfnp|Augustine|1991|loc=p. xxviii}}

[[File:Jinjiang Cao'an 20120229-10.jpg|thumb|Statue of prophet Mani as the "[[Amitabha|Buddha of Light]]" in [[Cao'an]] Temple in [[Jinjiang, Fujian]], "a Manichaean temple in Buddhist disguise",<ref name="Sundermann-2009b-1">{{Cite web |last=Sundermann |first=Werner |date=2009-07-20 |title=MANICHEISM i. GENERAL SURVEY |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-1-general-survey |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> which is considered "the only extant Manichean temple in China"<ref name="Lieu-2011">{{Cite web |last=Lieu |first=Samuel |date=2011-10-17 |title=CHINESE TURKESTAN vii. Manicheism in Chinese Turkestan and China |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/chinese-turkestan-vii |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>]]
[[Walter Bruno Henning|Henning]] describes how this translation process evolved and influenced the Manichaeans of Central Asia:
{{blockquote|Beyond doubt, [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] was the national language of the Majority of clerics and propagandists of the Manichaean faith in Central Asia. Middle Persian (Pārsīg), and to a lesser degree, Parthian (Pahlavānīg), occupied the position held by [[Medieval Latin|Latin in the medieval church]]. The founder of Manichaeism had employed Syriac (his own language) as his medium, but conveniently he had written at least one book in Middle Persian, and it is likely that he himself had arranged for the translation of some or all of his numerous writings from Syriac into Middle Persian. Thus the Eastern Manichaeans found themselves entitled to dispense with the study of Mani's original writings, and to continue themselves to reading the Middle Persian edition; it presented small difficulty to them to acquire a good knowledge of the Middle Persian language, owing to its affinity with Sogdian.<ref>W. B. Henning, ''Sogdica'', 1940, p. 11.</ref>}}

=== Originally written in Syriac ===
* the ''[[Gospel of Mani]]'' (Syriac: <span lang="syr">[[wikt:ܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ|ܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ]]</span> {{IPA|/ʔɛwwanɡallijon/}}; {{lang-grc-koi|εὐαγγέλιον}} "good news, gospel"). Quotations from the first chapter were brought in [[Arabic]] by [[ibn al-Nadim]], who lived in Baghdad at a time when there were still Manichaeans living there, in his 938 book, the ''Fihrist'', a catalog of all written books known to him.
* ''The [[Treasure of Life]]''
* ''[[Pragmateia|The Treatise]]'' (Coptic: [[wikt:πραγματεία|πραγματεία]], ''pragmateia'')
* ''[[The Book of Mysteries (Manichaeism)|Secrets]]''
* ''[[The Book of Giants]]'': Original fragments were discovered at [[Qumran]] (pre-Manichaean) and [[Turpan]].
* [[The Epistles (Manichaeism)|Epistles]]: Augustine brings quotations, in Latin, from Mani's ''[[Fundamental Epistle]]'' in some of his anti-Manichaean works.
* [[Psalms and Prayers]]: A Coptic [[Manichaean Psalm Book]], discovered in Egypt in the early 1900s, was edited and published by [[Charles Allberry]] from Manichaean manuscripts in the [[Chester Beatty Library|Chester Beatty collection]] and in the Berlin Academy, 1938–9.

=== Originally written in Middle Persian ===
* The ''[[Shabuhragan]]'', dedicated to [[Shapur I]]: Original Middle Persian fragments were discovered at [[Turpan]], quotations were brought in Arabic by [[al-Biruni]].

=== Other books ===
* The ''[[Arzhang|Ardahang]]'', the "Picture Book". In Iranian tradition, this was one of Mani's holy books that became remembered in later Persian history, and was also called ''Aržang'', a [[Parthian language|Parthian]] word meaning "Worthy", and was beautified with paintings. Therefore, Iranians gave him the title of "The Painter".
* The [[Kephalaia of the Teacher]] ({{lang|grc|Κεφαλαια}}), "Discourses", found in Coptic translation.
* ''On the Origin of His Body'', the title of the [[Cologne Mani-Codex]], a Greek translation of an Aramaic book that describes the early life of Mani.<ref name="Mani-Kodex"/>

