Author: Jeff Wu (---.telocity.com)
Date: 11-23-01 14:01
Manichaeanism ("Mo-ni-jiao" in Chinese) was introduced into China by Persians towards the end of the 7th century and began to spread one century later. The religion from Iran was authorized under the Empress Wu Zetian in 694 AD. The influence of Manichaean priests was to make itself felt in the realms of astrology and astronomy. It was they who introduced into China for the first time the week of the days associated with the sun, the moon, and the five planets. The Chinese tradition, faithful to the division of space and time into 4 and 5, had a week of 10 days. By the 12th century, it was strongly rooted in the southeast where numerous Manichaean communities could be found. Several Chinese books which describe the Manichaeans have survived, and most of them treat their subject matter in a derogotary manner. The Manichaeans are described as "demon worshippers" and their activities as "incomprehensible." For one thing, they dressed differently. "Their leaders wear purple headwear and loose shirts, and their women cover themselves with black hats and white robes." "Their holy book deals with the two opposites, brightness and darkness, and it speaks of the 3 worlds, the past, the present, and the future." The Manichaeans would neither drink liquor or milk, nor eat meat or cheese. However, "men and women gathered at night to engage in sexual licentious activities and would not disperse until daybreak." They helped one another whenver the need arose; "a new Han Chinese convert is supported by the entire congregation until he becomes established." "They call themselves members of one family and provide room and board for a travelling Manichaean even though they have never met him before." "They worship neither Buddha nor ancestors, and when a Manichaean dies, they bury him naked." Their deviation, in habits and beliefs, from the general cultural pattern, together with their clannishness, caused much misunderstanding and frequent friction between them and the rest of the Chinese population. Local governments occasionally persecuted them. Manichaeanism reappeared, strangely enough, on the coasts of Fukien and Zhejiang in the 11th and 12th centuries AD, and also in the interior of these provinces. After the 12th century, Manichaeanism declined steadily as a religious force, and many of its followers began to attach themselves to Buddhist and Taoist sects. It was not revived during the subsequent centuries.
This distinctive cult animated secret societies in rebellion in those regions against the established authorities. However, it could be that the influence of Manichaeanism was perpetuated in China until the 14th century AD: the name of the Ming Dynasty (Ming=light) (1368-1644) may have been suggested to its founder by the persistent memory of Manichaean traditions in the secret societies of the Mongol Yuan age.
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