===Non-Manichaean works preserved by the Manichaean Church===
* Portions of the [[Book of Enoch]] literature such as the [[Book of Giants]]
* Literature relating to the [[Thomas the Apostle|apostle Thomas]] (who by tradition went to India, and was also venerated in Syria), such as portions of the Syriac [[Acts of Thomas|The Acts of Thomas]], and the [[Psalms of Thomas]]. The [[Gospel of Thomas]] was also attributed to Manichaeans by Cyril of Jerusalem, a fourth-century Church Father.<ref>''"Let none read the gospel according to Thomas, for it is the work, not of one of the twelve apostles, but of one of [[Mani (prophet)|Mani's]] three wicked disciples."''—[[Cyril of Jerusalem]], ''Catechesis'' V (4th century)</ref>
* The legend of [[Barlaam and Josaphat]] passed from an Indian story about the Buddha, through a Manichaean version, before it transformed into the story of a Christian Saint in the west.

=== Later works ===
[[File:摩尼教文獻.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|摩尼教文獻 The Chinese Manichaean "Compendium"]]
[[File:Manichaean miniature image depicting two female musicians, from a Sogdian-language text.jpg|thumb|Two female musicians depicted in a Manichaean text]]
In later centuries, as Manichaeism passed through [[Greater Iran|eastern Persian-speaking lands]] and arrived at the [[Uyghur Khaganate]] (回鶻帝國), and eventually the Uyghur kingdom of [[Turpan]] (destroyed around 1335), Middle Persian and Parthian prayers (''āfrīwan'' or ''āfurišn'') and the Parthian hymn-cycles (the ''Huwīdagmān'' and ''Angad Rōšnan'' created by [[Mar Ammo]]) were added to the Manichaean writings.<ref>See, for example, {{cite book|last=Boyce |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Boyce |title=The Manichaean hymn-cycles in Parthian |series=London Oriental Series |volume=3 |location=London |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1954}}</ref> A translation of a collection of these produced the ''Manichaean Chinese Hymnscroll'' ({{zh|c=摩尼教下部讚|p=Móní-jiào Xiàbù Zàn}}, which [[Samuel N. C. Lieu|Lieu]] translates as "Hymns for the Lower Section [i.e. the Hearers] of the Manichaean Religion"{{sfn|Lieu|1998|p=50}}).

In addition to containing hymns attributed to Mani, it contains prayers attributed to Mani's earliest disciples, including Mār Zaku, Mār Ammo and Mār Sīsin. Another Chinese work is a complete translation of the ''Sermon of the Light [[Nous]]'', presented as a discussion between Mani and his disciple Adda.<ref>"The Traité is, despite its title (Moni jiao cao jing, lit. "fragmentary [Mathews, no. 6689] Manichean scripture"), a long text in an excellent state of preservation, with only a few lines missing at the beginning. It was first fully published with a facsimile by [[Édouard Chavannes|Edouard Chavannes]] (q.v.) and [[Paul Pelliot]] in 1911 and is frequently known as Traité Pelliot. Their transcription (including typographical errors) was reproduced in the Chinese translation of the [[Taishō Tripiṭaka|Buddhist Tripiṭaka]] (Taishō, no. 2141 B, LIV, pp. 1281a16-1286a29); that text was in turn reproduced with critical notes by Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer (1987b, pp. T. 81–86). A more accurate transcription was published by Chen Yuan in 1923 (pp. 531–44), and a new collation based on a reexamination of the original photographs of the manuscript has now been published by Lin Wu-shu (1987, pp. 217–29), with the photographs", {{iranica|chinese-turkestan-vii|Chinese Turkestan vii. Manicheism in Chinese Turkestan and China}}</ref>

=== Critical and polemic sources ===
Until discoveries in the 1900s of original sources, the only sources for Manichaeism were descriptions and quotations from non-Manichaean authors, either Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or Zoroastrian ones. While often criticizing Manichaeism, they also quoted directly from Manichaean scriptures. This enabled [[Isaac de Beausobre]], writing in the 18th century, to create a comprehensive work on Manichaeism, relying solely on anti-Manichaean sources.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k76039w.texteImage |title=Histoire critique de Manichée et du manichéisme |trans-title=Critical history of Manichae and Manichaeism |last=de Beausobre |first=Isaac |publisher=J. Frederic Bernard |year=1734 |volume=1 |location=Amsterdam |language=FR}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k760403 |title=Histoire critique de Manichée et du manichéisme |last1=Beausobre |first1=Isaac de |last2=Formey |first2=S. |publisher=J. Frederic Bernard |year=1739 |volume=2 |location=Amsterdam |language=FR |trans-title=Critical history of Manichae and Manichaeism}}</ref> Thus quotations and descriptions in Greek and Arabic have long been known to scholars, as have the long quotations in Latin by Saint Augustine, and the extremely important quotation in Syriac by [[Theodore Bar Konai]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

==== Patristic depictions of Mani and Manichaeism ====
[[Eusebius]] commented as follows:
{{blockquote|''The error of the Manichees, which commenced at this time.''|In the mean time, also, that madman Manes, (Mani is of Persian or Semitic origin) as he was called, well agreeing with his name, for his demoniacal heresy, armed himself by the perversion of his reason, and at the instruction of Satan, to the destruction of many. He was a barbarian in his life, both in speech and conduct, but in his nature as one possessed and insane. Accordingly, he attempted to form himself into a Christ, and then also proclaimed himself to be the very paraclete and the Holy Spirit, and with all this was greatly puffed up with his madness. Then, as if he were Christ, he selected twelve disciples, the partners of his new religion, and after patching together false and ungodly doctrines, collected from a thousand heresies long since extinct, he swept them off like a deadly poison, from Persia, upon this part of the world. Hence the impious name of the Manichaeans spreading among many, even to the present day. Such then was the occasion of this knowledge, as it was falsely called, that sprouted up in these times.<ref>Eusebius. ''The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Caesarea'', Translated from the originals by Christian Frederick Cruse.1939. Ch. XXXI.</ref>}}

==== ''Acta Archelai'' ====
An example of how inaccurate some of these accounts could be can be seen in the account of the origins of Manichaeism contained in the ''[[Acta Archelai]]''. This was a Greek anti-Manichaean work written before 348, most well known in its Latin version, which was regarded as an accurate account of Manichaeism until refuted by Isaac de Beausobre in the 18th century:

<blockquote>In the time of the Apostles there lived a man named [[Scythianus]], who is described as coming "from Scythia", and also as being "a Saracen by race" ("ex genere Saracenorum"). He settled in Egypt, where he became acquainted with "the wisdom of the Egyptians", and invented the religious system that was afterwards known as Manichaeism. Finally he emigrated to Palestine, and, when he died, his writings passed into the hands of his sole disciple, a certain [[Terebinthus]]. The latter betook himself to Babylonia, assumed the name of Budda, and endeavoured to propagate his master's teaching. But he, like Scythianus, gained only one disciple, who was an old woman. After a while he died, in consequence of a fall from the roof of a house, and the books that he had inherited from Scythianus became the property of the old woman, who, on her death, bequeathed them to a young man named Corbicius, who had been her slave. Corbicius thereupon changed his name to Manes, studied the writings of Scythianus, and began to teach the doctrines that they contained, with many additions of his own. He gained three disciples, named Thomas, Addas, and Hermas. About this time the son of the Persian king fell ill, and Manes undertook to cure him; the prince, however, died, whereupon Manes was thrown into prison. He succeeded in escaping, but eventually fell into the hands of the king, by whose order he was flayed, and his corpse was hung up at the city gate.</blockquote>

A. A. Bevan, who quoted this story, commented that it "has no claim to be considered historical".<ref>Bevan, A. A. (1930). "Manichaeism". ''Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics'', Volume VIII. Ed. [[James Hastings]]. London.</ref>

====View of Judaism in the ''Acta Archelai'' ====
According to [[Hegemonius]]' portrayal of Mani, the [[Dimurgos|evil demiurge]] who created the world was the Jewish [[Jehovah]]. Hegemonius reports that Mani said,
{{blockquote|"It is the [[Prince of darkness (Manichaeism)|Prince of Darkness]] who spoke with [[Moses]], the [[Jews]] and their [[kohen|priests]]. Thus the [[Christians]], the Jews, and the Pagans are involved in the same error when they worship this God. For he leads them astray in the lusts he taught them." He goes on to state: "Now, he who spoke with Moses, the Jews, and the priests he says is the [[archon]]t of Darkness, and the Christians, Jews, and pagans (ethnic) are one and the same, as they revere the same god. For in his aspirations he seduces them, as he is not the god of truth. And so therefore all those who put their hope in the god who spoke with Moses and the prophets have (this in store for themselves, namely) to be bound with him, because they did not put their hope in the god of truth. For that one spoke with them (only) according to their own aspirations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Classical Texts: Acta Archelai of Mani |url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Manicheism/Manicheism_II_Texts.pdf |page=76 |publisher=Iranian Studies at [[Harvard University]]}}</ref>}}

=== Central Asian and Iranian primary sources ===
In the early 1900s, original Manichaean writings started to come to light when German scholars led by [[Albert Grünwedel]], and then by [[Albert von Le Coq]], began excavating at [[Gaochang]], the ancient site of the Manichaean Uyghur Kingdom near Turpan, in Chinese Turkestan (destroyed around AD 1300). While most of the writings they uncovered were in very poor condition, there were still hundreds of pages of Manichaean scriptures, written in three Iranian languages (Middle Persian, Parthian, and Sogdian) and old Uyghur. These writings were taken back to Germany and were analyzed and published at the [[Prussian Academy of Sciences]] in Berlin, by Le Coq and others, such as [[Friedrich W. K. Müller]] and [[Walter Bruno Henning]]. 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 them using the [[Hebrew alphabet]] (which could easily be substituted for the 22 Syriac letters).{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

Perhaps the most comprehensive of these publications was {{lang|de|Manichaeische Dogmatik aus chinesischen und iranischen Texten}} (''Manichaean Dogma from Chinese and Iranian texts''), by [[Ernst Waldschmidt]] and Wolfgang Lentz, published in Berlin in 1933.<ref>[[Ernst Waldschmidt|Waldschmidt, E.]], and Lentz, W., ''Manichäische Dogmatik aus chinesischen und iranischen Texten'' (SPAW 1933, No. 13)</ref> 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 the Hebrew alphabet. After the [[Nazi Party]] gained power in Germany, the Manichaean writings continued to be published during the 1930s, but the publishers no longer used Hebrew letters, instead transliterating the texts into Latin letters.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

=== Coptic primary sources ===
Additionally, in 1930, German researchers in Egypt found a large body of Manichaean works in Coptic. Though these were also damaged, hundreds of complete pages survived and, beginning in 1933, were analyzed and published in Berlin before [[World War II]], by German scholars such as [[Hans Jakob Polotsky]].<ref>[[Hans Jakob Polotsky]] and Karl Schmidt, ''Ein Mani-Fund in Ägypten, Original-Schriften des Mani und seiner Schüler''. Berlin: Akademie der Wissenschaften 1933.</ref> Some of these Coptic Manichaean writings were lost during the war.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mirecki |first1=Paul Allan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjHagtUE5toC |title=Emerging from Darkness: Studies in the Recovery of Manichaean Sources |last2=BeDuhn |first2=Jason David |date=31 December 1996 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-10760-1 |page=vii |language=en}}</ref>

=== Chinese primary sources ===
After the success of the German researchers, French scholars visited China and discovered what is perhaps the most complete set of Manichaean writings, written in Chinese. These three Chinese writings, all found at the [[Mogao Caves]] among the [[Dunhuang manuscripts]], and all written before the 9th century, are today kept in London, Paris, and Beijing. Some of the scholars involved with their initial discovery and publication were [[Édouard Chavannes]], [[Paul Pelliot]], and [[Aurel Stein]]. The original studies and analyses of these writings, along with their translations, first appeared in French, English, and German, before and after World War II. The complete Chinese texts themselves were first published in Tokyo, Japan in 1927, in the [[Taishō Tripiṭaka]], volume 54. While in the last thirty years or so they have been republished in both Germany (with a complete translation into German, alongside the 1927 Japanese edition),<ref>{{cite book|last=Schmidt-Glintzer |first=Helwig |title=Chinesische Manichaeica |language=de |trans-title=Chinese Manichaica |location=Wiesbaden |date=1987}}</ref> and China, the Japanese publication remains the standard reference for the Chinese texts.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

=== Greek life of Mani, Cologne codex ===
In Egypt, a small [[codex]] was found and became known through antique dealers in [[Cairo]]. It was purchased by the [[University of Cologne]] in 1969. Two of its scientists, Henrichs and Koenen, produced the first edition known since as the [[Cologne Mani-Codex]], which was published in four articles in the {{lang|de|Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik}}. The ancient [[papyrus]] manuscript contained a [[Greek language|Greek]] text describing the life of Mani. Thanks to this discovery, much more is known about the man who founded one of the most influential world religions of the past.<ref name="Sundermann-2011">{{Cite web |last=Sundermann |first=Werner |date=2011-10-26 |title=COLOGNE MANI CODEX |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/cologne-mani-codex-parchment |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>